You'd be so nice to come home to

**pingu** · 01-19-2019, 09:17 PM

This song is kicking my ass ....

I've got to play it in F- for a singer

ABAC

The A's I'm ok with

it's a great tune but
fitting the melody with the chords
is tough on the B&C sections
Any tips for how to think of the harmony
on this ?

Mr Christian ?

Cheers

**ThatRhythmMan** · 01-19-2019, 09:32 PM

I’m not sure if this is any help or if you’re even asking what anyone else is doing, but this is the chart we use.

**sgosnell** · 01-19-2019, 09:41 PM

https://play.google.com/music/m/Tjqg...Farlow_Quartet

https://play.google.com/music/m/Taij...rio__Woodwinds

Here are two rather different versions, both very good, IMO. Perhaps you can learn something from them. The Charlie Byrd version has a singer, who happens to be his wife. The Farlow version is faster, hipper, but perhaps not as appropriate for what most singers want.

**jameslovestal** · 01-19-2019, 10:39 PM

Here is Bauer doing the song.

**Pycroft** · 01-20-2019, 04:57 AM

I'm not sure what you mean by ' fitting the melody with the chords is tough '
What changes are you using , it's pretty straightforward ?

In the key posted above you've got 4 bars D minor
4 bars II V I Bb major
4 bars II V I to D minor
what's written there as E m7b5 should be B m7b5 which gives us II V in A minor , II V in D minor for those four bars .
Functionally that's just 2 bars of E7 , 2 bars of A 7
which leads back to D minor for the A section etc.

for the D section I would play F dim - F maj - C#dim - Dmin
I dim to I major is fairly common though old-fashioned - think of the first bar of Misty
C#dim is dominant to Dmin

Last foru bars are just II-V-I in F

**Pycroft** · 01-20-2019, 04:58 AM

Such a shame Billy Bauer didn't record more

**pingu** · 01-20-2019, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by Pycroft

I'm not sure what you mean by ' fitting the melody with the chords is tough '
What changes are you using , it's pretty straightforward ?

In the key posted above you've got 4 bars D minor
4 bars II V I Bb major
4 bars II V I to D minor
what's written there as E m7b5 should be B m7b5 which gives us II V in A minor , II V in D minor for those four bars .
Functionally that's just 2 bars of E7 , 2 bars of A 7
which leads back to D minor for the A section etc.

for the D section I would play F dim - F maj - C#dim - Dmin
I dim to I major is fairly common though old-fashioned - think of the first bar of Misty
C#dim is dominant to Dmin

Last foru bars are just II-V-I in F

yes thanks Py !
(and thanks everyone)

that has helped a lot
im now ok with everything except
the first 4 bars of C ...

**pingu** · 01-20-2019, 01:48 PM

back to the shed for me i guess

**DonEsteban** · 01-20-2019, 07:45 PM

I played that gig in the middle of nowhere. A very (!) attractive lady comes to the bandstand and puts a little paper on my music stand written on it nothing else than: "You'd be so nice to come home to!"

Didn't know the song then... heartbeat rising... sweaty hands... nice memory... :-D

PS. Nothing happened, learned the song after that, was never requested again... :-)

**pingu** · 01-20-2019, 09:41 PM

**Hep To The Jive** · 01-20-2019, 11:04 PM

I love this tune! First time I've heard it was an Art Peppers album. I loved it enough to learn that particular version. With intro, ending, and everything. I recommend to find one you really feel and stick to it. It's not a rocket science, no need to constantly push for a change. Learn on others (hey Don!) misfortunes, play it nice and neat, and maybe collect the benefits

Part C according to Red Garland is exactly that indeed:
Bo F C#o Dm Gm C7 F. Nice and crispy!

**Jonah** · 01-21-2019, 02:27 AM

I am a bit at a loss with all these A,B,C,Ds...

The song is simple repetitive form where each section has similar beginnings and different endings (the 1st ending is open on dominant, the secod ending is exteded cadence to tonic)...

I would call it just A1 and A2.

What do you mean? Where is the problem with chords?

**ragman1** · 01-21-2019, 04:50 AM

I think it can be quite a tricky little tune.

You'd be so nice to come home to-3-jpg

**pingu** · 01-21-2019, 08:15 AM

Originally Posted by Jonah

I am a bit at a loss with all these A,B,C,Ds...

