Advanced Guitar Player

English Lyrics to Autumn Leaves by Johnny Mercer

Music by Joseph Kosma


The falling leaves drift by my window
The falling leaves of red and gold
I see your lips, the summer kisses
The sunburned hands I used to hold

Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all, my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

Since you went away the days grow long
And soon I'll hear old winter's song
But I miss you most of all, my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

I miss you most of all, my darling
When autumn leaves start to fall

As Autumn Leaves really is such an essential tune for any jazz musician, particularly if you're making the transition from blues to jazz playing, here's the Real Book Lead Sheet which you can print using the PDF icon, email to yourself or share over the Internet.

In my experience, you'll find yourself playing Autumn Leaves in E minor at the majority of jam sessions, so it's probably worth first learning the song in this key.

I've also included a set of changes for the also frequently played Gm version, but my recommendation is - learn it in Em first!

The publisher doesn't pay any copyright on these tunes, so I should be OK posting this Autumn Leaves Lead Sheet on the site. However, every self-respecting jazz musician needs to own a copy of the Real Book, so I strongly suggest you get hold of one ASAP.

Clicking on the link below will take you to the Real Book Information Page on the Advanced Guitar BookStore that Amazon.Com runs for us. You'll see that the Real Book not only contains Autumn Leaves but also just about every jazz standard you ever get asked to play at jam sessions.

Check it out - NOW!

Click Here to order the Real Book published by Hal Leonard from our Advanced Guitar BookStore on Amazon.

Autumn Leaves - Joseph Kosma/Jonny Mercer

The song is also often played in the key of G minor - the Aebersold versions are in this key, if I remember rightly. So it's worth learning the song starting on C minor as well!

Anyway here are some changes for Autumn Leaves in Gm (starting on Cm) - they're a bit different from the Real Book ones, so you should also practice them in Em.

Autumn Leaves in G minor (chord suggestions in brackets)

||:Cm7///| F7///| BbM7///| EbM7///| Am7(b5)///| D7(b9)///| Gm6///| (G7)///|

|Cm7///| F7///| BbM7///| EbM7///| Am7(b5)///| D7(b9)///| Gm6///| Gm6///|

|Am7(b5)///| D7(b9)///| Gm7///| (G7)///| Cm7///| F7///| BbM7///| EbM7///|

|Am7(b5)///| D7(b9)///| Gm7-C7-Fm7-Bb7| EbM7///| D7(b9)///| Gm6///| Gm6///:||