Standards · 1934
Blue Moon chords & key
- Key
- E♭ major
- Form
- AABA
- Bars
- 32
- Groove
- Medium swing
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Year
- 1934
“Blue Moon” is a jazz standard by Richard Rodgers from 1934. It is usually played in E♭ major as a medium swing, and the 32-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 8 major ii–V–I cadences and 1 minor ii–V–i, uses 16 different chords and moves between the key centres E♭ major, F minor and F♯ major. In this atlas it appears on 11 album tracks.
Chord changes
Showing in: Concert (C) — E♭ major
Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.
Harmonic analysis
Most used chords
- B♭7×14
- Fm7×11
- E♭maj7×9
- Cm7×9
- D♭7×4
- C7×3
Key centres reached by ii–V
E♭ major, F minor and F♯ major
Characteristics
- AABA song form
History
"Blue Moon" is a popular song written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart in 1934 that has become a standard ballad. The song was first recorded in October 1934 by Ted Fio Rito with Muzzy Marcellino on vocals, quickly followed a month later by Frankie Trumbauer and his Orchestra, with vocals by Dick Robertson. Other early recordings included those by Connee Boswell and by Al Bowlly in 1935. The song was a hit twice in 1949, with successful recordings in the U.S. by Billy Eckstine and Mel Tormé. In 1961, "Blue Moon" became an international number-one hit for the doo-wop group the Marcels, on the Billboard 100 chart and in the UK Singles Chart, and later that same year, an instrumental version by the Ventures charted at number 54.
Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Recorded on these albums
Historic 78 rpm recordings
- Blue Moon Johnny Long and His Orchestra · Junie Mays · Rodgers · Hart archive.org ↗
- Blue Moon Eddie Kelly And His Orchestra · Memory Lee · Richard Rodgers ·… archive.org ↗
- BLUE MOON COZY COLE'S ALL STARS · Earl Hines · Cozy Cole · Coleman Hawkins ·… · 1944 archive.org ↗
- BLUE MOON COZY COLE'S ALL STARS · Earl Hines · Cozy Cole · Coleman Hawkins ·… · 1944 archive.org ↗
- BLUE MOON COZY COLE'S ALL STARS · Cozy Cole · Earl Hines · Coleman Hawkins ·… · 1944 archive.org ↗
- BLUE MOON COZY COLE'S ALL STARS · Cozy Cole · Earl Hines · Coleman Hawkins ·… · 1944 archive.org ↗
- BLUE MOON COZY COLE'S ALL STARS · Earl Hines · Cozy Cole · Coleman Hawkins ·… · 1944 archive.org ↗
- Blue Moon Charlie Barnet And His Cherokees · Rodgers · Hart · 1947 archive.org ↗
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
| Title | Key |
|---|---|
| It Could Happen To You 26% | E♭ major |
| But Beautiful 24% | G major |
| Making Whoopee 24% | G major |
| The Things We Did Last Summer 22% | F major |
| Fools Rush In 20% | C major |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Blue Moon in?
Blue Moon is usually played in E♭ major. For B♭ instruments that is F major, for E♭ instruments C major.
Who wrote Blue Moon?
Blue Moon was written by Richard Rodgers (1934).
What is the form of Blue Moon?
Blue Moon has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.
How fast is Blue Moon played?
The usual groove is Medium swing.
What are the chord changes to Blue Moon?
The opening bars are Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.