It Had to Be You — chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
It Had to Be You by Isham Jones & Gus Kahn — key of F (manouche), form A. Below is the full chord grid; on Haute Gitanerie you can play along with a scrolling chord ribbon, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and switch on a rhythm backing (la pompe) to practise your solos over the changes.
About
One of the most enduring standards of the 1920s, written by bandleader Isham Jones with lyricist Gus Kahn in 1924 and recorded countless times since — a warm, singable staple that manouche players love.
The sound — easygoing F major, laced with diminished passing chords (D♭dim, A♭dim) and a chain of dominants that keep the harmony gliding forward toward each cadence.
Practising it — trace the diminished chords as smooth chromatic connectors between the diatonic changes. Work the F major and D7–G7–C7 dominants, and let the diminished shapes guide your voice-leading. Relaxed medium swing.
It Had to Be You chords — the grille
A : | F | F | D7 | D7 | G7 | G7 | G7 | G7 | C7 | C7 C#° | Dm | Dm | G7 | G7 | C7 | C7 | F | F | D7 | D7 | G7 | G7 | G7 | G7 F7 | B♭ | B♭m | F A7♭9 | Dm A♭° | C7 F#° | Gm C7 | F B♭m | F |
Chords used
F · D7 · G7 · C7 · C#° · Dm · F7 · B♭ · B♭m · A7♭9 · A♭° · F#° · Gm
Play along
Open the interactive grille for It Had to Be You: loop any section, transpose to any key, set the tempo, and play over a rhythm accompaniment — with a real recorded pompe on featured tunes. In the browser, free.