Standards · 1933

Yesterdays chords & key

Jerome Kern · Lyrics: Otto Harbach

Key: D minor
Form: A
Bars: 16
Groove: Medium-up swing
Time signature: 4/4
Year: 1933

“Yesterdays” is a jazz standard by Jerome Kern from 1933. Most bands play it in D minor, medium-up swing; the tune runs 16 bars in A form. Harmonically it contains no major ii–V–I cadences and 2 minor ii–V–i, uses 13 different chords. In this atlas it appears on 14 album tracks and in 1 transcribed solo.

Chord changes

to key

Showing in: Concert (C) — D minor

D^m

E^m7♭5A^7♭9

D^m

E^m7♭5A^7♭9

D^mD^mmaj7_/D♭

D^m7_/C

B^m7♭5

E⁷

A^7♯5

D⁹

G¹³

C⁹

F¹³

B♭^maj7

E^m7♭5

A^7♭9

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

Harmonic analysis

0Major ii–V–I

2Minor ii–V–i

4ii–V moves

0Tritone substitutions

5Dominant chains

13Different chords

Most used chords

D^m×3
E^m7♭5×3
A^7♭9×3
D^mmaj7_/D♭×1
D^m7_/C×1
B^m7♭5×1

History

"Yesterdays" is a 1933 song about nostalgia composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Otto Harbach. They wrote the song for Roberta, a musical based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller. "Yesterdays" was overshadowed by the musical production's more popular song, "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", which was a number one hit for the Paul Whiteman orchestra.

Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Recorded on these albums

1947	Billie Holiday Billie Holiday
1952	Young Man With a Horn Miles Davis
1953	An Evening With Billie Holiday Billie Holiday
1957	Dizzy in Greece Dizzy Gillespie
1957	Dizzy Gillespie's Big Band Jazz Dizzy Gillespie
1959	Oscar Peterson Plays the Jerome Kern Songbook Oscar Peterson
1962	Sinatra & Strings Frank Sinatra
1963	Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook Ella Fitzgerald
1966	Color Me Barbra Barbra Streisand
1966	A Time for Love Tony Bennett
1966	Put On a Happy Face Oscar Peterson
1968	A Portrait of Ray Ray Charles
1978	Tea for Two Yehudi Menuhin & Stéphane Grappelli
2026	Somewhere Over The Rainbow Sun Ra

Transcribed solos on Yesterdays

J.J. Johnson trombone

125 BPM

D-min

1957-10-07

Historic 78 rpm recordings

Yesterdays Milt Jackson Quartet · Milt Jackson · John Lewis · Ray Brown · Kenny… archive.org ↗
Yesterdays Coleman Hawkins & Orchestra · Coleman Hawkins · Jerome Kern · 1944 archive.org ↗
Yesterdays Errol Garner · Harbach · Kern · 1945 archive.org ↗
YESTERDAYS THE BILL DAVISON SIX · Wild Bill Davison · Garvin Bushell · Jimmy… · 1947 archive.org ↗
YESTERDAYS OLIVE MASON · H. Siegel · E. Backus · M. Lishon · Jerome Kern · 1950 archive.org ↗

Standards with similar changes

Similarity of the chord progression, independent of key.

Title	Composer	Key	Form	Groove
Nature Boy 32%	Eden Ahbez	D minor	ABAC · 32	Ballad
You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To 25%	Cole Porter	A minor	ABAD · 32	Medium-up swing
Be-Bop 23%	Dizzy Gillespie	F minor	AABA · 32	Up-tempo swing
Bernie's Tune 22%	Bernie Miller	D minor	AABA · 32	Medium-up swing
Lullaby Of The Leaves 22%	Bernice Petkere	C minor	AABA · 32	Medium swing
We Will Meet Again 22%	Bill Evans	C minor	A · 16	Jazz waltz
Dat Dere 21%	Bobby Timmons	C minor	AABA · 32	Slow swing
Serenade To A Cuckoo 21%	Roland Kirk	F minor	AB · 16	Medium swing

Frequently asked questions

What key is Yesterdays in?

Yesterdays is usually played in D minor. For B♭ instruments that is E minor, for E♭ instruments B minor.

Who wrote Yesterdays?

Yesterdays was written by Jerome Kern (1933).

What is the form of Yesterdays?

Yesterdays has 1 sections (A) with 16 bars in total.

How fast is Yesterdays played?

The usual groove is Medium-up swing. Transcribed solos in our data were played at 125 BPM.

What are the chord changes to Yesterdays?

The opening bars are Dm | Em7b5 A7b9 | Dm | Em7b5 A7b9. The full chart above can be transposed to any key.