Blue Moon | Chords + Lyrics (key of Eb)
Verse 1
| Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 |
Blue moon, you saw me standing alone.
| Fm7 Bb13 | Db7b5 C7 | B7 Bb11 | Eb6 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb13 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
Verse 2
| Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 |
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for.
| Fm7 Bb13 | Db7b5 C7 | B7 Bb11 | Eb6 Db7 | Eb6 C7#9 |
You heard me saying a prayer for, someone I really could care for.
Bridge 1
| Fm7 Bb13 | Eb6 C7#9 |
And then they suddenly appeared before me.
| Fm7 Bb13 | Eb6 A7b5 |
The only one my arms will ever hold.
| Abm7 Db7 | Gbmaj7 |
I heard somebody whisper “Please adore me”.
| Bbmaj7 F13 | Bb7sus4 Bb7 |
And when I looked the moon had turned to gold.
Verse 3
| Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 |
Blue moon, now I’m no longer alone.
| Fm7 Bb13 | Db7b5 C7 | B7 Bb11 | Eb6 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb13 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
Solo
| Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb13 |
| Db7b5 C7 | B7 Bb11 | Eb6 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb13 |
| Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb13 |
| Db7b5 C7 | B7 Bb11 | Eb6 Db7 | Eb6 C7#9 |
| Fm7 Bb13 | Eb6 C7#9 | Fm7 Bb13 | Eb6 A7b5 |
| Abm7 Db7 | Gbmaj7 | Bbmaj7 F13 | Bb7sus4 Bb7 |
Verse 4
| Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 |
Blue moon, you saw me standing alone.
| Fm7 Bb13 | Db7b5 C7 | B7 Bb11 | Eb6 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb13 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
Verse 5
| Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 |
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for.
| Fm7 Bb13 | Db7b5 C7 | B7 Bb11 | Eb6 Db7 | Eb6 C7#9 |
You heard me saying a prayer for, someone I really could care for.
Bridge 2
| Fm7 Bb13 | Eb6 C7#9 |
And then they suddenly appeared before me.
| Fm7 Bb13 | Eb6 A7b5 |
The only one my arms will ever hold.
| Abm7 Db7 | Gbmaj7 |
I heard somebody whisper “Please adore me”.
| Bbmaj7 F13 | Bb7sus4 Bb7 |
And when I looked the moon had turned to gold.
Outro
| Ebmaj7 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 |
Blue moon, now I’m no longer alone.
| Fm7 Bb13 | Db7b5 C7 | B7 Bb11 | Eb6 Cm7 | Fm7 Bb13 | Eb6 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own. Blue moon.
Blue Moon simple version – Key of C
Verse 1
| Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 |
Blue moon, you saw me standing alone.
| Dm7 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
Verse 2
| Cmaj9 Am7 | Dm9 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 |
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for.
| Dm9 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 | Cmaj7 Fmaj7 | Cmaj7 C#dim7 |
You heard me saying a prayer for, someone I really could care for.
Bridge 1
| F G7 | C Am7 |
And then they suddenly appeared before me.
| Dm G7 | C |
The only one my arms will ever hold.
| Fm Bb | Eb Cm7 |
I heard somebody whisper “Please adore me”.
| G/D D7 | G |
And when I looked the moon had turned to gold.
Verse 3
| Cmaj9 Am7 | Dm9 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 |
Blue moon, now I’m no longer alone.
| Dm7 G13 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm9 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
Verse 4
| Cmaj9 Am7 | Dm9 G13 | Cmaj7 Am7 |
Blue moon, you saw me standing alone.
| Dm9 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm9 G11 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
Verse 5
| Cmaj9 Am7 | Dm9 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 |
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for.
| Dm9 G13 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 | Cmaj9 Fmaj7 | Cmaj7 C#dim7 |
You heard me saying a prayer for, someone I really could care for.
Bridge 2
| Dm7 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 |
And then they suddenly appeared before me.
| Dm7 G13 | Cmaj9 |
The only one my arms will ever hold.
| Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7 Cm7 |
I heard somebody whisper “Please adore me”.
| G/D D7 | G G7#5 |
And when I looked the moon had turned to gold.
Outro
| Cmaj9 Am7 | Dm9 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 |
Blue moon, now I’m no longer alone.
| Dm9 G13 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm9 G7 | Cmaj7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 | C6 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own. Blue moon.
Blue Moon (Billie Holiday) – Key of Ab
Verse 1
| Abmaj7 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 Fm7 |
Blue moon, you saw me standing alone.
| Bbm7 Eb7 | Gb7b5 F7 | E7b9 Eb7 | Ab6 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
Verse 2
| Abmaj7 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 Fm7 |
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for.
| Bbm7 Eb7 | Gb7b5 F7 | Bbm7 Eb11 | Ab6 Gb7 | Ab6 Adim7 |
You heard me saying a prayer for, someone I really could care for.
Bridge 1
| Bbm7 Eb7 | Ab6 F7 |
And then they suddenly appeared before me.
| Bbm7 Eb11 | Ab6 D7b9 |
The only one my arms will ever hold.
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
I heard somebody whisper “Please adore me”.
| Ebmaj7 Bb13 | Eb#5 Eb7 |
And when I looked the moon had turned to gold.
