Centerpiece Chord Chart

Here is a rhythm chart for C instruments, Bb instruments, and Eb instruments for the 12 bar blues, Centerpiece, written by Harry “Sweets” Edison. Notice the ii V7 turnaround in the fourth measure, and the diminished chord at the end of the 6th measure. This is very common in jazz, and creates tension which is resolved up to the chord in measure 7. There is another ii V7 turnaround in the 8th measure which goes toward the 9th measure. Then, the 9th measure becomes a ii V7 back to tonic in measure 11. This is a great tune to learn the blues – it has a simple melody, and it has all the turnarounds you need to know to play the blues in a jam session.

Here is the original release from Mr. Edison’s album, Sweetening. This video has the entire album but the first song is Centerpiece.

Below are the chords for Centerpiece, as played by Harry “Sweets” Edison on his album, Sweetenings. This is the first iteration of this piece, so that’s why we use this recording to determine it’s chords.

Scroll down to find your instrument, and you can print only the pages you need. You can download this as a PDF to your computer using the download button below the chart.

Below is the chord chart with slash marks, you can scroll to find your instrument. Print only the page you need. You can also download the chord chart to your device using the Download button below the sheet music. Notice the first page is for Eb instruments – scroll down for a C instrument chart. Try to memorize this as these are very common chord changes in jazz!

About a year or so after Mr. Edison released his “Sweetenings” album, Jon Hendricks wrote lyrics and released it on Lambert, Hendrick’s and Ross’s “Everybody’s Boppin” album in 1959. Notice their 3 part harmonies!