Standards · 1924
Fascinating Rhythm chords & key
- Key
- F major
- Form
- ABB
- Bars
- 48
- Groove
- Medium-up swing
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Year
- 1924
“Fascinating Rhythm” is a jazz standard by George Gershwin from 1924. It is usually played in F major as a medium-up swing, and the 48-bar ABB form has 3 sections. Harmonically it contains 2 major ii–V–I cadences and 2 minor ii–V–i, uses 27 different chords and moves between the key centres F major and D minor. In this atlas it appears on 5 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
- C7×22
- F7×17
- F6×4
- G7×3
- Gm7×3
- Fm×2
Key centres reached by ii–V
F major and D minor
History
"Fascinating Rhythm" is a popular song written by George Gershwin in 1924 with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. It was first introduced by Cliff Edwards, Fred Astaire and Adele Astaire in the Broadway musical Lady Be Good. The Astaires also recorded the song on April 19, 1926, in London with George Gershwin on the piano (English Columbia 3968 or 8969). The song provided the music for a famous dance sequence by Eleanor Powell in the movie Lady Be Good. Many recorded versions exist. One of the rarest recordings is by Joe Bari (a pseudonym of Anthony Dominick Benedetto, later better known as Tony Bennett) for Leslie Records in 1949 and issued as catalog number 919 with "Vieni Qui" as the flip side.
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 |
|---|---|
| Strike Up The Band 20% | E♭ major |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Fascinating Rhythm in?
Fascinating Rhythm is usually played in F major. For B♭ instruments that is G major, for E♭ instruments D major.
Who wrote Fascinating Rhythm?
Fascinating Rhythm was written by George Gershwin (1924).
What is the form of Fascinating Rhythm?
Fascinating Rhythm has 3 sections (ABB) with 48 bars in total.
How fast is Fascinating Rhythm played?
The usual groove is Medium-up swing.
What are the chord changes to Fascinating Rhythm?
The opening bars are Fm Fm/Eb | Dm7b5 Db7 | Fm/C Bdim7 | Bb7 Fm/Ab C7/G. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.