Morgan Lewis, music · Nancy Hamilton, lyrics · Introduced in the Broadway revue Two for the Show
How High the Moon
How High the Moon is a 32-bar song from the 1940 Broadway revue Two for the Show. Each key turns minor to lead a whole tone down, and Parker's Ornithology reuses those changes. Jam sessions still play it, usually fast, though Lewis wrote it as a slow ballad.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, vocal by Helen Forrest✓
- 2 Hear the multitrack hit Les Paul and Mary Ford✓
- 3 Hear a scat chorus Ella Fitzgerald with the Paul Smith Quartet✓
- 4 Hear the changes with a new tune Charlie Parker Septet✓
- 5 Hear a tenor saxophone take Don Byas Quintet✓
- 6 Hear the changes in G Chet Baker Sextet✓
- 7 Hear a piano trio Bud Powell Trio✓
- 8 Hear the song come back around Jeff Beck with Imelda May✓
How the tune works
Thirty-two bars in four sections of eight, A B A C, in G major. The A section steps down a whole tone at a time: two bars of Gmaj7, then Gm7 and C7 lead to two bars of Fmaj7, and Fm7 and B♭7 lead toward E♭. The B section opens on E♭maj7, passes through Am7♭5 D7♭9 to a bar of Gm7 and another Am7♭5 D7♭9, a short stay in G minor, and comes home with Gmaj7, Em7, Am7 and D7. The A section then returns unchanged. The C section begins like the B, with E♭maj7 and Am7♭5 D7♭9, but lands on Gmaj7 and finishes with a run of cadences: Am7 D7, Bm7 E7, Am7 D7, G6, and a last Am7 D7 that leads back to the top.
The 32-bar chorus in G, four bars to a line: A (bars 1–8), B (9–16), A (17–24) and C (25–32). Where a bar holds two chords, each gets half the bar.
Taken from the chord chart on standardrepertoire.com (medium swing, common key G, 32 bars, form ABAC). The sheet writes half-diminished chords as Aø7 and major sevenths with a triangle; they are spelled Am7♭5 and maj7 here. It has no intro and no tag. Other charts differ in the second half of the B section: the Weimar Jazz Database transcription of Pepper Adams's solo on Chet Baker's Chet (1958) plays bars 11 to 16 as Gm7, Gm7, G7♭9, Cmaj7, Bm7 B♭7 and Am7 D7, and writes D7 in bar 10 where this chart has D7♭9. JazzStandards.com labels the form A B1 A B2, describes a descending progression in which each tonic turns minor to lead a whole step down, and notes a brief passage in G minor in bars 11 and 12, which this chart shows. The chart is a single published sheet, so compare it with the one you play from and with the recording. Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Source: standardrepertoire.com: How High The Moon (chord chart, common key G)
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with Benny Goodman's 1940 hit and the Les Paul and Mary Ford multitrack record of 1951, then follows the changes through Ella Fitzgerald's Berlin scat chorus, Parker's Ornithology, a Don Byas quintet, Chet Baker's sextet, Bud Powell's trio and a live Jeff Beck tribute to Les Paul. Each step gives you one thing to hear and one thing to try.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, vocal by Helen Forrest 1940
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- Listen for
- Helen Forrest sings the song with Goodman's orchestra behind her. A review of the record points to the three trumpets in the arrangement, so listen for them.
- Try this
- Play bars 1 to 8 of the chart as chords, one chord per bar, and hum the tune over them. Smaller version: play only bars 1 to 4. No source gives the key of this record, so transpose the chart if you play along.
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Step 2 · Hear the multitrack hit Now playing
Les Paul and Mary Ford 1951
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- Listen for
- Paul plays every guitar part, lead, rhythm, muted-string percussion and a bass line, and Ford sings the lead and the harmonies. Listen for the stacked guitar lines under the voice.
- Try this
- Overdub yourself. Record bars 1 to 8 of the chart as chords on a phone, then play the tune over the playback. Smaller version: record and loop only bars 1 to 4.
