Standards

Lullaby Of The Leaves chords & key

Key: C minor
Form: AABA
Bars: 32
Groove: Medium swing
Time signature: 4/4

“Lullaby Of The Leaves” is a jazz standard by Bernice Petkere. It is usually played in C minor as a medium swing, and the 32-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains no major ii–V–I cadences and 7 minor ii–V–i, uses 14 different chords and moves between the key centres C minor and F minor. In this atlas it appears on 3 album tracks.

Chord changes

to key

Showing in: Concert (C) — C minor

C^mA^m7♭5

D⁷G^7♭13

G^m7C⁷

F^m7F^m7_/E♭

D^m7♭5

G^7♭13

C^m

A♭⁷G^7♭9

C^m

A♭⁷

C^maj7

A♭⁷

C⁶A⁷

D^m7♭5G^7♭13

C^mA^m7♭5

D⁷G^7♭13

G^m7C⁷

F^m7F^m7_/E♭

D^m7♭5

G^7♭13

C^m

D^m7♭5G^7♭9

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

Harmonic analysis

0Major ii–V–I

7Minor ii–V–i

11ii–V moves

0Tritone substitutions

3Dominant chains

14Different chords

Most used chords

C^m×7
G^7♭13×7
D^m7♭5×5
A♭⁷×5
A^m7♭5×3
D⁷×3

Key centres reached by ii–V

C minor and F minor

Characteristics

AABA song form

Recorded on these albums

1950	Dizzy Gillespie Plays & Johnny Richards Conducts Dizzy Gillespie & Johnny Richards · “Lullaby of the Leaves”
1957	The Dizzy Gillespie Story Dizzy Gillespie · “Lullaby of the Leaves”
1964	Hello, Dolly! Ella Fitzgerald · “Lullaby of the Leaves”

Historic 78 rpm recordings

LULLABY OF THE LEAVES ERROLL GARNER · Petkere · Young · 1950 archive.org ↗

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

Title	Composer	Key	Form	Groove
Nature Boy 23%	Eden Ahbez	D minor	ABAC · 32	Ballad
You And The Night And The Music 23%	Arthur Schwartz	C minor	BBAA · 32	Medium-up swing
Yesterdays 22%	Jerome Kern	D minor	A · 16	Medium-up swing
We Will Meet Again 21%	Bill Evans	C minor	A · 16	Jazz waltz
Decision 20%	Sonny Rollins	F minor	A · 13	Medium swing
Sway 20%	Ruiz-Gimbel	G minor	AABA · 32	Latin

Frequently asked questions

What key is Lullaby Of The Leaves in?

Lullaby Of The Leaves is usually played in C minor. For B♭ instruments that is D minor, for E♭ instruments A minor.

Who wrote Lullaby Of The Leaves?

Lullaby Of The Leaves was written by Bernice Petkere.

What is the form of Lullaby Of The Leaves?

Lullaby Of The Leaves has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.

How fast is Lullaby Of The Leaves played?

The usual groove is Medium swing.

What are the chord changes to Lullaby Of The Leaves?

The opening bars are Cm Am7b5 | D7 G7b13 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Fm7/Eb. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.