Jazz Changes

Jimmy Van Heusen, music · Johnny Burke, lyrics · First recorded by Tommy Dorsey's orchestra with Frank Sinatra

Polka Dots and Moonbeams

Polka Dots and Moonbeams is a 32-bar ballad from 1940 by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. Players like its bridge, which moves to a distant key and finds its way home in two bars. Singers, piano trios, guitarists and horn players have recorded it since Frank Sinatra's first hit with Tommy Dorsey.

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

Listen in this order

The path opens with the 1940 Sinatra record and a 1954 vocal by Sarah Vaughan. It then moves through Bud Powell's trio, a live Stan Getz quintet, Chet Baker's trumpet, Wes Montgomery's guitar and Bill Evans's trio, and ends with Paul Desmond and Jim Hall, a quartet without piano.

8 recordings, 1940 to 1963 · Play all 8 on YouTube ↗

  1. Frank Sinatra with Tommy Dorsey1940
  2. Bud Powell Trio1953 · Bebop
  3. Sarah Vaughan1954
  4. Stan Getz Quintet1954
  5. Chet Baker Quartet1958 · Bebop
  6. Wes Montgomery Quartet1960 · Hard bop
  7. Bill Evans Trio1962 · Cool jazz
  8. Paul Desmond - Jim Hall Quartet1963

Step 1 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Learn the song

Frank Sinatra with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra · 1940

Single, Victor 26539

Listen for
Frank Sinatra sings with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra. Follow the voice through the 32 bars and find the bridge in the third eight.
Try this
Play along with the recording at an instrument, using the melody and the chords of the first eight bars. If that is too much, play only the chord roots.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a jazz singer take the song

Sarah Vaughan · 1954

Single with 'Shulie A Bop'

Listen for
Voice with piano, bass and drums. Compare how she shapes the tune with the Sinatra version.
Try this
Play the melody with the same chords, then change the rhythm of a few notes so they land a little earlier or later. Keep the chords where they are.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a piano trio

Bud Powell Trio · 1953 · Bebop

The Amazing Bud Powell, Volume 2

Listen for
A piano trio with bass and drums. Listen to the piano through the first two A sections, then at the bridge.
Try this
Play the bass line of the first A section: one root note on each chord, chord by chord. If that is easy, add the melody in your right hand.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear two horns live

Stan Getz Quintet · 1954

Stan Getz At The Shrine

Listen for
Two horns, tenor saxophone and valve trombone, over piano, bass and drums. Notice which horn plays each chorus.
Try this
Count the choruses with the recording. Each is 32 bars. Write down who plays each one.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a trumpet ballad stretch out

Chet Baker Quartet · 1958 · Bebop, Cool jazz

Chet Baker In New York

Listen for
Trumpet with piano, bass and drums. The track runs close to eight minutes, so count how many times the 32-bar form comes around.
Try this
Tap or count the bars with the recording and mark where each chorus starts. Then play the melody for one chorus.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

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Hear a guitar version

Wes Montgomery Quartet · 1960 · Hard bop

The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery

Listen for
Guitar with piano, bass and drums. Follow the guitar through the bridge and compare it with the saxophone on the Getz track.
Try this
If you play guitar or keyboard, play the first A section's chords once per bar change, as on the chart, then add the melody on top. If you do not, hum the melody while you listen.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

Step 7 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Hear a piano trio rework the chords

Bill Evans Trio · 1962 · Cool jazz

Moon Beams

Listen for
Piano, bass and drums. Listen to the piano alone in the bridge and compare its chords with the chart.
Try this
Play the bridge's chords with your left hand, one chord per bar, and pick out the melody on top. A smaller version is to play only the root of each bridge chord.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

Step 8 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard

Hear a quartet with no piano

Paul Desmond - Jim Hall Quartet · 1963

Easy Living

Listen for
Alto saxophone with guitar, bass and drums. With no piano in the lineup, the guitar supplies the chords.
Try this
Play the melody on a single-note instrument while you listen, then play the chords on guitar or keyboard under a recording of someone else playing the tune.
Apple Music ↗YouTube ↗

More great versions

3 more, from 1940 to 1979. Tap a cover to play it here.

  1. Glenn Miller1940
  2. Lou Donaldson Quintet1961 · Hard bop
  3. Dexter Gordon and Stan Getz1979

How the tune works

F majorusual key
32 barsA · A · B · A form
F major → A major → F majorkey centers

Thirty-two bars in four sections of eight, A A B A, in F major. Each A section moves through the home chords in pairs, two chords a bar: Fmaj7 Dm7, Gm7 C7, then Fmaj7 Dm7 again. Bar 4 adds Em7♭5 and A7 on the way to Dm7, and bars 5 and 6 slide through D♭7 and A♭m7 before Gm7 and C7 reach the end. The first time through, the last bar of the A is F6, Bm7♭5, E7, and the E7 leads into the bridge. The bridge sits in A major for six bars (Amaj7, Bm7 E7, Amaj7 F♯m7, Bm7 E7, Amaj7, Bm7 E7), then A7 D7 and Gm7 C7 bring it back to F for the last A. The chords here follow the iReal Pro chart.

Play the changes

F major
Open in iReal Pro ↗
A9 bars
Fmaj7Dm7
Gm7C7
Fmaj7Dm7
Gm7Em7♭5A7
Dm7D♭7
F/CAm7A♭m7
Gm7C7
1.Am7Dm7Gm7C7
2.F6Bm7♭5E7
B8 bars
Amaj7A♯°7
Bm7E7
Amaj7F♯m7
Bm7E7
Amaj7A♯°7
Bm7E7
A7D7
Gm7C7
A8 bars
Fmaj7Dm7
Gm7C7
Fmaj7Dm7
Gm7Em7♭5A7
Dm7D♭7
F/CAm7A♭m7
Gm7C7
F6Gm7C7

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