Standards · 1932
Isn't It Romantic? chords & key
- Key
- E♭ major
- Form
- ABAC
- Bars
- 32
- Groove
- Medium swing
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Year
- 1932
“Isn't It Romantic?” is a jazz standard by Richard Rodgers from 1932. It is usually played in E♭ major as a medium swing, and the 32-bar ABAC form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 9 major ii–V–I cadences and 2 minor ii–V–i, uses 26 different chords and moves between the key centres E♭ major, A♭ major and C minor. In this atlas it appears on 4 album tracks.
Chord changes
Showing in: Concert (C) — E♭ major
Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.
Harmonic analysis
Most used chords
- B♭7×9
- Fm7×7
- E♭6×4
- E♭maj7×4
- B♭m7×3
- E♭7×3
Key centres reached by ii–V
E♭ major, A♭ major and C minor
Characteristics
- ABAC song form
History
"Isn't It Romantic?" is a popular song and part of the Great American Songbook. The music was composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart. It has a 32-bar chorus in A–B–A–C form. Alec Wilder, in his book American Popular Song: The Great Innovators 1900–1950, calls it "a perfect song." It was introduced by Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in the Paramount film Love Me Tonight (1932). It has since been recorded numerous times, with and without vocals, by many jazz and popular artists. The song has also since been featured in a number of other movies. In Love Me Tonight, the song is used in a sequence in which it is first sung by Maurice Chevalier, a tailor, and then taken up by others (his customer, a cabby, a composer, a troop of soldiers, a band of gypsies) and is finally heard and sung by a princess, played by Jeanette MacDonald. The lyrics in the film are not the same as those in the published version.
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Recorded on these albums
| 1954 | Oscar Peterson Plays Richard Rodgers Oscar Peterson · “Isn't It Romantic” |
| 1956 | Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book Ella Fitzgerald · “Isn’t It Romantic” |
| 1959 | Oscar Peterson Plays the Richard Rodgers Songbook Oscar Peterson |
| 1976 | Tony Bennett Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs Tony Bennett |
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
| Title | Key |
|---|---|
| Among My Souvenirs 28% | E♭ major |
| If There Is Someone Lovelier 27% | C major |
| Bye Bye Baby 26% | B♭ major |
| Some Enchanted Evening 26% | C major |
| For Sentimental Reasons 24% | F major |
| Palo Alto 24% | F major |
| You Are Too Beautiful 24% | C major |
| Too Young To Go Steady 23% | F major |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Isn't It Romantic? in?
Isn't It Romantic? is usually played in E♭ major. For B♭ instruments that is F major, for E♭ instruments C major.
Who wrote Isn't It Romantic??
Isn't It Romantic? was written by Richard Rodgers (1932).
What is the form of Isn't It Romantic??
Isn't It Romantic? has 4 sections (ABAC) with 32 bars in total.
How fast is Isn't It Romantic? played?
The usual groove is Medium swing.
What are the chord changes to Isn't It Romantic??
The opening bars are Eb6 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Edim7 | Fm7 Bb7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.