Standards · 1947
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? chords & key
“What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?” is a jazz standard by Frank Loesser from 1947. It is usually played in F major as a ballad, and the 32-bar AABA form has 4 sections. Harmonically it contains 1 major ii–V–I cadence and 2 minor ii–V–i, uses 17 different chords and moves between the key centres G minor, F major and A minor. In this atlas it appears on 3 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
- Fmaj7×9
- E♭7×6
- C7×5
- G7×4
- Am7×4
- F7×3
Key centres reached by ii–V
G minor, F major and A minor
Characteristics
- AABA song form
History
"What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" is a popular song written in 1947 by Frank Loesser as an independent song. It was first recorded by Margaret Whiting in 1947 and first charted for The Orioles, peaking at No. 9 on Billboard's Best-Selling Retail Rhythm & Blues chart in December 1949. Other charted versions include Danté & The Evergreens (No. 107 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles in December 1960) and Nancy Wilson (No. 17 on Billboard's Christmas Singles chart in December 1965 and No. 24 on the same chart in December 1967). Although it is typically performed in December, that was not the composer's intent. In A Most Remarkable Fella: Frank Loesser and the Guys and Dolls in His Life, his daughter Susan Loesser explains that "the singer, madly in love, is making a (possibly rash) commitment far into the future. ("Maybe it's much too early in the game.
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Recorded on these albums
| 1960 | Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas Ella Fitzgerald · “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” |
| 1966 | Merry From Lena Lena Horne · “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve” |
| 2001 | Christmas Memories Barbra Streisand · “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” |
Historic 78 rpm recordings
- What Are You Doing New Years Eve Haymes archive.org ↗
Standards with similar changes
Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.
| Title | Key |
|---|---|
| Rosetta 28% | F major |
| All Too Soon 26% | C major |
| Am I Blue? 26% | F major |
| But Not For Me 26% | E♭ major |
| Blueberry Hill 25% | E♭ major |
| I May Be Wrong 25% | E♭ major |
| Yardbird Suite 24% | C major |
| There Will Never Be Another You 23% | E♭ major |
Frequently asked questions
What key is What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? in?
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? is usually played in F major. For B♭ instruments that is G major, for E♭ instruments D major.
Who wrote What Are You Doing New Year's Eve??
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? was written by Frank Loesser (1947).
What is the form of What Are You Doing New Year's Eve??
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? has 4 sections (AABA) with 32 bars in total.
How fast is What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? played?
The usual groove is Ballad.
What are the chord changes to What Are You Doing New Year's Eve??
The opening bars are Fmaj7 | Eb7 | Fmaj7 F7 | Bbmaj7 Eb7. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.