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Step 3 · Hear a scat chorus Now playing
Ella Fitzgerald with the Paul Smith Quartet 1960
Ella in Berlin: Mack the Knife
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- Listen for
- Fitzgerald sings the song and then scats, with a piano, guitar, bass and drums quartet behind her. JazzStandards.com says the scatting refers to Ornithology, so listen for Parker's tune, then hear it in full in the next step.
- Try this
- Play bars 1 to 8 of the chart as chords and hum or scat any tune over them. Smaller version: play only bars 1 to 4 and sing one note per chord.
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Step 4 · Hear the changes with a new tune Now playing
Charlie Parker Septet 1946
“Ornithology”
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- Listen for
- Solos by Parker on alto, Lucky Thompson on tenor and Miles Davis on trumpet, at about 225 beats a minute. Listen for the three solos in turn, and for Arvin Garrison's guitar in the rhythm section.
- Try this
- Play bars 5 to 8 of the chart (Fmaj7, Fmaj7, Fm7, B♭7) a few times at a slow tempo, then listen to the record and find where those bars fall in the first chorus. Smaller version: play only the root of each chord.
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Step 5 · Hear a tenor saxophone take Now playing
Don Byas Quintet 1945
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- Listen for
- Don Byas leads on tenor saxophone. After the vocal records in steps 1 to 3, hear how the changes sound with a horn out front and no singer.
- Try this
- Play bars 9 to 16 of the chart slowly: E♭maj7, Am7♭5 D7♭9, Gm7, Am7♭5 D7♭9, then Gmaj7, Em7, Am7, D7. Smaller version: play only bars 9 and 10.
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Step 6 · Hear the changes in G Now playing
Chet Baker Sextet 1958
Chet
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- Listen for
- Pepper Adams's baritone saxophone solo runs from about 1:02 to 1:35, 16 bars at a medium swing. Listen for Bill Evans's piano in the rhythm section.
- Try this
- Play bars 1 to 8 of the chart as chords under Adams's solo, starting when he enters at about 1:02. Smaller version: play only bars 1 to 4 (Gmaj7, Gmaj7, Gm7, C7) and rest.
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Step 7 · Hear a piano trio Now playing
Bud Powell Trio 1955
Jazz Original
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- Listen for
- Three players: Powell on piano, Trotman on bass and Blakey on drums. Follow the piano on its own first, then follow the bass line under it.
- Try this
- Play the chords of bars 1 to 8 with one bass note per beat in your left hand and the chord in your right. Smaller version: play only the root on beat 1 of each bar.
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Step 8 · Hear the song come back around Now playing
Jeff Beck with Imelda May 2010
Rock 'n' Roll Party
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- Listen for
- Jeff Beck's band with Imelda May singing, live in the New York club where Les Paul played almost every week. The track runs about 2:10, close to the 2:07 of the 1951 single in step 2.
- Try this
- Listen once to find where the singing starts, then play bars 1 to 8 of the chart as chords under it. Smaller version: play only bars 1 to 4.
More great versions
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The Dave Brubeck Quartet 1953
Jazz at Oberlin
The Dave Brubeck Quartet played the song for more than nine minutes at Oberlin College on March 2, 1953.
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Count Basie and His Orchestra 1956
Basie in London
Count Basie's orchestra recorded the song live in Gothenburg, Sweden, on September 7, 1956.
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Sarah Vaughan 1957
At Mister Kelly's
Sarah Vaughan sang the song live at Mister Kelly's in Chicago in August 1957.
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Mel Tormé 1960
Swingin' on the Moon
Mel Tormé recorded the song in August 1960 for Swingin' on the Moon, an album built around songs about the moon, with Russell Garcia arranging and conducting.
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Joe Pass 1973
Virtuoso
Joe Pass plays the song alone on guitar on Virtuoso, recorded in Los Angeles on August 28, 1973.
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Dianne Reeves 2005
Good Night, and Good Luck
Dianne Reeves sang the song for the 2005 film Good Night, and Good Luck, in an arrangement credited to Matt Catingub.