Standards
Lady Sings The Blues chords & key
“Lady Sings The Blues” is a jazz standard by Nichols-Holiday. Most bands play it in F minor, ballad; the tune runs 32 bars in AABA form. Harmonically it contains no major ii–V–I cadences and 2 minor ii–V–i, uses 13 different chords. In this atlas it appears on 12 album tracks.
Chord changes
Showing in: Concert (C) — F minor
A
×2B
A
⊕
Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.
Harmonic analysis
0Major ii–V–I
2Minor ii–V–i
3ii–V moves
0Tritone substitutions
2Dominant chains
13Different chords
Most used chords
- Fmaj7×6
- Fm6×4
- C7♭9×4
- F7×4
- Fm×3
- Fmaug×3
Characteristics
- AABA song form
Recorded on these albums
| 1956 | Lady Sings the Blues Billie Holiday · “Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 1957 | She's The Tops! Cleo Laine · “The Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 1959 | Witchcraft Chris Connor · “The Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 1963 | Call Me Mister Acker Bilk with The Leon Young String Chorale · “The Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 1967 | Live in San Francisco Archie Shepp · “The Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 1973 | Got My Own Gene Ammons · “Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 1994 | The Billie Holiday Songbook Terence Blanchard · “Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 2002 | Left Alone Revisited Archie Shepp & Mal Waldron · “Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 2005 | Lieb Plays Wilder David Liebman, Eric Ineke and Marius Beets · “The Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 2010 | Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959) To Billie with Love Dee Dee Bridgewater · “Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 2019 | I Surrender Dear Brötzmann Solo · “Lady Sings the Blues” |
| 2019 | The Complete Atlantic and FM Albums Chris Connor · “The Lady Sings the Blues” |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Lady Sings The Blues in?
Lady Sings The Blues is usually played in F minor. For B♭ instruments that is G minor, for E♭ instruments D minor.
Who wrote Lady Sings The Blues?
Lady Sings The Blues was written by Nichols-Holiday.
What is the form of Lady Sings The Blues?
Lady Sings The Blues has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.
How fast is Lady Sings The Blues played?
The usual groove is Ballad.
What are the chord changes to Lady Sings The Blues?
The opening bars are Fm | Fmaug | Fm6 | Fm7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.