Take The A Train
Billy Strayhorn
Medium Up SwingC4/4
22
chords
7
different scales
4
tonal centres
First bars
C6C6D7#11D7#11
Twenty-two chords, four tonal centres, seven scales. It's the simplest tune on this list — and it's here on purpose.
The third bar brings a dominant with a raised fourth, and that is literally why the tune exists: Strayhorn built the theme on that sound. Playing the obvious scale there erases the one thing that makes A Train sound like A Train.

