Summertime | Chords + Lyrics (no capo)
Intro
| Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C | Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C |
| Ebm7 Gb | Ebm7 Ebm7/Db | F7b9/C Gb7 | F7 |
Verse 1
| Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C | Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C |
Summertime, and the living is easy.
| Ebm7 Gb | Ebm7 Ebm7/Db | F7b9/C Gb7 | F7 |
Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high.
| Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C | Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C |
Oh, your daddy’s rich, and your ma is good-looking.
| Db Bbm7 | Eb7 Ab7 | Db Gb7 | Cm7 F7 |
So, hush, little baby, don’t you cry.
Verse 2
One of these mornings you’re going to rise up singing.
Then you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to sky.
But ’til that morning, there’s a-nothing can harm you.
With daddy and mammy standing by.
Solo
| Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C | Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C |
| Ebm7 Gb | Ebm7 Ebm7/Db | F7b9/C Gb7 | F7 |
| Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C | Bbm7 F7b9/C | Db6 F7b9/C |
| Db Bbm7 | Eb7 Ab7 | Db Gb7 | Cm7 F7 |
Verse 3
One of these mornings you’re going to rise up singing.
Then you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to sky.
But ’til that morning, there’s a-nothing can harm you.
| Db Bbm7 | Eb7 Ab7 | Db N.C | N.C Bm7 Bbm7 |
With daddy and mammy standing by.
Summertime | Chords + Lyrics (capo 1)
Intro
| Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 | Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 |
| Dm7 F | Dm7 Dm7/C | Bdim7 F7 | E7 |
Verse 1
| Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 | Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 |
Summertime, and the living is easy.
| Dm7 F | Dm7 Dm7/C | Bdim7 F7 | E7 |
Fish are jumping, and the cotton is high.
| Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 | Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 |
Oh, your daddy’s rich, and your ma is good-looking.
| C Am7 | D7 G7 | C F7 | Bm7 E7 |
So, hush, little baby, don’t you cry.
Verse 2
One of these mornings you’re going to rise up singing.
Then you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to sky.
But ’til that morning, there’s a-nothing can harm you.
With daddy and mammy standing by.
Solo
| Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 | Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 |
| Dm7 F | Dm7 Dm7/C | Bdim7 F7 | E7 |
| Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 | Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 |
| C Am7 | D7 G7 | C F7 | Bm7 E7 |
Verse 3
One of these mornings you’re going to rise up singing.
Then you’ll spread your wings and you’ll take to sky.
But ’til that morning, there’s a-nothing can harm you.
| C Am7 | D7 G7 | C N.C | N.C Bbm7 Am7 |
With daddy and mammy standing by.
Summertime Chords: Learn the progressions
There have been so many modifications done to poor Summertime’s chords that it is impossible to say what they are. Everyone you ask will give you a different answer.
Let’s go back to the source, so to speak, and see how Billie Holiday played it and make sure you get that right.
And since it’s easier for a guitar player to think in the key of Am than Bbm, let’s move it all down a semitone, should you want to play along with the original recording, place a capo on fret 1.
What we have here is a minor blues, with a major turnaround. The only thing you must do is alternate the bass. As long as you alternate the bass, you could make Summertime’s chords this simple:
| Am7 (/E) | Am7 (/E) | Am7 (/E) | Am7 (/E) |
|1. Dm7 (/A) | Dm7 (/A) | E7 (/B) | E7 :|||
|2. C Am7 | D7omit3 G7 | C F | C E7 |
We are moving VI – II – IIIx – VI for the first 12 bars.
The turnaround is the I – VI – II – V (very common) and then I – IV – I – IIIx, also very common.
I’ve designed some TAB for how the first 8 bars could be played in a super simplified way, check the TAB lesson here :Summertime – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
As you pay the chord above, sing along as you play this and you’ll realise that it works, although it’s not very jazz, it’s more blues.
Let’s now look at how we can jazz this up.
The first chords, Am7 and Am7/E could be turned into Am7 and some kind of E chord. Since E is IIIx, which has a natural b9, let’s play an E7b9, it’s more jazz!
Next, let’s remember that a dom7b9 chord can always be replaced by a dim7 chord a tone down as they share the same notes, so Ddim7.
Since every dim7 chord is built on consecutive minor thirds, there are three more that are identical, Bdim7, Fdim7, and Abdim7.
The one above our Am7 is the Bdim7. If we keep going up and play an Am with its 3rd in the bass, we get a C6. Go back to Bdim7 and we have this cool chord progression instead of Am7 – Am7/E:
||: Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 :||
This is what Billie Holiday plays (although she’s in the key of Bb and most people call it an F7b9/C instead of a Cdim7).
Anyway, I’ve designed more TAB for how you could play this first chord riff of Summertime in the key of Am (follow that link above).
The rest of the chord progression is manipulated in a similar way (see above – Summertime chords and lyrics in two keys).
Having checked my TAB, this chord chart is all you need to bring to the gig.
Summertime Chords Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Summertime Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Summertime iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key which is a great idea if you need to give this chart to someone else or don’t have a capo.
If you want to get much better at playing the guitar, you should take Summertime’s chords through all 12 keys, use the built-in jazz band in iReal Pro the app, or even better, record with a loop pedal.
Summertime – The Opera that became the most covered Jazz standard of all time!
Originally found in the Opera Porgy & Bess (Gershwin 1935). Summertime was made famous as a jazz blues ballad by Billie Holiday the following year.
Since then, it has been recorded over 25.000 times, making it the world’s most-covered tune.
Apart from Billie’s “original jazz version”, Ella Fitzgerald with Louis Armstrong, Janis Joplin, Willie Nelson, and Eva Cassidy stood out from the crowd.
Instrumental versions by Dizzy, Bird, Miles, and YouTube sensation Chad LB must also be studied if you’re serious about soloing.
And let’s not forget every jazz singer and instrumentalist who has cut their teeth on this classic, in fact, you’d have to spend a long time looking for a jazz musician who hasn’t played Summertime.
It’s thanks to all these people that the legacy of Summertime is so strong. I’ve included many versions in the playlist at the top of this page, check them out!
Summertime Chords | Related Pages
Summertime | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Summertime by Billie Holiday using TAB and chord analysis.
| Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 | Am7 Bdim7 | C6 Bdim7 |
Summertime, and the living is easy…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Ain’t No Sunshine chords by Bill Withers
- Baby Won’t You Please Come Home chords by Clarence Williams
- Cry Me A River chords by Julie London
- Don’t Wait Too Long chords by Madeleine Peyroux
- My Funny Valentine chords by Chet Baker
Billie Holiday tunes
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
Ella Fitzgerald tunes
Ella Fitzgerald released 61 studio albums and 25 live albums between 1936 and 1989. Crowned the First Lady Of Song, she is recognized for performing and recording most of the Great American Songbook.
Before this, she pioneered scat-singing in the 40s as a devoted Bebop singer.
Ella Fitzgerald on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Summertime chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.