Standards · 1942
Moonlight Becomes You chords & key
“Moonlight Becomes You” is a jazz standard by Jimmy Van-Heusen from 1942. It is usually played in F major as a ballad, and the 34-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 8 major ii–V–I cadences and 5 minor ii–V–i, uses 16 different chords and moves between the key centres F major, G minor, B♭ major and D minor. In this atlas it appears on 9 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
- Gm7×8
- Fmaj7×6
- B♭maj7×5
- D7×5
- A7×4
Key centres reached by ii–V
F major, G minor, B♭ major and D minor
Characteristics
- AABA song form
History
"Moonlight Becomes You" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was written for the Paramount Pictures release Road to Morocco (1942) and published in 1942 in connection with the film. Vic Schoen (staff arranger for Paramount) wrote the arrangement. The song has been recorded many times, becoming a standard, but the recording by Bing Crosby on June 12, 1942 is the best known. This topped the Billboard charts in 1942 and spent a total of 17 weeks in the lists.
Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Recorded on these albums
| 1959 | Get Happy! Ella Fitzgerald |
| 1966 | Moonlight Sinatra Frank Sinatra |
| 1986 | Bing Crosby Sings Again Bing Crosby |
| 2000 | Don't Fence Me In Bing Crosby |
| 2000 | The Essential Collection Bing Crosby |
| 2002 | It’s Easy to Remember Bing Crosby |
| 2004 | Bing Crosby Bing Crosby |
| — | Please Bing Crosby · “Moonlight Becomes Her” |
| — | Bing Bing Crosby |
Historic 78 rpm recordings
- Moonlight Becomes You Johnny Jones and his Orchestra · Burke · Van Heusen · 1942 archive.org ↗
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
| Title | Key |
|---|---|
| On The Sunny Side Of The Street 37% | C major |
| Try A Little Tenderness 35% | E♭ major |
| You Took Advantage Of Me 34% | E♭ major |
| Dexterity 32% | B♭ major |
| The Joker 32% | E♭ major |
| Surrey With The Fringe On The Top 32% | B♭ major |
| This Year's Kisses 32% | G major |
| Bunko 30% | F major |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Moonlight Becomes You in?
Moonlight Becomes You is usually played in F major. For B♭ instruments that is G major, for E♭ instruments D major.
Who wrote Moonlight Becomes You?
Moonlight Becomes You was written by Jimmy Van-Heusen (1942).
What is the form of Moonlight Becomes You?
Moonlight Becomes You has 4 sections (AABA) with 34 bars in total.
How fast is Moonlight Becomes You played?
The usual groove is Ballad.
What are the chord changes to Moonlight Becomes You?
The opening bars are Fmaj7 Gbdim7 | Gm7 C7 | Fmaj7 A7 | Bbmaj7 Eb7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.