Hoagy Carmichael, music · Mitchell Parish, lyrics · First recorded at Gennett in Richmond, Indiana, in 1927
Star Dust is a 1927 song by Hoagy Carmichael, with lyrics added by Mitchell Parish in 1929. Its starts on the IV and turns from major to minor in the first bars. More than 1,500 recordings exist, from singers and big bands to pianists and horn players.
Start with a vocal ballad and a 1931 trumpeter-singer, then hear a tenor saxophone and guitar, a big-band hit and a solo pianist. The last three steps are a trumpet ballad with strings, a ten-minute saxophone ballad and a 1984 trumpet version. Each step gives a different way to play the same changes.
8 recordings, 1931 to 1984 · Play all 8 on YouTube ↗
Step 1 of 8 Now playing✓ Heard
Nat King Cole · 1956 · Vocal, Easy listening
“Stardust”, Love Is the Thing
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Play the first four of the from the iReal chart, one per bar: , G♭maj7, , then together in the fourth bar. Notice how the third bar turns the chord from major to minor.
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Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra · 1931
“Stardust”, OKeh single
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Play the last eight of the iReal chart, one or two per bar: , , , , , , D♭maj7, . Then play the recording and follow the same eight bars by ear.
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Coleman Hawkins with Django Reinhardt · 1935
“Stardust”, All Star Sessions
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Play the whole first from the iReal chart, slowly, with one or two per bar: , G♭maj7, , , , , B♭7, E♭m7.
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Artie Shaw and His Orchestra · 1940 · Big band, Swing
Star Dust / Temptation
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Play the from the iReal chart, one per bar or two where the chart has two: , , , , , , , E♭m7 A♭7, then the same first four bars again and E♭m7 A♭7, Fm7 B♭m7, E♭m7 A♭7, D♭maj7 .
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Art Tatum · 1953
“Stardust”, The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 4
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Play the second eight of the iReal chart, one or two per bar: , A♭7, E♭m7 , , , B♭m7 E♭7, A♭7 E♭m7, A♭7 . If that is too much, play only the first chord of each bar.
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Clifford Brown - Max Roach Quintet with Neal Hefti Orchestra · 1955
“Stardust”, Clifford Brown with Strings
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Play the whole from the iReal chart at a slow tempo and say the section names out loud as you reach them: A (bars 1 to 8), B (bars 9 to 16), A again, then C (the last eight bars). Then play along with the recording only if you can match its by ear.
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John Coltrane Quintet · 1958 · Hard bop
“Stardust”, Stardust
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Play one per through the 32-bar in the iReal chart, taking the first chord when a bar has two, and count the bars as the recording goes by.
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Wynton Marsalis · 1984 · Contemporary jazz, Modal jazz
“Stardust”, Hot House Flowers
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Play the first four of the from the iReal chart and sing the melody over them if you know it: , G♭maj7, , . Then play the recording and stop after four bars to compare.
2 more, from 1940 to 1954. Tap a cover to play it here.
1940 · Big band, Swing
Star Dust / Swanee River
Frank Sinatra sings the song with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra and the Pied Pipers on a 1940 Victor release.
1954 · Vocal
“Stardust”, Songs in a Mellow Mood
Ella Fitzgerald sings Stardust with only Ellis Larkins at the piano on her 1954 album Songs in a Mellow Mood.
The tune's layout, its keys and the chord chart, for anyone who wants to play along.
The song has a , which many versions leave out, and a 32-bar in form. The verse in the iReal chart starts , , , , then moves through , and and ends on D♭maj7. The chorus opens on for two bars, then and lead to D♭maj7, Fm7 B♭7 and E♭m7. The follows with A♭7, E♭m7 A♭7, D♭maj7 E♭m7 , Fm7 B♭m7, , B♭m7 E♭7, A♭7 E♭m7 and A♭7 , which leads back to G♭maj7 for the second A. The last eight bars, labeled C here, run F♯m7, B7, D♭maj7 B♭m7, Fm7 B♭7, E♭m7, A♭7, D♭maj7 and D♭7. The and dominant all stay inside , so the whole tune is one area. These chords follow the iReal Pro chart.
Chart from iReal Pro's Jazz 1460 playlist, contributed by its users.