Standards · 1942
Salt Peanuts chords & key
- Key
- B♭ major
- Form
- AABA
- Bars
- 32
- Groove
- Up-tempo swing
- Time signature
- 4/4
- Year
- 1942
“Salt Peanuts” is a jazz standard by Dizzy Gillespie from 1942. Most bands play it in B♭ major, up-tempo swing; the tune runs 32 bars in AABA form. Harmonically it contains 3 major ii–V–I cadences and 4 minor ii–V–i, uses 12 different chords and moves between the key centres C minor and B♭ major. The bridge uses the cycle of dominants known from Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” — so-called rhythm changes. In this atlas it appears on 1 album track.
Chord changes
Showing in: Concert (C) — B♭ major
Changes as commonly played (concert pitch). Your band's version may differ.
Harmonic analysis
Most used chords
- F7×11
- G7×9
- Cm7×9
- Dm7×4
- B♭maj7×3
- Fm7×3
Key centres reached by ii–V
C minor and B♭ major
Characteristics
- Rhythm changes
- AABA song form
History
"Salt Peanuts" is a bebop tune composed by Dizzy Gillespie in 1941, co-written by drummer Kenny Clarke. The song was copyrighted on October 13, 1941 and credited to both musicians. It has also been erroneously cited as a composition by Charlie Parker. Parker himself publicly credited Gillespie as the composer on May 15, 1953, as may be heard on the Jazz at Massey Hall live recording. The original lyrics have no exophoric meaning. Instead, they are a skat/bebop vocal which matches the octave note interval played predominantly throughout the song. The Pointer Sisters subsequently included vocalese lyrics for their rendition of "Salt Peanuts" as recorded on their album That's a Plenty.
Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Recorded on these albums
Historic 78 rpm recordings
- Salt Peanuts Auld-Hawkins-Webster Saxtet · Coleman Hawkins · Ben Webster ·… · 1944 archive.org ↗
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
| Title | Key |
|---|---|
| Anthropology 100% | B♭ major |
| Moose The Mooche 100% | B♭ major |
| No Moe 100% | B♭ major |
| Oleo 100% | B♭ major |
| Passport 100% | B♭ major |
| Shaw 'Nuff 100% | B♭ major |
| The Theme 100% | B♭ major |
| Thriving From A Riff 77% | B♭ major |
Frequently asked questions
What key is Salt Peanuts in?
Salt Peanuts is usually played in B♭ major. For B♭ instruments that is C major, for E♭ instruments G major.
Who wrote Salt Peanuts?
Salt Peanuts was written by Dizzy Gillespie (1942).
What is the form of Salt Peanuts?
Salt Peanuts has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.
How fast is Salt Peanuts played?
The usual groove is Up-tempo swing.
What are the chord changes to Salt Peanuts?
The opening bars are Bbmaj7 G7 | Cm7 F7 | Dm7 G7 | Cm7 F7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.