Standards · 1936

A Fine Romance chords & key

Jerome Kern · Lyrics: Dorothy Fields

Key: C major
Form: ABAC
Bars: 32
Groove: Medium swing
Time signature: 4/4
Year: 1936

“A Fine Romance” is a jazz standard by Jerome Kern from 1936. It is usually played in C major as a medium swing, and the 32-bar ABAC form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 3 major ii–V–I cadences and 2 minor ii–V–i, uses 14 different chords and moves between the key centres C major, E minor and D minor. In this atlas it appears on 14 album tracks.

Chord changes

to key

Showing in: Concert (C) — C major

C⁶

D♭^dim7

D^m6

E♭^dim7

E^m7

A^m7

D^m7

G⁷

C⁶

E♭^dim7

D^m7

G⁷

E^m7

A⁷

D⁷

G⁷

C⁶

D♭^dim7

D^m6

E♭^dim7

E^m7

A^m7

D^m7

G⁷

C⁶

C⁷

F^maj7

G♭^m7♭5B^7♭9

E^m7A⁷

D^m7G⁷

C⁶

D^m7G⁷

Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.

Harmonic analysis

3Major ii–V–I

2Minor ii–V–i

8ii–V moves

0Tritone substitutions

2Dominant chains

14Different chords

Most used chords

G⁷×6
C⁶×5
D^m7×5
E^m7×4
E♭^dim7×3
D♭^dim7×2

Key centres reached by ii–V

C major, E minor and D minor

Characteristics

ABAC song form

History

"A Fine Romance" is a popular song composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, published in 1936. The song was written for the musical film, Swing Time, where it was co-introduced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Astaire recorded a solo version of the song on July 28, 1936 for Brunswick records (catalog 7716) and it topped the charts of the day for five weeks. Billie Holiday recorded the song for Vocalion Records on September 29, 1936 and this too reached the charts of the day as did versions by Henry King and Guy Lombardo.

Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Recorded on these albums

1949	Sings Songs by Jerome Kern Bing Crosby
1953	The Astaire Story Fred Astaire · “(This Is) A Fine Romance”
1955	Music for Torching Billie Holiday
1957	Ella and Louis Again, Volume Two Ella and Louis
1959	Oscar Peterson Plays the Jerome Kern Songbook Oscar Peterson
1961	Ring-a-Ding Ding! Frank Sinatra
1963	Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook Ella Fitzgerald
1966	Lena in Hollywood Lena Horne
1973	Jealousy: Hits of the Thirties Yehudi Menuhin & Stéphane Grappelli
1988	Menuhin & Grappelli Play Berlin, Kern, Porter & Rodgers and Hart Yehudi Menuhin & Stéphane Grappelli
1991	A Fine Romance Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers · “A fine romance”
1998	That Old Black Magic Ella Fitzgerald
2008	Ella & Louis (and Oscar Too) Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong & The Oscar Peterson Trio
—	Ella Et Louis Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong

Historic 78 rpm recordings

A Fine Romance Jimmy Walker Quintet · Kern archive.org ↗
A FINE ROMANCE THE BENNY GOODMAN SEXTET · Fields · Kern · 1956 archive.org ↗

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

Title	Composer	Key	Form	Groove
Line For Lyons 41%	Gerry Mulligan	G major	AABA · 32	Medium swing
This Is All I Ask 34%	Gordon Jenkins	F major	ABAC · 32	Ballad
In Love In Vain 29%	Leo Robin Jerome Kern	B♭ major	ABAC · 32	Medium swing
Over The Rainbow (Somewhere) 29%	Harold Arlen	E♭ major	AABA · 32	Ballad
Who Can I Turn To 29%	Newley-Bricusse	E♭ major	ABAC · 32	Medium swing
Without A Song 29%	Vincent Youmans	E♭ major	AAB · 44	Up-tempo swing
Cotton Tail 28%	Duke Ellington	B♭ major	AABA · 32	Up-tempo swing
High Hopes 28%	Jimmy Van-Heusen	F major	A · 28	Medium swing

Frequently asked questions

What key is A Fine Romance in?

A Fine Romance is usually played in C major. For B♭ instruments that is D major, for E♭ instruments A major.

Who wrote A Fine Romance?

A Fine Romance was written by Jerome Kern (1936).

What is the form of A Fine Romance?

A Fine Romance has 4 sections (ABAC) with 32 bars in total.

How fast is A Fine Romance played?

The usual groove is Medium swing.

What are the chord changes to A Fine Romance?

The opening bars are C6 | Dbdim7 | Dm6 | Ebdim7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.