What Is This Thing Called Love: chords & grille (gypsy jazz)
What Is This Thing Called Love by Cole Porter, key of C (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
Cole Porter wrote What Is This Thing Called Love? in 1929 for the London revue Wake Up and Dream; it became one of his most-played standards and a gypsy-jazz favourite.
The sound: C major, but it opens in shadow: a minor ii–V (Gm7♭5–C7♭9) pulls toward F minor before the light of C major finally arrives. That question-and-answer between minor gloom and major release is the whole song.
Practising it: nail the two ii–V cells (into Fm, then into C). Drill the C7♭9 and G7 arpeggios and lean on the ♭9 for tension. Keep the tempo brisk but clean.
What Is This Thing Called Love chords: the grille
A : | Gø | C7♭9 | Fm | Fm | Dø | G7 | C | C | Gø | C7♭9 | Fm | Fm | Dø | G7 | C | C | Cm | F7 | B♭ | B♭ | A♭7 | A♭7 | G7 | G7 | Gø | C7♭9 | Fm | Fm | Dø | G7 | C | C |
Chords used
Gø · C7♭9 · Fm · Dø · G7 · C · Cm · F7 · B♭ · A♭7
Play along
Open the interactive grille for What Is This Thing Called Love: 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.