Standards · 1950
Get Happy chords & key
- Key
- F major
- Form
- AABA
- Bars
- 32
- Groove
- Medium-up swing
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Year
- 1950
“Get Happy” is a jazz standard by Harold Arlen from 1950. Most bands play it in F major, medium-up swing; the tune runs 32 bars in AABA form. Harmonically it contains 4 major ii–V–I cadences and 7 minor ii–V–i, uses 19 different chords and moves between the key centres G minor, F major, B♭ minor, C minor and B♭ major. 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
- C7×9
- Gm7×7
- F6×6
- F7×6
- B♭6×5
- Am7×4
Key centres reached by ii–V
G minor, F major, B♭ minor, C minor and B♭ major
Characteristics
- AABA song form
History
"Get Happy" is a song composed by Harold Arlen with lyrics written by Ted Koehler, the first of their many collaborations. Ruth Etting introduced the song in the 1930 stage musical The Nine-Fifteen Revue. The song expresses the gospel music theme of getting happy, an expression of religious ecstasy for salvation. It is most associated with Judy Garland, who performed it in her last MGM film Summer Stock (1950) and in live concert performances throughout the rest of her life. The versions from Summer Stock finished at #61 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. An instrumental, hot jazz arrangement of the song, performed by Abe Lyman's Brunswick Recording Orchestra, served as the original theme music for Warner Bros.' Merrie Melodies cartoons from 1931 to 1933. Elvis Costello named his fourth studio album, released in 1980, after the song.
Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Recorded on these albums
| 1954 | Swing Easy! Frank Sinatra |
| 1961 | Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Harold Arlen Song Book Ella Fitzgerald |
| 1968 | Yesterday I Heard the Rain Tony Bennett |
| 2000 | Timeless: Live in Concert Barbra Streisand · “Happy Days Are Here Again / Get Happy (with Judy Garland) / Guilty (with Barry Gibb) / I Finally Found Someone (with Bryan Adams) / Tell Him (with Céline Dion) / You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (with Neil Diamond)” |
Historic 78 rpm recordings
- GET HAPPY COLEMAN HAWKINS SWING FOUR · Coleman Hawkins · Eddie Heywood · Oscar… · 1943 archive.org ↗
- GET HAPPY COLEMAN HAWKINS SWING FOUR · Eddie Heywood · Coleman Hawkins · Oscar… · 1943 archive.org ↗
- Get Happy The Red Callender Six · Harry Edison · Harbie Haymer · Arnold Ross ·… · 1945 archive.org ↗
- GET HAPPY VIC LEWIS AND JACK PARNELL'S JAZZ MEN · Arlen · Koehler · 1945 archive.org ↗
- GET HAPPY RED NORVO ALL STARS · DIZZY GILLESPIE · CHARLIE PARKER · FLIP… · 1949 archive.org ↗
- GET HAPPY THE JOHNNY DANKWORTH SEVEN · Jimmie Deucher · Eddie Harvey · Don… · 1950 archive.org ↗
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
| Title | Key |
|---|---|
| Airmail Special 27% | C major |
| All Too Soon 27% | C major |
| Cotton Tail 27% | B♭ major |
| Flat Foot Floogee 27% | F major |
| Good Bait 25% | B♭ major |
| Bewitched 24% | C major |
| Big Nick 23% | G major |
| My Heart Stood Still 23% | F major |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Get Happy in?
Get Happy is usually played in F major. For B♭ instruments that is G major, for E♭ instruments D major.
Who wrote Get Happy?
Get Happy was written by Harold Arlen (1950).
What is the form of Get Happy?
Get Happy has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.
How fast is Get Happy played?
The usual groove is Medium-up swing.
What are the chord changes to Get Happy?
The opening bars are F6 Dm7 | Gm7 C7 | Am7 D7 | Gm7 C7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.