Verse 3
| Abmaj7 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 Fm7 |
Blue moon, now I’m no longer alone.
| Bbm7 Eb7 | Gb7b5 F7 | E7b9 Eb7 | Ab6 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
Verse 4
| Abmaj7 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 Fm7 |
Blue moon, you saw me standing alone.
| Bbm7 Eb7 | Gb7b5 F7 | E7b9 Eb7 | Ab6 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own.
Verse 5
| Abmaj7 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 Fm7 |
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for.
| Bbm7 Eb7 | Gb7b5 F7 | Bbm7 Eb11 | Ab6 Gb7 | Ab6 Adim7 |
You heard me saying a prayer for, someone I really could care for.
Bridge 2
| Bbm7 Eb7 | Ab6 F7 |
And then they suddenly appeared before me.
| Bbm7 Eb11 | Ab6 D7b9 |
The only one my arms will ever hold.
| Dbm7 Gb7 | Bmaj7 |
I heard somebody whisper “Please adore me”.
| Ebmaj7 Bb13 | Eb#5 Eb7 |
And when I looked the moon had turned to gold.
Outro
| Abmaj7 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Abmaj7 Fm7 |
Blue moon, now I’m no longer alone.
| Bbm7 Eb7 | Gb7b5 F7 | E7b9 Eb7 | Ab6 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | Ab6 |
Without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own. Blue moon.
Blue Moon’s chords and progressions
Being a jazz standard, it’s difficult to say what the original key actually is, so many singers and instrumentalists have recorded the song!
To get better at playing in this style, you need to play these songs in several keys and experiment with extending and manipulating the chords.
With that in mind, I have above showed you three different ways you could play Blue Moon. In the keys of Eb, C, as well as Billie Holiday’s key of Ab.
To really get somewhere with this, you should think of Blue Moon’s chord progression as roman numerals. That way, you can play the chords for Blue Moon in any key.
Let’s take verse 1 in the key of C as an example:
||: Cmaj7 (I) Am7 (VI) | Dm7 (II) G7 (V) :||
Thinking in Roman numerals is also essential when soloing in jazz as each number comes with a mode and arpeggio.
For the chords above that’s Ionian, Cmaj7 arpeggio, Aeolian, Am7 arpeggio, Dorian, Dm7 arpeggio, and Mixolydian, G7 arpeggio.
Jazz goes way, way beyond this as you can substitute and superimpose. What you need to do is first be able to phrase using what I just described above in all five areas using the CAGED system, as well as in all 12 keys.
Most guitar players make the mistake of moving on too soon, before they’ve completed the basics.
Here are the bridge chords for Blue Moon:
| F (IV) G7 (V) | C (I) Am7 (VI) |
| Dm (II) G7 (V) | C (I) |
Not much to worry about here, just make sure you can actually do it in all areas and 12 keys! Next, we change the key!
| Fm (II) Bb (V) | Eb (I) Cm7 (VI) |
As you can see, it’s really simple, it’s just II – V – I – VI. But it’s in a new key, this is why as long as you did play in all five areas and all twelve keys earlier, this quick change would have been easy.
Jazz is so funny as it catches you out immediately if you haven’t done your homework.
Blue Moon background and legacy
Blue Moon was written in 1939 by the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers & Hart.
As one of their more well-known songs, it has grown into a jazz standard so common that seemingly every jazz singer made their own version.
Most famously by Billie Holiday (1952), Ella Fitzgerald (1956), Frank Sinatra (1961), and Dean Martin (1964).
In a doo-wop style, The Marcels had a #1 hit with it in 1961. Elvis’s much slower version was released 6 years earlier in 1956 and made the top 10.
For Cream’s hit, Sunshine Of Your Love (1967), Clapton can be heard referencing the melody at the beginning of his solo.
But Blue Moon’s legacy didn’t end in the 60s, as the years go by, it keeps getting recorded. As late as 2018, Willie Nelson released his version. Even acoustic guitar maestro Tommy Emmanuel often plays his instrumental arrangement at gigs.
To start learning how to play Blue Moon yourself, study the chords and lyrics, and since it’s a jazz standard, do it in three keys!
Blue Moon chords | Related pages
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The advanced acoustic tunes use big chord extensions and sometimes, unique and complex chords that incorporate open strings.
Study these in-depth and you will gain a complete understanding of the guitar fretboard, including how to build any scale, arpeggio, or chord.
Five similar tunes
- All Of Me chords
- Autumn Leaves chords
- Baby Won’t You Please Come Home chords
- Don’t Wait Too Long chords
- Fly Me To The Moon chords
Billie Holiday
As the first female jazz singer to record in the 30s, Billie Holiday is up there with the greats who defined the genre of Jazz.
Her hits include Summertime, Blue Moon, Solitude, Pennies From Heaven, and the controversial Strange Fruit.
Billie Holiday on the web
Blues & Jazz
The foundation upon which popular music stands, Blues & Jazz tunes must be explored in depth by the serious guitar player.
Learn from the best by studying the greatest tunes of the genres. Study the iconic licks and melodies to grasp the language of these most important styles.
