Sigmund Romberg, music · Oscar Hammerstein II, lyrics · From the 1928 operetta The New Moon
Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise
Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise is a minor-key song from Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II's 1928 operetta The New Moon, first written as a tango. Players like it because the 32 bars are built mostly from one repeated minor ii–V–i turn, which is easy to learn and leaves room to stretch out, and it became a jam-session regular. You will hear it on Sonny Rollins's 1957 Village Vanguard set, on the Modern Jazz Quartet's Concorde, and on John Coltrane's live recording from 1961.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song June Christy✓
- 2 Hear the song arranged The Modern Jazz Quartet✓
- 3 Hear the changes without a piano Sonny Rollins✓
- 4 Follow the changes in a piano trio Sonny Clark Trio✓
- 5 Hear the song stretched out John Coltrane Quartet✓
- 6 Hear a working rhythm section Wynton Kelly Trio✓
- 7 Hear it on guitar Jim Hall & Ron Carter✓
- 8 Hear a recent take Tigran Hamasyan✓
How the tune works
Thirty-two bars in AABA. Each A section is two four-bar minor ii–V–i turns in C minor, resolving to Cm7. The bridge opens in E♭, the relative major, for four bars, then runs through Fm7 and a diminished chord to the dominant, G7♭9, and back to C minor. The last A repeats the first.
The changes as a simplified fake-book chart in C minor. The A sections repeat one minor ii–V–i; the bridge is the only part that leaves it.
Fake books vary. A common swap puts A♭7 in for the Dm7♭5 and G7 before Cm7. The bridge has a second spelling that links E♭maj7, E°7, Fm7, G♭°7 and G7 with diminished passing chords. The last A is written like the first so the chart loops; players usually end on Cm7. The A sections follow a simplified online chart and the bridge follows Jeremy Kahn's reading of the fake-book version, so check both against a printed lead sheet before relying on them.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗Eight versions, from a sung chorus to a 2022 piano trio. Each adds one thing to listen for and one thing to try.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
June Christy 1954
“Softly As In a Morning Sunrise”, Something Cool
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Follow the 32 bars once through: two matching A sections, a bridge, and a last A. Sing along until you know where each section starts.
- Try this
- Sing the tune with the record, then without it, and then find it by ear on your instrument in C minor.
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Step 2 · Hear the song arranged Now playing
The Modern Jazz Quartet 1955
Concorde
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- The eight-bar introduction and ending, and the second line the piano plays under the vibraphone melody. Notice that the arrangement stays in the same minor key throughout.
- Try this
- Play only the root of each chord for one chorus, then add a second line above it that moves against the melody.
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Step 3 · Hear the changes without a piano Now playing
Sonny Rollins 1957
A Night at the Village Vanguard
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- With no piano, the bass and the saxophone line carry the chords. Listen for how the Dm7♭5 to G7♭9 to Cm7 turn stays clear anyway.
- Try this
- Play one chorus alone with a metronome on beats 2 and 4, and spell out each chord with its own notes so the harmony is clear without accompaniment.
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Step 4 · Follow the changes in a piano trio Now playing
Sonny Clark Trio 1957
“Softly As In a Morning Sunrise”, Sonny Clark Trio
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How piano, bass and drums stay balanced for the whole 6 and a half minutes, and how each chorus comes back to the same minor ii–V–i turn.
- Try this
- Play the left hand as a walking bass line with the track, then switch to shell voicings (root and seventh) in the left hand.
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Step 5 · Hear the song stretched out Now playing
John Coltrane Quartet 1961
"Live" at the Village Vanguard
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How long solos keep coming back to the same few chords, and how the drums push the quartet through the form.
- Try this
- Learn the Dm7♭5, G7♭9, Cm7 turn in two other minor keys, then play it in C minor over the track.
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Step 6 · Hear a working rhythm section Now playing
Wynton Kelly Trio 1959
“Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise”, Kelly Blue
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How the piano lines follow the chord tones of each change, and how bass and drums keep the time steady behind them.
- Try this
- Play along with one chord tone per beat in the right hand over the A section, changing the tone at every chord.
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Step 7 · Hear it on guitar Now playing
Jim Hall & Ron Carter 1972
“Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise”, Alone Together
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- How the guitar suggests the chords while the bass holds the time, so each change is audible in just two voices.
- Try this
- Play the A section with only a bass line and a single melody line, the way a duo does, without full chords.
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Step 8 · Hear a recent take Now playing
Tigran Hamasyan 2021
StandArt
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Compare it with the earlier tracks. Listen for where the form feels familiar and where the trio rewrites it.
- Try this
- Play the chart once in C minor, then listen again and mark each place where this version departs from it.
More great versions
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Artie Shaw and His Orchestra 1938
“Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise”, Bluebird 78 rpm single
The 1938 recording that helped bring the song into jazz, arranged by Jerry Gray.
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Abbey Lincoln 1959
“Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise”, Abbey Is Blue
A jazz singer with a small group and Kenny Dorham on trumpet.
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Art Pepper 1960
“Softly, As In a Morning Sunrise”, Gettin' Together!
Art Pepper with the Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb rhythm section, recorded in Los Angeles.
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Miles Davis 1961
“Softly as in a Morning Sunrise”, In Person Saturday Night at the Blackhawk, Complete
Miles Davis live in San Francisco with the Wynton Kelly rhythm section.
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Larry Young 1965
“Softly As In A Morning Sunrise”, Unity
An organ-led Blue Note session with Joe Henderson, Woody Shaw and Elvin Jones on the album.
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Dianne Reeves 1991
“Softly As In A Morning Sunrise”, I Remember
Dianne Reeves sings it on her Blue Note album I Remember, with bassist Charnett Moffett.
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Kenny Barron 2024
“Softly As in a Morning Sunrise”, Beyond This Place
A short piano and drums reading from Barron's 2024 album.