Victor Young, music · Ned Washington, lyrics · From the 1944 film The Uninvited
Stella by Starlight
A film theme from 1944 that jazz players adopted for its constantly shifting harmony. It starts on an unstable chord, passes through keys every bar or two, and only settles in B♭ at the end. Learning it teaches you to hear where each chord is heading.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Frank Sinatra with Axel Stordahl✓
- 2 Hear the melody decorated Charlie Parker with Joe Lippman✓
- 3 Hear the standard changes Miles Davis Sextet✓
- 4 Stretch the form Miles Davis Quintet✓
- 5 Hear the changes alone Bud Powell✓
- 6 Hear a trio build a long take Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette✓
- 7 Study the chord voicings Bill Evans Trio✓
- 8 Hear the tune today Joe Lovano with Hank Jones, George Mraz, Paul Motian✓
How the tune works
Each block is a key, and each thin line is one bar. The tune rarely stays anywhere for more than two bars: it opens on a half-diminished chord that points toward D minor, passes through E♭, F and C minor, and only settles in B♭ in the last four bars.
The changes as most fake books give them. Players vary the opening bars and the turnarounds.
Common fake-book changes; recordings vary.
Source: Guitar Composer's Toolbox: Stella By Starlight in B (chord list, one semitone above B♭)
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with a sung version so you know the tune, then adds one idea at each step: decoration, the standard changes, a long live form, solo piano, two trio approaches and a recent ballad reading. Each step gives you one thing to hear and one thing to play.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Frank Sinatra with Axel Stordahl and his Orchestra 1947
Columbia single
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Sinatra sings the tune close to the way it was written, so this is your reference for the melody itself. Notice the places where the harmony turns away from where you expect it to land.
- Try this
- Sing the first eight bars along with him. Then play only the root of each chord on a piano or bass while you sing the line again.
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Step 2 · Hear the melody decorated Now playing
Charlie Parker with Joe Lippman and his Orchestra 1952
Original issues: Mercury 11089
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Parker plays the melody with his own turns and short runs over a string and woodwind arrangement. Compare his line with Sinatra's, bar by bar.
- Try this
- Play the melody once as written. Play it again and fill only the long notes with short runs that stay inside the chord.
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Step 3 · Hear the standard changes Now playing
Miles Davis Sextet 1958
Jazz Track
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Listen to how Evans voices the opening Em7♭5 to A7 and how the soloists handle the minor ii-V chords that never reach their tonic.
- Try this
- Play only the third and seventh of each chord as whole notes through all 32 bars at a slow tempo, and listen to how the notes connect.
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Step 4 · Stretch the form Now playing
Miles Davis Quintet 1964
My Funny Valentine
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- Listen for
- At almost thirteen minutes the 32-bar form comes around many times. Pick one chorus and follow the changes with the chart open.
- Try this
- Follow one solo chorus with the chart and mark each key change as it passes, then count how many choruses the track contains.
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Step 5 · Hear the changes alone Now playing
Bud Powell 1953
The Bud Powell Trio
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- With no bass or drums, every chord change comes from the piano. Pay attention to how his right-hand line connects one chord to the next in the first four bars.
- Try this
- Play the first eight bars of the chart as four-note chords in your left hand, then improvise a line over them with your right.
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Step 6 · Hear a trio build a long take Now playing
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette 1985
Standards Live
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- A piano, bass and drums trio stretches the tune past eleven minutes. Listen to how the three players hold the form together while the harmony changes every one or two bars.
- Try this
- Loop bars 17 to 24, which run G7♯5 to Cm7 and A♭7 to B♭maj7. Play one chorus of eighth-note lines using only chord tones.
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Step 7 · Study the chord voicings Now playing
Bill Evans Trio 1966
A Simple Matter of Conviction
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Listen to how Evans voices each chord and how the bass and piano react to each other through the key changes.
- Try this
- Play the chords with three notes in the left hand: the third, the seventh and one colour tone. Move each voice by the smallest step to the next chord.
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Step 8 · Hear the tune today Now playing
Joe Lovano with Hank Jones, George Mraz, Paul Motian 2003
I'm All for You: Ballad Songbook
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- At a ballad pace every chord change has room to be heard. Notice how Lovano and Jones let each new chord settle before moving on.
- Try this
- Play the tune at a ballad tempo and put one clear chord tone on every change, so each new chord gets a note of its own.
More great versions
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Stan Getz Quintet 1952
Stan Getz Plays
Getz recorded the tune in December 1952 with Duke Jordan and Jimmy Raney, a few months after Parker.
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Jim Hall Trio 1957
Jazz Guitar
Hall's debut album as a leader, recorded in early 1957 with Carl Perkins and Red Mitchell.
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Ella Fitzgerald with the Lou Levy Quartet 1961
Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie!
A sung version in a small-group setting, from an album Ella made with Lou Levy's quartet in 1961.
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Joe Pass 1973
Virtuoso
Pass plays the tune alone on guitar, so melody, chords and bass line all come from one instrument.
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Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams 1977
Third Plane
The three players who backed Miles Davis in 1964 play the tune together again in 1977, now as a trio.