Jazz lead sheet · Beginner
Cantaloupe Island
Three chords, four bars each: a perfect introduction to playing modes over a groove.
- Composer
- Herbie Hancock
- Form
- 16 bars
- Key
- F minor
- Style
- Funk
- Length
- 16 bars
AF minor
i7F Dorian
i7F Dorian
i7F Dorian
i7F Dorian
♭VI7D♭ Lydian ♭7
♭VI7D♭ Lydian ♭7
♭VI7D♭ Lydian ♭7
♭VI7D♭ Lydian ♭7
vi7D Dorian
vi7D Dorian
vi7D Dorian
vi7D Dorian
i7F Dorian
i7F Dorian
i7F Dorian
i7F Dorian
For students
What to notice
- Each chord lasts four bars, so this is a tune about colour, not fast changes.
- Fm7 and Dm7 both take Dorian. Notice how D Dorian is only a few notes away from F Dorian.
- D♭7 is not a V chord. It doesn't resolve down a 5th, so its scale is Lydian dominant, with a G natural that F Dorian also has.
Practice plan
Three steps to improvising
- Hold one guide tone per chord and listen to how it colours the groove.
- Play F Dorian for four bars, then find the notes that change when D♭7 arrives.
- Improvise short two-bar ideas and repeat them, changing only the notes that clash.
For teachers
Using this chart in class
- Project the chart with Play along running and loop one section while students find the guide tones.
- Choose Practice → Name the numerals for a whole-class quiz: students vote, then reveal the explanation.
- Mixed ensemble? Print the worksheet once per transposition: B♭, E♭, F and bass clef parts all line up bar for bar.
- Share a link: the key, instrument and view you choose are saved in the address bar.
Chord changes are common performance versions written out by Music Theory Lessons. No melodies or lyrics are reproduced. Names of songs and composers are used only to identify each tune.