“My Funny Valentine” Verse
Welcome to this tutorial on the verse for the tune “My Funny Valentine”. This tutorial is for the singing pianist, or the pianist accompanying a singer.
One Of The Most Beloved Standards
“My Funny Valentine” is one of the most beloved jazz standards to sing as the lyrics are so endearing. It’s become a song that anyone knows, no matter of their love of jazz or not. It was originally written in 1937 for the show Babes in Arms, and included this verse.
Incorporating The Verse Into The Arrangement
In many of the jazz standards that come from show tunes, there is what is know as a ‘verse’. Often only the chorus of the jazz standard is used when performing the tune in a jazz setting.
However, this verse was made famous by jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald with “My Funny Valentine” on the “Stars at Night” recording and so it’s an useful verse to learn and memorise.
In these situation it functions like an intro, and it’s good to know some of these more famous ones when doing a vocal version of these songs.
Related Lessons
We can always play the last 4 or 8 bars of the tune as an intro. In this lesson, we will explore other ways to create introductions for any tune.
The minor 251 progression in the final measures of the bridge is a nice place to add some altered voicings and upper structure triads.
My Funny Valentine is a difficult standard to learn. In this lesson we breakdown the complicated chord changes and build a solo arrangement.
Practice Tips
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We are in the key of C Minor which has 3 flats, and is the relative minor of Eb Major.
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The first 2 measures are played instrumentally with out the chords, and it's great to duet with a horn or guitar, if you have other instruments in your ensemble.
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Notice that the verse is played rather uptempo, it's going to move quickly which will set up the slow tempo of Valentine in a fresh way.
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Staying rubato, following your singer or yourself is important, but it's entirely possible to just do this in tempo.
