Ralph Rainger, music · Leo Robin, lyrics · Written for the film Easy Living, 1937

Easy Living

Easy Living is a 1937 ballad by Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin, from the film of the same name. Players like its chords, which slip from F major into D♭ major and back again. You will hear it from singers, piano trios, horn players and guitarists, usually as a ballad.

F major · 32 bars · A A B A form · how it works

Listen in this order

The path starts with Billie Holiday's 1937 record, then a piano trio, a horn-led quintet and a sextet. It goes on to a group without piano, a second trio, an alto and guitar quartet, and a voice with guitar alone. Each step gives one thing to listen for and one thing to try.

8 recordings, 1937 to 1986 · Play all 8 on YouTube ↗

Teddy Wilson1937 · Vocal
1940s
Clifford Brown Sextet1953 · Bebop
Hampton Hawes Trio1955 · Bebop
Miles Davis Quintet1955 · Cool jazz
Sonny Criss Quintet1956
Bill Evans Trio1956 · Cool jazz
Paul Desmond1964 · Cool jazz
1970s
Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass1986 · Swing

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Learn the song

Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra (vocal Billie Holiday) · 1937 · Vocal

Foolin' Myself / Easy Living

Listen for: The song runs 32 bars in AABA form. Count the four eight-bar sections as Holiday sings.
Try this: Hum the melody along with the record. Then play it on your instrument in F, the usual key, with the chords from the chart.

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Hear it as a piano trio

Hampton Hawes Trio · 1955 · Bebop, Hard bop

Hampton Hawes Trio, Vol. 1

Listen for: There are no horns, only piano, bass and drums. Count how many times the 32-bar form goes round in the 4:49.
Try this: Play the melody with your right hand and only the chord roots with your left. If that is easy, add the third of each chord.

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Hear a horn lead a quintet

Sonny Criss Quintet · 1956

Jazz U.S.A.

Listen for: This take runs 2:22, the shortest on the path. Follow the alto sax and count the passes through the 32 bars.
Try this: Play the melody on a single-note instrument, the way a horn would, then play it again with the chords underneath.

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Hear a sextet with three horns

Clifford Brown Sextet · 1953 · Bebop

New Star on the Horizon

Listen for: The group has three horns: trumpet, alto sax or flute, and tenor sax. Pick one and follow it through the form.
Try this: Learn only the bridge, bars 17 to 24, with its chords. It starts in D♭ major and returns to F.

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Hear it without a piano

Miles Davis Quintet · 1955 · Cool jazz

Blue Moods

Listen for: The group has no piano. Listen for which instruments fill in the chords under the trumpet.
Try this: Play the chords from the chart as broken chords, one note at a time, the way a vibraphone or bass could.

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Hear a second piano trio

Bill Evans Trio · 1956 · Cool jazz

New Jazz Conceptions

Listen for: Compare this trio with the Hawes trio from a year earlier. Both are piano, bass and drums, so listen to how each pianist fills the space.
Try this: Play the first A section with the chords from the chart, holding each chord for its full bar or half bar.

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Hear alto sax and guitar

Paul Desmond (Paul Desmond - Jim Hall Quartet) · 1964 · Cool jazz, Easy listening

Easy Living

Listen for: The group has no piano, so the guitar and bass carry the chords. At 7:10 the form goes round many times, so count the passes.
Try this: Play the melody twice, once as written and once with small changes of your own to the rhythm.

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Hear voice and guitar alone

Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass · 1986 · Swing, Bebop

Easy Living

Listen for: Only a voice and a guitar are on the record, so the guitar plays every chord you can hear.
Try this: Sing the melody over your own chords on guitar or piano, using the chart, one chord per bar at first.

Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

More great versions

2 more, from 1957 to 1965. Tap a cover to play it here.

The Phil Woods Quartet1957 · Bebop
Chet Baker1965 · Cool jazz

How the tune works

F majorusual key

32 barsA · A · B · A form

F major → D♭ major → F majorkey centers

A8 bars

B8 bars · bridge

A8 bars

D♭

The song is 32 bars in AABA form. The first A stays in F major, with a few passing chords, and ends on Gm7 and C7, which lead back to the top. The second A repeats the first five bars, then goes Gm7 C7, Fmaj7 B♭7 and E♭m7 A♭7. That last E♭m7 and A♭7 lead into D♭ major, where the bridge begins. The bridge stays in D♭ major for six bars, then uses Gm7 and C7 to return to F. The last A is the first A again, ending on a Gm7 C7 turnaround. The key areas come from a reading of the iReal Pro chord chart.

Play the changes

F major

Open in iReal Pro ↗

A11 bars

F^maj7F♯^°7

G^m7G♯^°7

F^maj7/AC^m7F⁷

B♭^maj7E♭⁷

F^maj7D^m7

1.G^m7C⁷

A^m7D⁷

G^m7C⁷

2.G^m7C⁷

F^maj7B♭⁷

E♭^m7A♭⁷

B8 bars

D♭^maj7B♭^m7

E♭^m7A♭⁷

F^m7B♭⁷

E♭^m7A♭⁷

D♭^maj7D♭^maj7/C

B♭^m7B♭^m7/A♭

G^m7

C⁷C^7♯5

A8 bars

F^maj7F♯^°7

G^m7G♯^°7

F^maj7/AC^m7F⁷

B♭^maj7E♭⁷

F^maj7D^m7

G^m7C⁷

F^maj7D^m7

G^m7C⁷

Chart from iReal Pro's Jazz 1460 playlist, contributed by its users.

Listen in this order

Learn the song

Hear it as a piano trio

Hear a horn lead a quintet

Hear a sextet with three horns

Hear it without a piano

Hear a second piano trio

Hear alto sax and guitar

Hear voice and guitar alone

More great versions

The Phil Woods Quartet

Chet Baker

How the tune works

Play the changes