Standards
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea chords & key
- Key
- F major
- Form
- AABA
- Bars
- 32
- Groove
- Medium-up swing
- Time signature
- 4/4
“Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea” is a jazz standard by Harold Arlen. Most bands play it in F major, medium-up swing; the tune runs 32 bars in AABA form. Harmonically it contains 10 major ii–V–I cadences, uses 17 different chords and moves between the key centres F major, B♭ major and A major. In this atlas it appears on 9 album tracks.
Chord changes
Showing in: Concert (C) — F major
Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.
Harmonic analysis
Most used chords
- C7×12
- Gm7×9
- Fmaj7×6
- Cm7×3
- F7×3
- B♭maj7×3
Key centres reached by ii–V
F major, B♭ major and A major
Characteristics
- AABA song form
Recorded on these albums
| 1955 | Sweet and Hot Ella Fitzgerald · “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” |
| 1957 | New Tricks... Bing Crosby with Buddy Cole and His Trio |
| 1959 | Oscar Peterson Plays the Harold Arlen Song Book Oscar Peterson · “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” |
| 1961 | Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book Ella Fitzgerald · “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” |
| 1964 | Who Can I Turn To Tony Bennett · “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” |
| 1978 | Tea for Two Yehudi Menuhin & Stéphane Grappelli · “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue See” |
| 1998 | Lullabies of Birdland / Sweet and Hot Ella Fitzgerald · “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” |
| 2026 | Too Marvelous For Words Peggy Lee · “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” |
| 2026 | Indigo Bria Skonberg · “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” |
Historic 78 rpm recordings
- BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA LEE WILEY · THE EDDIE CONDON QUINTETTE · Ernie Caceres · Dave Bowman… archive.org ↗
- BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA DICKY WELLS and his ORCHESTRA · DICKY WELLS · BILL DILLARD · BILL… · 1937 archive.org ↗
- BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA ANN HATHAWAY · ELLIS LARKINS and his ORCHESTRA · Ellis Larkin ·… · 1946 archive.org ↗
- Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Nat Pierce and his orchestra · Kohler · Arlen · Sonny Truitt · 1950 archive.org ↗
- Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Milt Jackson Quartet · Milt Jackson · Ray Brown · John Lewis · Kenny… · 1951 archive.org ↗
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
| Title | Key |
|---|---|
| Let's Cool One 28% | E♭ major |
| All Alone 24% | F major |
| Hey There 23% | E♭ major |
| Dexterity 22% | B♭ major |
| How About You 21% | F major |
| If I Knew Then (What I Know Now) 21% | E♭ major |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea in?
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea is usually played in F major. For B♭ instruments that is G major, for E♭ instruments D major.
Who wrote Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea?
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea was written by Harold Arlen.
What is the form of Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea?
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.
How fast is Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea played?
The usual groove is Medium-up swing.
What are the chord changes to Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea?
The opening bars are Fmaj7 | Gm7 C7 | Fmaj7 | Gm7 C7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.