Free Jazz Standard Sheet Music Downloads

"My Favorite Things" was composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1959 Broadway musical The Sound of Music. The song became internationally beloved through Julie Andrews's performance in the 1965 film adaptation, but it took on an entirely new dimension in the hands of jazz musicians.

Written in 3/4 waltz time, the tune alternates between E minor and E major, with the minor-key A sections cataloguing favorite things and the major-key bridge offering a sense of resolution and uplift. John Coltrane recognized the tune's modal potential and recorded a groundbreaking interpretation in 1961 on soprano saxophone. Over a drone-like pedal point, Coltrane transformed the waltz into an extended modal exploration, using the simple harmonic framework as a launching pad for ecstatic improvisation. His approach fundamentally altered how jazz musicians heard the tune and opened new possibilities for modal jazz performance.

Coltrane's 1961 Atlantic recording is the definitive jazz version, featuring McCoy Tyner (piano), Steve Davis (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums). It became one of Coltrane's best-selling albums and a staple of his live performances for years thereafter. The original Broadway cast recording with Mary Martin (1959) and the film soundtrack with Julie Andrews (1965) remain iconic in their own right.