Standards

There's A Small Hotel chords & key

Key: G major
Form: AABA
Bars: 32
Groove: Medium swing
Time signature: 4/4

“There's A Small Hotel” is a jazz standard by Richard Rodgers. It is usually played in G major as a medium swing, and the 32-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 6 major ii–V–I cadences and 2 minor ii–V–i, uses 15 different chords and moves between the key centres G major, C major, A minor and G minor. In this atlas it appears on 24 album tracks.

Chord changes

to key

Showing in: Concert (C) — G major

G^maj7

G^maj7C⁷

B^m7A♯^dim7

A^m7G♯^dim7

A^m7D⁷

G^maj7E^m7

A^m7D⁷

D^m7G⁷

C^maj7

D^m7G⁷

C^maj7

B^m7E^7♭9

A^m7

B^m7E^7♭9

F⁷E⁷

A^m7♭5D⁷

G^maj7

G^maj7C⁷

B^m7A♯^dim7

A^m7G♯^dim7

A^m7D⁷

G^maj7

A^m7D⁷

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

Harmonic analysis

6Major ii–V–I

2Minor ii–V–i

10ii–V moves

3Tritone substitutions

0Dominant chains

15Different chords

Most used chords

G^maj7×12
A^m7×9
D⁷×6
B^m7×5
C⁷×3
A♯^dim7×3

Key centres reached by ii–V

G major, C major, A minor and G minor

Characteristics

AABA song form

Recorded on these albums

1950	Session for Six Benny Goodman · “There's a Small Hotel”
1952	Plays Pretty Oscar Peterson · “Small Hotel”
1955	Contrasts Erroll Garner · “There's a Small Hotel”
1955	Storyville Presents Ruby Braff Ruby Braff · “There's a Small Hotel”
1956	Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Rodgers and Hart Song Book Ella Fitzgerald · “There’s a Small Hotel”
1957	Basie Rides Again Count Basie
1957	Boy Meets Girl Sammy Davis Jr. and Carmen McRae · “There’s a Small Hotel”
1957	Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 1 Jimmy Smith · “There's a Small Hotel”
1958	Hip Harp Dorothy Ashby · “There's a Small Hotel”
1959	Stan Getz Quartets Stan Getz · “There's a Small Hotel”
1960	Pretty Music Prima Style, Volume One Louis Prima · “There’s a Small Hotel”
1960	Della Della Cha Cha Cha Della Reese · “There's a Small Hotel”
1961	Complete Original Trio Recordings Hank Jones · “There's a Small Hotel”
1961	Broadway Bongos and Mr. “B” Billy Eckstine · “There’s a Small Hotel”
1977	Tony Bennett Sings... More Great Rodgers & Hart Tony Bennett · “There’s a Small Hotel”
1984	Just One of Those Things Stéphane Grappelli · “There's a Small Hotel”
1991	I'll Take Romance George Shearing · “There's a Small Hotel”
1991	Hank Jones with the Meridian String Quartet Hank Jones · “There's a Small Hotel”
1991	Sweet 'n Lovely, Volume 1 Tete Montoliu & Mundell Lowe · “There's a Small Hotel”
1992	An Evening at Home With the Bird Charlie Parker · “There's a Small Hotel”
1993	The Vogue Recordings, Vol. II / Trios & Solos Martial Solal · “There's a Small Hotel”
1994	WWII Radio Broadcast: March 9, 1944 and June 29, 1944 Bing Crosby · “There’s a Small Hotel”
1994	Songs for Ellen Joe Pass · “There's a Small Hotel”
1995	Ack Värmeland du sköna Jan Johansson · “There’s a Small Hotel”

Historic 78 rpm recordings

THERE'S A SMALL HOTEL RALPH SHARON SEXTET · Ralph Sharon · Pete Chilver · Jimmy Skidmore ·… · 1950 archive.org ↗

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

Title	Composer	Key	Form	Groove
I'm In The Mood For Love 26%	Jimmy McHugh	C major	AABA · 32	Medium swing
Let There Be Love 26%	Rand-Grant	E♭ major	ABAC · 32	Medium swing
Del Sasser 25%	Sam Jones	E♭ major	AAB · 48	Medium-up swing
At Long Last Love 24%	Cole Porter	C major	AB · 32	Medium swing
The Blue Room 23%	Richard Rodgers	F major	AABC · 32	Medium swing
I've Never Been In Love Before 23%	Frank Loesser	B♭ major	AABA · 32	Medium swing
Where Are You? 23%	Jimmy McHugh	G major	AABA · 32	Ballad
Without A Song 22%	Vincent Youmans	E♭ major	AAB · 44	Up-tempo swing

Frequently asked questions

What key is There's A Small Hotel in?

There's A Small Hotel is usually played in G major. For B♭ instruments that is A major, for E♭ instruments E major.

Who wrote There's A Small Hotel?

There's A Small Hotel was written by Richard Rodgers.

What is the form of There's A Small Hotel?

There's A Small Hotel has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.

How fast is There's A Small Hotel played?

The usual groove is Medium swing.

What are the chord changes to There's A Small Hotel?

The opening bars are Gmaj7 | Gmaj7 | Gmaj7 C7 | Bm7 A#dim7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.