Chords + Lyrics | Dream A Little Dream Of Me (Doris Day)
Intro
| C6 Am7 | Dm7 G7 | Em7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 |
Verse 1
| C D#dim7 | Ab7 G7 |
Stars shining bright above you.
| C6 B7b9 | A7 |
Night breezes seem to whisper, “I love you”.
| Dm7 | Fm6 Fm7 | C6 Ab7 | G7 |
Birds singing in the sycamore trees, dream a little dream of me.
Verse 2
Say nighty night and kiss me.
Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me.
| Dm7 | Fm6 Fm7 | C Ab7 G7 | C6 Bbm7 Eb7 |
While I’m alone and blue as can be, dream a little dream of me.
Chorus 1
||: Abmaj7 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 :||
Stars fading but I linger on dear.
Still craving your kiss.
I’m longing to linger ’til dawn dear.
| Abmaj7 Fm7 | D7 G7 |
Just saying this.
Verse 3
Sweet dreams ’til sunbeams find you.
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you.
| Dm7 | Fm6 Fm7 | C Ab7 G7 | C G7#5 |
But in your dreams, whatever they be, dream a little dream of me.
Instrumental
| C D#dim7 | Ab7 G7 |
| C6 B7b9 | A7 |
| Dm7 | Fm6 Fm7 | C Ab7 G7 | C6 Bbm7 Eb7 |
Chorus 2
Stars fading but I linger on dear.
Still craving your kiss.
I’m longing to linger ’til dawn dear.
Just saying this.
Verse 4 (as verse 3)
Sweet dreams ’til sunbeams find you.
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you.
But in your dreams, whatever they be, dream a little dream of me.
Outro
| C Ab7 G7 | C6 G7#5 |
Dream a little dream of me.
| C N.C. D7 | G7 G7#5 G13 G7 |
Dream a little dream, of me.
| C6 Am7 | Dm7 G7 | C6 ||
Dream A Little Dream Of Me Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Dream A Little Dream Of Me. Instead of stem separation to extract the guitar, I made this using the iReal Pro app since this is what most people will reference if they’re into Jazz. Should they reference the Mama Cass version, that’s a different story (more on this later).
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a jazz band for. a Cocktail set.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
It’s very important that you go deep with this one as if you don’t, you may have half the band playing the chorus a semitone apart!
Intro
The jazz version, which was detailed above with chords and lyrics use these chords for the intro:
| C6 Am7 | Dm7 G7 | Em7 Am7 | Dm7 G7 |
This is standard stuff, a I – VI – II – V, followed by the I chord being a III instead,
Verse
The verse is relatively simple too as we first move I – bIIdim7 – bVIx – V. Next, that B7b9 is the same as the bIIdim7, just with a new bass note and then to VIx:
| C D#dim7 | Ab7 G7 |
| C6 B7b9 | A7 |
The third line is II – IVm:
| Dm7 | Fm6 Fm7 |
Lastly, we go three different ways depending on what happens next:
| 1. C6 Ab7 | G7 | repeat verse
| 2. C Ab7 G7 | C6 Bbm7 Eb7 | to chorus
| 3. C Ab7 G7 | C G7#5 | to solo + end
Chorus
The chorus is where things can go really wrong. In the jazz version, we change key to Ab and play a I – VI – II – V, just like during the intro, but now in the new key of Ab:
||: Abmaj7 Fm7 | Bbm7 Eb7 :||
To get back to the verse, we play D7 – G7, which is IIx – V in the key of C:
| Abmaj7 Fm7 | D7 G7 |
This wasn’t difficult considering it’s Jazz. The problem is that in the “other famous version”, we don’t play that chorus in Ab…
Before we get to the “other famous version”, let’s look at the outro/end.
Outro
We arrive here as we did going to a solo and simply repeat those two bars before a stop on C. A quick IIx – V with various extensions takes us back to the intro progresion again:
| C Ab7 G7 | C G7#5 |
| C N.C. D7 | G7 G7#5 G13 G7 |
| C6 Am7 | Dm7 G7 | C6 ||
Here’s a chord chart for this Jazz version of Dream A Little Dream Of Me, it’s the same as you had in the backing tracks above.
Dream A Little Dream Of Me Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Dream A Little Dream Of Me chord chart PDF (Jazz).
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Dream A Little Dream Of Me iReal Pro (Jazz). Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Speaking of changing key, check out what Mama Cass did to the chorus!
Chords + Lyrics | Dream A Little Dream Of Me (Mama Cass)
Intro
| 3/4 G Am7 G/B | 4/4 C F#dim7 | Ab6 G | C F#dim7 | Ab6 G |
Verse 1
| C F#dim7 | Ab6 G |
Stars shining bright above you,
| C C/B Bb6 | A7 |
night breezes seem to whisper, “I love you”.
| F | Fm | C Ab | G6 |
Birds singing in the sycamore tree, dream a little dream of me.
Verse 2
Say nighty night and kiss me,
just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me.
| F | Fm | C Ab7 G7 | C E |
While I’m alone and blue as can be, dream a little dream of me.
