“Emily” was composed by Johnny Mandel with lyrics by Johnny Mercer for the 1964 film The Americanization of Emily. It’s a gentle, lyrical waltz that became a favorite of jazz pianists, especially Bill Evans, who played it frequently. Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra also recorded it.
The tune is a jazz waltz in 3/4, commonly in C major. The harmony moves through rich chord progressions with secondary dominants, ii-Vs and smooth voice leading, giving the tune a warm, flowing quality. The melody unfolds in long, graceful phrases that suit the waltz feel.
For improvisation, think in long, singing lines that cross the bar line. Use C major as the home sound and outline the secondary dominants with their thirds. Bill Evans’s approach is a perfect model: he combined lyrical melody with sophisticated harmony and subtle rhythmic displacement. Try playing phrases that start on beat two or three to avoid a choppy, bar-by-bar feel.
Practice with a jazz waltz play-along or a metronome on beat one. Pianists should study Bill Evans’s voicings, especially his rootless left-hand chords. Learn the melody by singing it before playing it.
Memorizing the Emily Lead Sheet PDF: learn the form in sections, not all at once. Play the first eight bars until you can do them with your eyes closed, then add the next section. Within a week or two you won’t need the page at all, which is the real goal of any lead sheet.
Ear training with the Emily Lead Sheet PDF: before reading along, listen to two different recordings and try to hear where each section starts. Then follow the lead sheet while listening. Connecting what you see to what you hear is how lead sheets turn into tunes you truly know.
Is it hard to play? It’s intermediate; the harmony is rich but logical. Recordings to study: Bill Evans’s recordings and Tony Bennett’s vocal version. Learn more about the composer on Johnny Mandel’s Wikipedia page, and find more jazz waltzes on Minedit.