Stella By Starlight

Victor Young

Medium SwingBb4/4

29

chords

20

different scales

8

tonal centres

First bars

E-7b5A7(b9)C-7F7

Twenty-nine chords and twenty different scales. Nearly a new scale per chord — the highest density in the library relative to the length of the tune.

It opens on a half-diminished chord, which is unusual in itself, and there are six in all. Stella never settles anywhere: eight tonal centres in twenty-nine chords, and the home key only really arrives in the last bar.

The full analysis of this song

  • The scale for every chord
  • The triads
  • The arpeggio
  • The reason behind the choice
  • The player in all 12 keys
  • Thiago's commentary
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