"My Funny Valentine" Analysis Project
Among musicians, there are certain melodies known as "jazz standards" which all jazz musicians tend to know by memory. These tunes have been in the jazz repertoire for many years, thus have been performed in a wide variety of arrangements. Among jazz writers, Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart are one of the most outstanding writers in history. They had composed a jazz standard called "My Funny Valentine" for the 1937 Broadway show Babes In Arms and is extremely popular among other jazz artists. As a result, "My Funny Valentine" had been a favorite number for countless performers, which includes Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, and many more. In order to analyze the song fully, there must be an understanding of lyrical content, form, vocal range, key and key centers.
As one of the key influences in jazz standards had been "show tunes."
Frank Sinatra Sings the Select Rodgers & Hart
Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Oscar Hammerstein ...
My Funny Valentine (album)Some of the fundamental points for a show tune are that the format is usually in AABA form, has a catchy melody by using rhythmic patterns or melodic repetition, and contains chord progressions. In "My Funny Valentine", it also uses AABA form containing eight bar sections with the last A section containing four extended bars adding up to thirty-six bars. It starts off with a short introduction using orchestral before the A section of the melody begins. As seen in the lead sheet, the key begins with c minor, shifts to it's relative major, Eb major during the bridge, and then shifts back to c minor. As the melody of the first A section begins, it is clearly shown that it establishes the first motif by using rhythmic patterns and melodic repetition. The rhythm of the bridge is also a repeated sequence that gives...