Welcome to our lesson on the jazz standard “Tea for Two” which was written in 1924 by Vincent Youmans. It was introduced in May 1924 by Phyllis Cleveland and John Barker during the Chicago pre-Broadway run of the musical No, No, Nanette.
In this class we listen and compare versions by Lester Young, Nicholas Payton, Thelonious Monk and Jacky Terrasson.
We study the harmonic and melodic analysis, voice leading ideas, the magic formula, the Monk reharmonization and everything is included in the 10-page PDF.
Playlist:
'Tea for Two' Lyrics:
Picture you upon my knee,Just tea for two and two for tea,Just me for youAnd you for me alone.
Nobody near usTo see us or hear us,No friends or relationsOn weekend vacations.We won’t have it known, dear,That we own a telephone, dear;
Day will break and you’ll awakeAnd start to bake a sugar cake,For me to takeFor all the boys to see.
We will raise a family,A boy for you, a girl for me.Oh, can’t you seeHow happy we would be?
5 comments on “Tea For Two”
One of my favorite exercises to practice: play the melody and a bass line at the same time. It can be as simple (does not mean easy!) as just playing the roots, or you can play complete phrases. The point is to be fully aware of the melody, be able to answer it and stay in time!
I realized the percussion track I used sounds similar to the Brother Bones version of Sweet Georgia Brown! Check it out on this page:
Hi Alex,
Re Tea for Two – no Bb part in Resources above – 2 Eb parts & concert key only.
Can you please post the Bb parts?
Thanks, Diana
Hi Diana! The B-flat chart is there, I see it says also E-flat on the top left corner but that’s a mistake, that is indeed the B-flat chart, I will try to correct that but in the meantime you can download that pdf 🙂
Great lesson, Thank you!