The song is simple repetitive form where each section has similar beginnings and different endings (the 1st ending is open on dominant, the secod ending is exteded cadence to tonic)...

I would call it just A1 and A2.

What do you mean? Where is the problem with chords?

Hi Jonah,

I'm talking ...

A 8 bars
B 8 bars
A 8 bars
C 8 bars

My problems are with the first 4 bars of C
(bars 25 to 28)

Thanks for all the help ....

**Sam Sherry** · 01-21-2019, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive

I love this tune! First time I've heard it was an Art Peppers album.

Concur; that's a great record.

Here's my favorite version. I burned this out as a kid. I've never heard Jack Wilkins play better than this. (His comping in back of Michael Moore and Brookmeyer's second solo at 6:30ish is just a door-opener.)

**EarlBrother** · 04-30-2019, 06:14 AM

I like the feel of Chets live, in i think Japan, feel.Depending on my mood.Sorry doesnt address the issue but i do agree with comments about straight forward.But the again im just a kid compared tot these other commentors.

**pcsanwald** · 05-01-2019, 07:08 AM

Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan

I’m not sure if this is any help or if you’re even asking what anyone else is doing, but this is the chart we use.
...

This is a minor tune, and, using m7 chords for a tonic minor always sounds weird to me. Those Dm7 should really be Dm6.

I was playing this tune the other day with a really good pianist, and he pointed out that the last 8 bars is a bit of a mystery spot, people play very different things. He played:
Fdim / F/C / E-7b5 A7 / Dm6 Db7
F/C Db7 / Db7 C7 / F

This is a bit different from the way most people play it, but it does seem closer to the voiceleading in older sheet music we looked at.

**joe2758** · 05-01-2019, 08:25 AM

I would guess Rags' is the closest to the original with the proper use of dim chords. The iv dim/ vii dim going to a IV chord doesn't sound right to me...also, I'm no expert, but as a collector of original sheet music I never see that

**M-ster** · 05-01-2019, 09:18 AM

Originally Posted by joe2758

I would guess Rags' is the closest to the original ...

Looks like Rags' image is from the 557 Jazz Standards PDF - which is a pretty good fake book. Changes are pretty good (relatively to Real Book) and alternates are often provided, which, when you dig in, you find are from Miles' or another prominent artist's rendition.

I'm surprised, though, that we haven't identified which is the target version, and then transcribed the changes ourselves, rather than look at sheet music. Sheet music may or may not convey the harmony, but the recordings are the recordings.

**pingu** · 05-01-2019, 09:46 AM

Thanks so much guys
with all these different versions
ive found my way now

you guys are great

**KirkP** · 05-01-2019, 11:55 AM

I think the OP has figured out the tune by now, but I woke up to the last post so thought I’d contribute.

Whenever I’m confused about the harmony of a tune I try to strip it down to a vanilla chart—the bare minimum changes without substitutions unless they are demanded by the melody.

Here’s my vanilla chart. I included alternative changes for one measure.

**ronjazz** · 05-02-2019, 10:08 AM

Jim Hall's version has great changes that Ron Carter outlines clearly, for further reference. "Concierto" CD, with Chet Baker and Paul Desmond as guests.

**coolvinny** · 05-03-2019, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan

I’m not sure if this is any help or if you’re even asking what anyone else is doing, but this is the chart we use.

I think those are the changes I've usually played, except with Bhalfdim at bar B5.

Also usually play G#dim7 then Amin at bars D1 to D2 but those are functionally equivalent to Bdim7 to F6.

**matt.guitarteacher** · 05-03-2019, 11:01 AM

This song is frigging hard to sing. It's got a lot of implied harmonic minor .... with melody notes which basically WON'T work using altered-scale subs, at least for the strong side of the beat. A lot of natural 4's and 5's etc.

It would basically be a really good idea to learn this as a chord melody, even if just half notes etc. Anyway, 7b9 chords will work well on the minor 2-5's, if you wanted generic and safe. They imply some harmonic minor and mostly don't step on the toes of the melody.

Play around with the harmonic rhythm on it if you like. If it's a two-beat chord, you can play the 7b9 or shell voicing on beat 1 and then something more altered on the second beat of the chord.

But seriously, chord melody mentality will be the ticket on a lot of this.The melody on some of those half diminished chords is hard enough to sing as it is.