10 Bebop Lines Every Jazz Guitarist Should Know (Plus One Bonus!)

“How do I actually sound like I’m playing jazz?”

If that question’s been bugging you, welcome to the club. And more importantly — welcome to the answer.

Today we’re diving into 10 iconic bebop heads (plus one bonus!) that will get the bebop sound into your ears and fingers. These aren’t just “licks” — these are melodic DNA strands of the bebop era, baked right into real jazz tunes.

🧠 What Actually Makes a Line Sound Bebop?

It’s not just speed. It’s not just scales. Bebop lives in phrasing, target notes, chromaticism, and melodic logic. These lines resolve in perfect ways over complex changes. They dance, they lead, they land.

The good news? Parker and Dizzy already did the work for us — all we have to do is listen, learn, and internalize.

1. Scrapple from the Apple

Counterfact of Honeysuckle Rose | Key: F

This classic Charlie Parker head kicks off with a crisp II–V line that nails the bebop sound. The way the line resolves into the F major chord is melodic gold.

🧩 What to Study: Voice leading between minor and dominant chords. Try looping Gm7–C7 and just playing the phrase.

2. Ornithology

Based on How High the Moon | Key: G

This head is a brilliant example of moving from a major sound (G) into a minor one (G Dorian) — all in the span of a few beats. The melodic contour is clean and catchy.

🧠 Pro Tip: Try singing the phrase first, then play it. That transition between modes is key.

3. Anthropology

Rhythm changes | Key: B♭

Anthropology is the bebop rhythm changes head. Fast, chromatic, and packed with forward motion. If you can play this cleanly, you're on the right track.

🎯 Practice Drill: Slow the A section way down and lock in the phrasing with a metronome on beats 2 and 4.

4. Donna Lee

Based on Back Home in Indiana | Key: A♭

Yes, this one’s intense. But it’s also one of the richest sources of bebop vocabulary. Don’t let Jaco’s version scare you off!

💡 Strategy: Break it into two halves. The first half is very logical, targeting F7 clearly.

5. Billie’s Bounce

F blues | Parker meets the blues

This one merges bebop with blues so seamlessly it should be a textbook. It’s a blues head, yes — but it’s sophisticated.

🎸 Play Challenge: Improvise your own chorus using only fragments of the melody.

6. Now’s the Time

F blues | Simpler than Billie’s Bounce

This head is deceptively simple. It’s made of just a few notes — but the placement is perfect. A total phrasing masterclass.

🔥 Quick Tip: Try ghosting the notes on off-beats to get more swing feel.

7. Confirmation

Key: F major | Chromatic triplet heaven

This head glides. You’ll find enclosures, triplets, and really clever upbeat phrasing. The opening phrase alone is a goldmine.

🎯 Focus Practice: Isolate just the chromatic enclosure and loop it over an Fmaj7 chord.

8. Moose the Mooche

Rhythm changes again! | Key: B♭

This one is a bit more complex. You’ll get a descending arpeggio right into a bluesy chromatic line. Parker’s genius on full display.

👂 Listen Closely: You’ll hear both bebop arpeggios and blues grit in the same phrase.

9. Groovin’ High

Gillespie classic | Key: E♭ shifting to A minor/D7

This one flips the script — literally. It jumps harmonically in surprising ways, from E♭ to A minor–D7. Totally unexpected, and super cool.

🎸 Experiment: Try writing a line that jumps between unrelated keys to mimic this effect.

10. Yardbird Suite

Beautiful backdoor changes | Key: C → Fm → B♭

An underrated tune. The head is almost pop-like — super melodic and catchy — but the harmony is sophisticated, especially in the bridge.

💡 What to Steal: The melodic economy. This tune says more with less.

Bonus: Au Privave

F blues | Melodic logic meets bebop grit

I couldn’t resist. This Parker blues head uses triadic shapes but twists them chromatically. It’s logical and tricky at the same time — and so satisfying to play.

🧠 Why It’s Great: It's triad-based but not predictable. It teaches you how to phrase around harmony, not just through it.

🎸 Practice Task: Play it over a slow F blues and really listen to the tension and release.

🎬 Final Takeaway

You don’t have to learn all these tunes overnight. Pick one or two that speak to you. Sing them. Internalize them. Let the bebop phrasing seep into your playing.

This is how Parker and Dizzy wrote their language into the jazz songbook — so they’d never forget the licks. These tunes are melodic time capsules of bebop vocabulary.

Which bebop head is your favorite?
Share it with us on the community! Keep swinging, jazz guitar friend!

– Marc
Founder, JazzGuitarLessons.net