Hoagy Carmichael, music · Ned Washington, lyrics · Written for an unproduced Paramount film
The Nearness of You
The Nearness of You is a ballad by Hoagy Carmichael, with words by Ned Washington. The chords move to B♭ and then through a chain of two-chord changes before they return to F. Glenn Miller had the first big hit in 1940, and Norah Jones closed her 2002 album with it.
The path starts with Glenn Miller's hit and Sarah Vaughan's vocal, then hears the Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong duet, an Oscar Peterson duo, a vibes quartet, a tenor saxophone quintet, solo piano and a modern saxophone quartet. Each step shows the song in a different setting.
Glenn Miller and His Orchestra (vocal: Ray Eberle) · 1940
Bluebird single
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Listen for
Ray Eberle sings the song straight with the orchestra behind him. Follow the words and the chord changes together.
Try this
Play the first A section's chords on piano or guitar while the recording runs: Fmaj7, Cm7 F7, B♭maj7, B♭°7, then Am7 D7 and Gm7 C7. If that is too much, play only the first four bars.
Only piano and bass play, so you can follow the bass line under each chord change.
Try this
Play only the root of each chord on bass or on the left hand of a piano, following the chart from the first step. A smaller version is to play just the first four bars.
With one pianist, every chord is audible. Follow how the left hand moves from one chord to the next.
Try this
Play the chords in the left hand and the melody in the right hand, taking the first A section slowly. A smaller version is to play only the chords, one per bar.
“The Nearness of You (Dedicated to Eddy Moore)”, Welcome to Love
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Listen for
Sanders plays saxophone with piano, bass and drums. Compare how much room the quartet leaves around each chord with the earlier steps.
Try this
Play the melody on any instrument, holding long notes where the earlier versions use short ones. Soloing over the changes takes more skill; a smaller version is to play the melody once and add one held note per bar.
The refrain is a 32-bar A A B A song with a 4-bar extension, so one chorus runs 36 bars. Each A section starts on Fmaj7, moves to B♭maj7 through Cm7 and F7, passes B♭°7, and turns back toward F with Am7 D7 and Gm7 C7. The second A ends on F6. The bridge opens on Gm7 and C7, passes B♭maj7 again, and reaches G7 before Gm7 C7 lead into the last A. The last A plays its first six bars as before, then stretches over Am7♭5, D7♭9, Gm7 and C7, so it runs twelve bars instead of eight. The song stays in F major throughout, and the B♭ chords are its IV chord rather than a new key.