Ballin' the jack – Free Jazz Lead Sheet
Eb Major – Chris Smith 1913
Ballin’ the Jack (1913) by Chris Smith and Jim Burris is a ragtime dance jazz standard. View this free online lead sheet in Eb major, including melody and chords for jazz performance.
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Support the projectAbout this song:
Ballin’ the Jack (1913) by Chris Smith with lyrics by Jim Burris is an early ragtime and dance jazz standard associated with social dance culture of the early 20th century. The song became popular in vaudeville performances and dance halls, reflecting the transition from ragtime to early jazz rhythm styles.
This free online lead sheet presents the melody and chords in Eb major, making it suitable for ragtime jazz ensembles, early swing bands, and instrumental practice. It is useful for studying syncopated rhythm patterns and early jazz phrasing.
About the composer: Chris Smith
Chris Smith (1879–1949) was an American composer and performer active in New York during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for his contributions to early 20th-century American music, with his most significant works created in the 1930s and 1940s.
Musical strucutre and form
Typically performed in 16-bar dance song form in Eb major, the tune features syncopated rhythmic patterns, upbeat melodic phrases, and repetitive harmonic structure that supports improvisation and dance performance.
