Frank Churchill, music · Larry Morey, lyrics · Sung by Adriana Caselotti in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937
Someday My Prince Will Come
Frank Churchill and Larry Morey wrote it for Disney's 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Its chord structure has an unusual quality that made it popular with jazz players. Dave Brubeck recorded it in 1957, Bill Evans in 1959, and Miles Davis named a 1961 album after it.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Hear the song sung Etta Jones✓
- 2 Hear it open up in jazz Dave Brubeck Quartet✓
- 3 Hear a piano trio take it Bill Evans Trio✓
- 4 Hear the version that named an album Miles Davis Sextet✓
- 5 Hear a short piano trio Wynton Kelly Trio✓
- 6 Hear a guitar lead Grant Green Quintet✓
- 7 Hear a saxophone quartet Lee Konitz✓
- 8 Hear a modern live trio Keith Jarrett Trio✓
How the tune works
A chorus runs 32 bars in waltz time and falls into four eight-bar parts: A, B, A and C. The A part opens on B♭maj7, then D7♯5, E♭maj7 and G7♭9, one chord to a bar. Bars 5 to 8 go Cm7, G7♭9, Cm7 and F7. The B part (bars 9 to 16) slides down through Dm7, C♯°7, Cm7 and F7, and plays those four bars twice. The A part comes back unchanged in bars 17 to 24. The last part, C, starts on Fm7 and B♭7 into E♭maj7 and E°7. Bars 29 to 32 run B♭maj7 over an F bass note, then G7, Cm7 and F7, and the F7 leads back to the top.
The 32-bar chorus in B♭ and 3/4, four bars to a line, one chord per bar: A (bars 1–8), B (9–16), A (17–24) and C (25–32).
Read bar by bar from the chord chart image on standardrepertoire.com, which gives B♭, 3/4 and the form ABAC. This is one published chart, and other sheets may spell the altered dominants (D7♯5 and G7♭9) differently, so compare it with the sheet you play from and with the recording. The slash chord in bar 29 is B♭maj7 over an F bass note. Use the key buttons to move the chart to the key you play in.
Source: Jazz Standard Repertoire: Someday My Prince Will Come (chord chart, B♭)
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with a vocal, then moves through Brubeck's quartet, Evans's trio and Miles Davis's quintet. A second piano trio, a guitar quintet, a saxophone quartet and a live trio from 2002 follow, each with one thing to hear and one thing to try.
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Step 1 · Hear the song sung Now playing
Etta Jones 1963
Love Shout
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Etta Jones sings it in about three minutes, with organ, guitar, piano, bass and drums behind her. Keep the chart open and follow the 32 bars.
- Try this
- Play the first four bars of the chart, one chord per bar, counting 1-2-3 in each: B♭maj7, D7♯5, E♭maj7, G7♭9. Smaller version: play only B♭maj7 and E♭maj7.
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Step 2 · Hear it open up in jazz Now playing
Dave Brubeck Quartet 1957
“Someday My Prince Will Come (Stereo Version)”, Dave Digs Disney
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Paul Desmond's alto saxophone and Dave Brubeck's piano lead, with Norman Bates on bass and Joe Morello on drums. The take runs 8:13, so keep the chart open and count the 32-bar choruses as they come around.
- Try this
- Play the B section of the chart (bars 9 to 16): Dm7, C♯°7, Cm7, F7, then the same four bars again, one chord per bar. Smaller version: play only the bass notes D, C♯, C and F.
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Step 3 · Hear a piano trio take it Now playing
Bill Evans Trio 1959
“Some Day My Prince Will Come”, Portrait in Jazz
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Follow Scott LaFaro's bass alongside Evans's piano. The Craft Recordings notes say Evans described the trio's approach as simultaneous improvisation.
- Try this
- Play the last eight bars of the chart (the C section): Fm7, B♭7, E♭maj7, E°7, then B♭maj7 over F, G7, Cm7, F7. Smaller version: play only the first four of those bars.
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Step 4 · Hear the version that named an album Now playing
Miles Davis Sextet (Miles Davis Quintet with John Coltrane) 1961
Someday My Prince Will Come
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Miles plays with a mute first. Hank Mobley and Wynton Kelly solo next. Miles then starts the closing melody and stops, and John Coltrane takes a few choruses.
- Try this
- Play the whole 32-bar chart once, one chord per bar, and start again without stopping. Smaller version: loop only the first eight bars, the A section.
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Step 5 · Hear a short piano trio Now playing
Wynton Kelly Trio 1961
Someday My Prince Will Come
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Kelly's trio plays it in 3:06 with piano, bass and drums. Keep the chart open and compare the pace of this take with the Davis track.
- Try this
- Play along with the track and count 1-2-3 for each bar. Mark the bar where the first 32-bar chorus ends. Smaller version: count only the first eight bars.
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Step 6 · Hear a guitar lead Now playing
Grant Green Quintet 1962
Born to Be Blue
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Green leads on guitar, with Ike Quebec on tenor saxophone, Sonny Clark on piano, Sam Jones on bass and Louis Hayes on drums. The take runs 6:30.
- Try this
- Play the first eight bars of the chart (the A section) in any chord shapes you know, one chord per bar. Smaller version: play only the chord roots.
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Step 7 · Hear a saxophone quartet Now playing
Lee Konitz 1996
Dearly Beloved
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Konitz plays saxophone over a piano, bass and drums trio. The take runs about eight minutes, so follow the chart through its sections as they return.
- Try this
- Play bars 1 to 4 of the chart as two notes per chord, the root and then the third: B♭maj7, D7♯5, E♭maj7, G7♭9. This asks you to know each chord's third. Smaller version: play roots only.
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Step 8 · Hear a modern live trio Now playing
Keith Jarrett Trio 2002
Up for It
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Jarrett plays piano with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. The live take runs 9:18, so see how long you can follow the 32-bar form with the chart open.
- Try this
- Play the full 32-bar chart once, slowly, one chord per bar. Then use the key buttons to move it to E♭ and play it again.
More great versions
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Adriana Caselotti 1937
“Some Day My Prince Will Come”, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Adriana Caselotti sang it as Snow White in the 1937 Disney film.
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Miles Davis Quintet 1961
“Someday My Prince Will Come (Live at the Black Hawk, San Francisco, CA - April 22, 1961)”, Transition
Miles Davis played it live at the Blackhawk in San Francisco on April 22, 1961, with Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone.
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Bill Evans Trio 1964
“Someday My Prince Will Come (Live At The Trident Club / 1964)”, The Bill Evans Trio "Live"
Bill Evans played it live at the Trident in Sausalito on July 7, 1964, with Chuck Israels on bass and Larry Bunker on drums.
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Bill Evans Trio 1968
“Someday My Prince Will Come (Live At The Montreux Jazz Festival, 1968)”, Bill Evans At The Montreux Jazz Festival
Bill Evans played it with Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette at the Montreux Jazz Festival on June 15, 1968.
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Chet Baker 1979
Someday My Prince Will Come
Chet Baker played it live at Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen on October 4, 1979, with guitarist Doug Raney and bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen.
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Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Paul Motian 1992
“Someday My Prince Will Come (Live)”, The Old Country
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Paul Motian played at the Deer Head Inn on September 16, 1992.