Standards · 1939

Fine And Mellow chords & key

Billie Holiday · Lyrics: Billie Holiday

Key: F major
Form: A
Bars: 12
Groove: Slow swing
Time signature: 4/4
Year: 1939

“Fine And Mellow” is a jazz standard by Billie Holiday from 1939. Most bands play it in F major, slow swing; the tune runs 12 bars in A form. Its changes follow the 12-bar blues. In this atlas it appears on 16 album tracks.

Chord changes

to key

Showing in: Concert (C) — F major

F⁷

B♭⁷

F⁷

B♭⁷

F⁷

C⁷

D♭⁷C⁷

F⁷

C⁷

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

Harmonic analysis

0Major ii–V–I

0Minor ii–V–i

0ii–V moves

0Tritone substitutions

3Dominant chains

4Different chords

Most used chords

F⁷×6
B♭⁷×3
C⁷×3
D♭⁷×1

Characteristics

12-bar blues

History

"Fine and Mellow" is a jazz standard written by Billie Holiday, who first recorded it on April 20, 1939 on the Commodore label. It is a blues lamenting the bad treatment of a woman at the hands of "my man".

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

Recorded on these albums

1955	Storyville Presents Ruby Braff Ruby Braff · “Fine and Mellow”
1958	Lady in Satin Billie Holiday · “Fine and Mellow”
1960	Don’t Go to Strangers Etta Jones · “Fine and Mellow”
1973	Got My Own Gene Ammons · “Fine and Mellow”
1978	“Fine and Mellow”: Ella Fitzgerald Jams Ella Fitzgerald · “Fine and Mellow”
1987	Fine and Mellow Etta Jones · “Fine and Mellow”
1988	Peggy Sings the Blues Miss Peggy Lee · “Fine and Mellow”
1988	Fine and Mellow (live at Birdland West) Carmen McRae · “Fine and Mellow”
1989	Woman To Woman Cleo Laine · “Fine and Mellow”
1994	The Billie Holiday Songbook Terence Blanchard · “Fine and Mellow”
1995	For Lady Day, Volume 1 Carmen McRae · “Fine and Mellow”
1996	Live at Blues Alley Eva Cassidy · “Fine and Mellow”
2002	Etta Jones Sings Lady Day Etta Jones · “Fine and Mellow”
2004	Always in Our Hearts Etta Jones · “Fine and Mellow”
2010	Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959) To Billie with Love Dee Dee Bridgewater · “Fine and Mellow”
2015	Nightbird Eva Cassidy · “Fine and Mellow”

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

Title	Composer	Key	Form	Groove
All Blues 71%	Miles Davis	G major	A · 24	Jazz waltz
Straight No Chaser 50%	Thelonious Monk	B♭ major	A · 12	Medium-up swing
Blue Monk 38%	Thelonious Monk	B♭ major	A · 12	Medium swing
Blue Sphere 38%	Thelonious Monk	B♭ major	A · 12	Medium swing
Bluehawk 38%	Thelonious Monk	B♭ major	A · 12	Medium swing
Bessie's Blues 33%	John Coltrane	E♭ major	A · 12	Up-tempo swing
Eighty One 33%	Ron Carter	F major	A · 12	Even eighths
St. Louis Blues 33%	W.C. Handy	G major	A · 12	Medium swing

Frequently asked questions

What key is Fine And Mellow in?

Fine And Mellow is usually played in F major. For B♭ instruments that is G major, for E♭ instruments D major.

Who wrote Fine And Mellow?

Fine And Mellow was written by Billie Holiday (1939).

What is the form of Fine And Mellow?

Fine And Mellow has 1 sections (A) with 12 bars in total.

How fast is Fine And Mellow played?

The usual groove is Slow swing.

What are the chord changes to Fine And Mellow?

The opening bars are F7 | Bb7 | F7 | F7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.