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 24 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”
1955	At Birdland Wild Bill Davis · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1957	Tony Scott in South Africa Tony Scott with The Tony Scott South African Quartet and The Alexandra Dead End Kids · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1958	Wheelin’ & Dealin’ Frank Wess / John Coltrane / Paul Quinichette / Mal Waldron / Doug Watkins / Arthur Taylor · “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”
1959	The Story of the Blues Della Reese · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1960	Mingus Dynasty Charles Mingus · “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”
1960	I Get a Boot Out of You Marty Paich · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1963	Guitar/Guitar Charlie Byrd / Herb Ellis · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1963	Surging Ahead Clare Fischer · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1964	Blue Rabbit Johnny Hodges & Wild Bill Davis · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1964	Late Hour Special Gene Ammons · “Things Ain't What They Used to Br”
1964	Tell It the Way It Is! Paul Gonsalves · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1966	Roll 'em: Shirley Scott Plays the Big Bands Shirley Scott · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1969	Blues Roots The Dave Brubeck Trio feat. Gerry Mulligan · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1969	!!!Live!!! Billy Strayhorn · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1969	Asphalt Canyon Suite Kenny Burrell · “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be”
1969	Kidney Stew Is Fine Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson · “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”
1971	Jumpin’ Punkins Cecil Taylor · “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”
1971	Duke Ellington Classics Humphrey Lyttelton · “Things Ain't What They Used to Be”
1972	Ah ! si j’avais un franc cinquante Boris Vian et son orchestre avec Claude Luter · “Time’s a Waistin’”

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.