Standards

Things Ain't What They Used To Be chords & key

Key: D♭ major
Form: A
Bars: 12
Groove: Medium swing
Time signature: 4/4

“Things Ain't What They Used To Be” is a jazz standard by Duke Ellington. It is usually played in D♭ major as a medium swing, and the 12-bar A form repeats as one section. Its changes follow the 12-bar blues. In this atlas it appears on 18 album tracks.

Chord changes

to key

Showing in: Concert (C) — D♭ major

D♭⁷

G♭⁷

D♭⁷

G♭⁷

D♭⁷

E♭^m7

A♭⁷

D♭⁷B♭⁷

E♭^m7A♭⁷

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

Harmonic analysis

0Major ii–V–I

0Minor ii–V–i

2ii–V moves

0Tritone substitutions

3Dominant chains

5Different chords

Most used chords

D♭⁷×6
G♭⁷×3
E♭^m7×2
A♭⁷×2
B♭⁷×1

Characteristics

12-bar blues

Recorded on these albums

1953	Piano Reflections Duke Ellington · “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”
1953	Oscar Peterson Plays Duke Ellington Oscar Peterson · “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”
1954	The Duke Plays Ellington Duke Ellington · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1959	Oscar Peterson Plays the Duke Ellington Song Book Oscar Peterson · “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”
1971	Things Ain’t What They Used to Be (and You Better Believe It) Ella Fitzgerald · “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”
1975	This One's for Blanton! Duke Ellington & Ray Brown · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1989	Piano Reflections Duke Ellington · “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”
1993	Jazz Tribune No.69: Indispensable Duke Ellington · “Time's a Wastin' (Things Ain't What They Used to Be)”
1999	A Tone Parallel to Harlem Duke Ellington; Claude Bolling Big Band · “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be / Time’s a Wastin’”
2000	Classic Ellington Duke Ellington arr. Luther Henderson; City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle, Lena Horne · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
2000	Swingin' With The Duke Duke Ellington · “Things Ain't What They Used To Be (Instrumental)”
2012	Blue Note Jazz Inspiration Duke Ellington · “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”
2013	Battle Of Swing, Vol. 3 Duke Ellington · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
2014	In Gröna Lund 1963 Duke Ellington · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
2017	Take the A Train Duke Ellington · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
2021	In My Solitude: Solo Piano and Small Group Performances Duke Ellington, Sir Roland Hanna & Billy Strayhorn · “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be (Live, Columbia University, New York City, 1964)”
2021	In My Solitude: Solo Piano and Small Group Performances Duke Ellington, Sir Roland Hanna & Billy Strayhorn · “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be (Live, Columbia University, New York City, 1964)”
2024	Copenhagen 1958 (bonus: After Hours 1950) Duke Ellington · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”

Historic 78 rpm recordings

Things Ain't What They Used to Be Johnny Hodges and Orchestra (An Ellington Unit) · Mercer · Ellington · 1942 archive.org ↗
THINGS AIN'T WHAT THEY USED TO BE COOTIE WILLIAMS And His Orchestra · Eddie Vincon · Ellington · Persons · 1944 archive.org ↗

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

Title	Composer	Key	Form	Groove
Sonnymoon For Two 100%	Sonny Rollins	B♭ major	A · 12	Medium-up swing
Misterioso 63%	Thelonious Monk	B♭ major	A · 12	Medium swing
Trane’s Blues 63%	John Coltrane	B♭ major	A · 12	Medium swing
Parker's Mood 56%	Charlie Parker	B♭ major	A · 12	Medium swing
Tenor Madness 56%	Sonny Rollins	B♭ major	A · 12	Medium-up swing
Bags' Groove 55%	Milt Jackson	F major	A · 12	Medium swing
Sandu 55%	Clifford Brown	E♭ major	A · 12	Medium swing
Blues In The Closet 50%	Oscar Pettiford	A♭ major	A · 12	Medium-up swing

Frequently asked questions

What key is Things Ain't What They Used To Be in?

Things Ain't What They Used To Be is usually played in D♭ major. For B♭ instruments that is E♭ major, for E♭ instruments B♭ major.

Who wrote Things Ain't What They Used To Be?

Things Ain't What They Used To Be was written by Duke Ellington.

What is the form of Things Ain't What They Used To Be?

Things Ain't What They Used To Be has 1 sections (A) with 12 bars in total.

How fast is Things Ain't What They Used To Be played?

The usual groove is Medium swing.

What are the chord changes to Things Ain't What They Used To Be?

The opening bars are Db7 | Gb7 | Db7 | Db7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.