Standards · 1937
Easy Living chords & key
“Easy Living” is a jazz standard by Ralph Rainger from 1937. It is usually played in F major as a ballad, and the 32-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 8 major ii–V–I cadences and 2 minor ii–V–i, uses 22 different chords and moves between the key centres B♭ major, F major, D♭ major, G minor and E♭ minor. In this atlas it appears on 4 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
- Gm7×9
- Fmaj7×8
- C7×6
- Dm7×4
- G♭dim7×3
- A♭dim7×3
Key centres reached by ii–V
B♭ major, F major, D♭ major, G minor and E♭ minor
Characteristics
- AABA song form
History
Easy Living is a 1937 American screwball comedy film, directed by Mitchell Leisen, written by Preston Sturges from a story by Vera Caspary, and starring Jean Arthur, Edward Arnold, and Ray Milland. Many of the supporting players (William Demarest, Franklin Pangborn, Luis Alberni, Robert Greig, Olaf Hytten, and Arthur Hoyt) became part of Sturges's regular stock company of character actors in his subsequent films. Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin composed the song "Easy Living" for the film, and it has since become a jazz standard, made famous by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and many other jazz singers. The film bears no relation to the 1949 RKO drama by the same name.
Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Recorded on these albums
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
| Title | Key |
|---|---|
| Again 30% | G major |
| Making Whoopee 28% | G major |
| But Not For Me 27% | E♭ major |
| I Want To Be Happy 25% | C major |
| Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 25% | E♭ major |
| Dream A Little Dream Of Me 24% | G major |
| I've Never Been In Love Before 24% | B♭ major |
| Misty 24% | E♭ major |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Easy Living in?
Easy Living is usually played in F major. For B♭ instruments that is G major, for E♭ instruments D major.
Who wrote Easy Living?
Easy Living was written by Ralph Rainger (1937).
What is the form of Easy Living?
Easy Living has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.
How fast is Easy Living played?
The usual groove is Ballad.
What are the chord changes to Easy Living?
The opening bars are Fmaj7 Gbdim7 | Gm7 Abdim7 | Fmaj7/A Cm7 F7 | Bbmaj7 Eb7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.