Soon — Free Lead Sheet PDF (Eb, Bb, Concert)

Music by George Gershwin · Published 1929 · Melody & chords only

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About Soon

A Ballad Introduced by a Pit Band Full of Future Legends

Soon was composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, written in 1927 and copyrighted in 1929. It belongs to Strike Up the Band, a satirical musical about a cheese manufacturer who sponsors a war to protect his business interests. The show first tried out in Philadelphia in 1927 and closed without reaching Broadway; a heavily revised version, with a new book by Morrie Ryskind and a more swing-influenced score, finally opened at the Times Square Theatre on 14 January 1930, where Soon was introduced by Margaret Schilling and Jerry Goff.

What makes the 1930 production of genuine historical interest is who was sitting in the pit. The orchestra, led by cornetist Red Nichols, briefly gathered together an extraordinary cluster of musicians who would each go on to lead their own famous big bands: Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller, Gene Krupa, Jimmy Dorsey and Jack Teagarden all played the run, fresh off similar pit work on the Gershwins’ Girl Crazy the previous year. George Gershwin himself conducted on opening night. The revised show ran for 191 performances before closing that June — a modest run, but enough to introduce Soon to Broadway audiences at last.

The chart on this page offers the melody and chords, no lyrics. If you are also studying The Man I Love, it is worth knowing that tune has its own connection to this same show — it was cut from the original 1927 Strike Up the Band tryout, one of several Gershwin standards this troubled production touched in one way or another.

The Form & Harmony

A Warm Melody Built Around Anticipation, Not Arrival

Soon is a 32-bar standard, most commonly played in the key of Eb, with a melody built around a feeling of patient, warm anticipation rather than either urgency or resignation. Ira Gershwin’s lyric describes a happiness that is close at hand but not yet arrived — “soon, our little ship will come sailing home” — and George Gershwin’s tune matches that mood with a melody that rises gently and settles rather than reaching for a dramatic climax.

That sense of contentment carries through the harmony as well. The chord changes move warmly and without harmonic surprises, giving the melody a stable, comforting bed to sit on — entirely appropriate for a tune about looking forward to happiness rather than one wrestling with doubt or loss, in contrast to some of the more harmonically restless standards on this site.

That straightforward warmth is also exactly why the tune has proven such a durable vehicle for reharmonisation among jazz musicians — a simple, stable harmonic frame gives a soloist or arranger plenty of room to add colour without fighting the tune, a quality that has kept it in circulation among vocalists and instrumentalists alike long after its Broadway introduction.

How to Play It on Saxophone

A Practical Approach to a Ballad of Patient Anticipation

1. Learn the melody's sense of patient anticipation. The lyric describes a happiness that is close but not yet arrived. Learn the melody with that warm, patient quality in mind rather than treating it as either an urgent love song or a wistful one.

2. Work rubato before you work in time. Practise the melody freely, shaping phrases the way a singer would, before locking it to a metronome. Ballads lose their character fast if they are drilled in strict time from the very first pass.

3. Learn the harmony underneath the melody. Practise outlining the chord changes on their own so you have solid harmonic footing before adding embellishment or improvising over the form.

4. Prioritise tone and dynamics over technique. At ballad tempo there is nowhere for a thin or unsteady tone to hide. Spend practice time on long tones, vibrato control and dynamic shading across the melody's phrases rather than on speed or technical facility.

5. Study how the Modern Jazz Quartet reharmonised this tune. Listen to how the group's Milt Jackson carries the melody on vibraphone within their Gershwin Ballad Medley, adding harmonic colour to a simple, stable set of changes without disturbing the tune's essential warmth.

If you would like one-to-one guidance on ballad playing, tone development or building a wider jazz vocabulary, saxophone lessons in person in South East London or online are available. The free saxophone transcriptions on this site are also useful for hearing how great players navigate ballads and other standards.

Essential Recordings

Where to Start Listening

For a purely instrumental jazz treatment, seek out the Modern Jazz Quartet's recording of Soon, part of their Gershwin Ballad Medley, with Milt Jackson's vibraphone carrying the melody over the group's characteristically refined, chamber-jazz accompaniment.

The tune's earliest recordings, by Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra in the late 1920s and early 1930s, established it in the popular repertoire soon after its Broadway introduction.

Ella Fitzgerald and Benny Goodman both recorded notable versions of the tune, each drawing out a different side of its warm, uncomplicated melody. Comparing a vocal reading against an instrumental one is a good way to hear how much room this simple tune leaves for interpretation.

If you are working through the broader Great American Songbook repertoire, browse the online real book index for related tunes, all available as free lead sheet PDFs in Concert, Bb and Eb. If you are also studying The Man I Love, both tunes are connected to the same troubled production of Strike Up the Band, making them an interesting pair to study together.