Chorus 1
| A F#m | Bm7 E |
Stars fading but I linger on dear,
| A F#m | Bm7 E7 |
still craving your kiss.
| A F#m | Bm7 E |
I’m longing to linger ’til dawn dear,
| A F#m | Ab7 G7 |
just saying this.
Verse 3
| C D#dim7 | Ab G |
Sweet dreams ’til sunbeams find you,
| C Gsus4/B Bb69 | A7 |
sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you.
| F | Fm | C Ab7 G7 | C C/G |
But in your dreams, whatever they be, dream a little dream of me.
Instrumental
| C D#dim7 | Ab G7 | C Gsus4/B Bb69 | A7 |
| F | Fm | C Ab7 G7 | C E |
Chorus 2
||: A F#m | Bm7 E :||
Stars fading but I linger on dear,
still craving your kiss.
I’m longing to linger ’til dawn dear,
| A F#m | Ab7 G7 |
just saying this.
Verse 4 (as verse 3)
Sweet dreams ’til sunbeams find you,
sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you.
| F | Fm | C Ab7 G |
But in your dreams, whatever they be, dream a little dream of me.
Outro
| C D#dim7 | Ab G |
| C D#dim7 | Ab7 G |
| C D#dim7 | Ab G |
| C D#dim7 | Ab7 G7 |
| C D#dim7 | Ab7 G7 | C |
Dream A Little Dream Of Me Mama Cass Chords: Exploring the Harmonic Movements
The version I played above is based on Mama Cass’s rendition of Dream a Little Dream of Me.
This arrangement is in the key of C for the verses and modulates to the key of A for the chorus, not Ab as the jazz verison does.
This could be seen as a modal interchange since C major shares its key signature with A minor. Essentially, we move from A Aeolian to A Ionian. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, let’s begin from the top, it too is different…
Intro
Cass’ intro begins similarly to Blackbird, using G – Am7 – G/B, before shifting into jazzier territory:
|3/4 G (V) Am7 (VI) G/B (V/3) |
||: 4/4 C (I) F#dim7 (bVdim7)| Ab6 (bVIx) G (V) :||
Unlike Blackbird, which moves I – II – I/3, the first three chords here ascend the scale differently, moving V – VI – V/3.
The F#dim7 chord could also be played as Adim7 (same notes), creating a smooth transition into Ab6, which then resolves neatly to G (V).
Once you can play these changes, understanding the chord theory behind them becomes much easier. There’s TAB available for all of this if you keep scrolling.
Verse
The verse progression begins just as the intro does, but be sure to pay special attention to the standout IVm (Fm):
| C F#dim7 | Ab6 G | C C/B C/Bb | A7 |
| F | Fm | C Ab7 | G6 |
There’s a modal interchange in the verse—specifically, the Ab chord is borrowed from C Aeolian. This is similar to The Thrill Is Gone, a blues progression in Bm.
If you’re wondering why it’s written as Ab instead of G#, it’s because this section temporarily shifts to C minor, where Ab is diatonically correct.
The second verse follows the same chord structure until the final two bars, where it sets up a modulation to the chorus with an E chord (not like the Doris Day version which goes II – V in the new key of Ab!).
Chorus
For the Mama Cass version, the chorus shifts to the key of A, following a classic I – VI – II – V progression:
||: A (I) F#m (VI) | Bm7 (II) E (V) :||
In the final bars, Ab7 and G7 prepare the transition back into the key of C for the next verse.
When the verses return, the chords slightly change—see if you can spot the differences! For instance, F#dim7 and D#dim7 contain the same notes, but on an acoustic guitar, choosing the right bass note is key.
| C D#dim7 | Ab G |
| C Gsus4/B Bb69 | A7 |
| F | Fm | C Ab7 G7 | C C/G |
The best way to master this is to study the TAB, play along with my video, and then revisit the chords—trust me, they’ll seem much simpler after that!
So simple, in fact, that all you’ll need is this chord chart to play Mama Cass version of Dream A Little Dream Of Me.
Dream A Little Dream Of Me Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Dream A Little Dream Of Me chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Dream A Little Dream Of Me iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Dream A Little Dream Of Me | TAB (Mama Cass)
Here’s TAB for what I play in the video lesson above, which is extremely close to the Mama Cass version.
A Jazz Standard
This timeless classic was written in 1931 by Fabian Andre and Wilbur Schwandt, with lyrics by Gus Kahn.
It quickly became a jazz standard, recorded by countless artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Julie London, Louis Armstrong, and perhaps most famously, Doris Day.
Beyond these well-known versions, Dream a Little Dream of Me has been sung by millions of jazz vocalists in clubs and at parties around the world, keeping it in the public’s consciousness for nearly a century.
While it’s best known as a vocal piece, don’t let that stop you from practising your jazz solos over its changes—the progressions are built on some of the most common jazz movements.
If you have studied this guitar lesson in depth, you’ve found how Doris Day and Mama Cass’ versions differ—the chorus follows a different modal interchange! Ask yourself these questions:
- How deep down the rabbit hole will you go to uncover all the variations?
- Will you bring chord charts to the gig?
- Will you be able to adjust on the fly?
- If the key is changed on the day, can you still cope with the chorus key change dilemma?
Dream A Little Dream Of Me Chords: Continue Learning
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