Standards

I'm Beginning To See The Light chords & key

Key: C major
Form: AABA
Bars: 32
Groove: Medium-up swing
Time signature: 4/4

“I'm Beginning To See The Light” is a jazz standard by Hodges-James-Ellington. Most bands play it in C major, medium-up swing; the tune runs 32 bars in AABA form. In this atlas it appears on 24 album tracks.

Chord changes

to key

Showing in: Concert (C) — C major

×2

D⁷G⁷

C⁶A⁷

D⁷G⁷

E♭^m7A♭⁷

D⁷G⁷

C⁷B♭⁷A⁷

D⁷G⁷

C⁶

E⁷

E♭⁷

D⁷

A♭⁷

G⁷

D⁷G⁷

C⁶A⁷

D⁷G⁷

E♭^m7A♭⁷

D⁷G⁷

C⁷B♭⁷A⁷

D⁷G⁷

C⁶

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

Harmonic analysis

0Major ii–V–I

0Minor ii–V–i

3ii–V moves

0Tritone substitutions

21Dominant chains

10Different chords

Most used chords

D⁷×14
G⁷×13
C⁶×6
A⁷×6
A♭⁷×4
E♭^m7×3

Characteristics

AABA song form

Recorded on these albums

1955	Music for Tired Lovers Woody Herman & Erroll Garner · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1956	The Greatest! Count Basie Plays...Joe Williams Sings Standards Count Basie
1957	Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Duke Ellington Song Book Ella Fitzgerald · “I’m Beginning to See the Light”
1957	Gene Norman Presents Mel Torme at the Crescendo Mel Tormé · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1957	The Big Challenge Cootie & Rex · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1958	Who's Sorry Now Connie Francis · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1958	Things Are Swingin’ Peggy Lee · “I’m Beginning to See the Light”
1959	Maynard Ferguson Plays Jazz for Dancing Maynard Ferguson · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1960	Della Della Reese · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1960	Once More With Feeling Billy Eckstine · “I’m Beginning to See the Light”
1960	Sounds for Sick? People Klaus Ogerman · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1960	A Girl and Her Guitar Mary Osborne · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1961	'Spoon Jimmy Witherspoon
1962	Sinatra and Swingin’ Brass Frank Sinatra · “I’m Beginning to See the Light”
1962	Oh! Look at Me Now Bobby Darin · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1962	Swinging for You Danny Williams & Nelson Riddle · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1963	The Great Reunion Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1963	Ella and Basie! Ella Fitzgerald & The Count Basie Orchestra · “I’m Beginning to See the Light”
1963	My Coloring Book and Her Other Great Hits Kitty Kallen · “I’m Beginning to See the Light”
1965	The Nancy Wilson Show! Nancy Wilson · “I’m Beginning to See the Light”
1965	Con-Soul & Sax Wild Bill Davis & Johnny Hodges · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1966	Serenade to Sweden Alice Babs & Duke Ellington · “I'm Beginning to See the Light”
1966	The Duke At Tanglewood Duke Ellington • Boston Pops • Arthur Fiedler
1966	Mumbles Clark Terry

Historic 78 rpm recordings

I'm Beginning to See the Light Oscar Pettiford · Billy Taylor · Charlie Mingus · Charlie Smith · 1952 archive.org ↗

Frequently asked questions

What key is I'm Beginning To See The Light in?

I'm Beginning To See The Light is usually played in C major. For B♭ instruments that is D major, for E♭ instruments A major.

Who wrote I'm Beginning To See The Light?

I'm Beginning To See The Light was written by Hodges-James-Ellington.

What is the form of I'm Beginning To See The Light?

I'm Beginning To See The Light has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.

How fast is I'm Beginning To See The Light played?

The usual groove is Medium-up swing.

What are the chord changes to I'm Beginning To See The Light?

The opening bars are D7 G7 | C6 A7 | D7 G7 | Ebm7 Ab7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.