The key of this chord chart is Ab major also known as F minor, consisting of 4 flats giving us the selection of notes . . . ‘Ab Bb C Db Eb F G’. This chord chart uses a wide range of chords such as, minor 7ths, dominant 7ths, major 7ths, minor 7ths with a flat 5th, augmented 7ths, diminished 7ths and dominant 7ths with a sharp 9th. Here are some chord spellings for examples of the chords: F-7 – F Ab C Eb Eb7 – Eb G Bb Db Abmaj7 – Ab C Eb G A-7b5 – Ab B D Gb C+7 – C E G# Bb (reason its a G# instead of an Ab is because its a #5) Bo7 – B D F Ab C7#9 – C E G Bb D# (reason its a D# instead of an Eb is because its a #9, similar to the C+7) So as you can see there are a variety of chords used on this chord chart. The form of the song goes as followed AABA….but the A’s vary. As there are 4 sections, section 1 – 8 bars, section 2 – 8 bars, section 3 – 8 bars and section 4 – 12 bars. Section 1, bars 1 – 8. The first 5 bars are in Ab major and follow the chord progression of 6, 2, 5, 1, 4….going into a 2-5-1 (ii V I) in the key of C major. So the key goes up a 3rd. Both Dbmaj7 and D-7 share a same note of F. The change of chords in bar 6 to 7 has a weird change as the ear is expecting a C-7 rather than a Cmaj7 because the C-7 is closer to the key of Ab major, this is called ‘parallel major’….a parallel major is the major key based on the same root note as the origin, here we have C major instead of a C minor. Section 2, bars 9 – 16. Similar to section 1 the first 5 bars follow the same chord progression of 6, 2, 5, 1, 4, but in the key of Eb major. And again similar to section 1 the last 3 bars become a ii V I in the key of Gmaj7, where your ear expects to hear a G-7 instead of the Gma7 as its closer to the key of Eb major. So section 1 and 2 have identical chord progressions but, section 2 is exactly a 5th higher than section 2. Section 3, bars 17 – 24. The first 4 bars of this section follows on the ii-V-I from section 2, in the same key using the A-7-D7-Gmaj7. Then it leads into another ii-V-I in the key of E major. Then the last 2 bars with the Emaj7 and C+7, the C+7 shares some notes to the Emaj7, these notes being E and G#, which almost makes sense but it still sounds non-diatonic. This is why this section would be classified as a B section because the chord progressions are completely different. Section 4, bars 25 – 36. The first 5 bars follow the same progression as section 1, a 6, 2, 5, 1, 4 in the key of Ab Major (vi, ii, V, I, IV). Following on the chord progression goes down in semi-tones creating a chromatic movement from the Db-7 to the Bb-7. The Bo7 is a common chromatic passing chord found in most Jazz standards. Leading into the same 3 chords in section 1 and the first part to section 4, Bb-7, Eb7 and Abmaj7. Then for the last 2 chords it creates a minor ii-V-I back into the start of the chords again…..also known as a minor turnaround. Bars 23 – 25 These 3 bars share common tones in the chords, if you just look at the three chords (Ema7, C+7 and F-7) without the 7ths added you get: Emaj, C+ and F-. These 3 chords share the same note of Ab, which is also played with the melody line, that stretches out over the three bars. As this note is playing over the 3 bars it is creating an ‘enharmonic modulation’, which holds a different function to the three chords, 3rd of Emaj, #5 of C+7 and the b3rd of F-7. (To be re-worded)
