F#m7 – B7 – Em7 (Query re this progression)

[Mikeo1938]

Apologies for this basic query but I keep noticing the above – especially in "I didn't know what time it was".

(1) Does the single sharp in the key signature of this Rodgers and Hart song indicate G major or E minor? (I suspect Em on the basis that the happy-sounding "C'est si bon" also has a single sharp in the key signature and therefore would seem to be in G.)

(2) However, my main question concerns the sequence F#m7 – B7 – Em7. This must exist in other keys but for some reason (perhaps because the F#m7 stands out so clearly from the page that I notice it more readily) I can't identify it so easily elsewhere.
Could someone pse tell me the equivalent sequence for other keys.

(3) Is this sequence more common in minor keys?

Many thanks in advance.

M

 

[Oriane Lima]

Hi, Mike.

I DIDN’T KNOW WHAT TIME IT WAS

WORDS: Lorenz Hart, MUSIC: Richard Rodgers
PREMIERE: Musical Comedy. Too Many Girls

New York: Imperial Theatre, 18 Oct. 1939 (249 perf.)
INTRODUCED BY: Richard Kollmar and Marcy Westcott

Too Many Girls was one of a rash of thirties musical comedies on the subject of college football. Despite a cast of young hopefuls that included Eddie Bracken, Desi Arnaz, Hal Le Roy, and Van Johnson and a score by Rodgers and Hart, only one of its many songs has survived: the haunting “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was”. It became generally popular after it was recorded by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra.

The lyrics exhibit Hart at his best, containing unexpected rhymes and alliterations (“never was naive” with “imaginary sleeve”), and striking inner rhymes (“time it was” with “sublime it was”). In the release. they are passionate: “Grand to be alive, to be young, to be mad, to be yours alone!” Rodgers’s music measures up, reaching the peak of its dynamic intensity and its widest range at this point.

________________________________________
The tonality of the refrain is somewhat ambiguous. Starting with an F-sharp minor chord resolving to a B seventh, it would seem to be in the key of E minor. Only at the very end does it reveal its true tonality of G major.
______

“I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” was featured in two films. In the cinematic version of Too Many Girls, it was sung by Trudy Erwin, dubbing in for Lucille Ball, along with Desi Arnaz, Eddie Bracken, and Hal Le Roy. In 1957, Frank Sinatra sang it in the film version of Rodgers and Hart’s PalJoey.

Slow ballad with verse (14) and refrain (36)
PUBLISHER: Chappell 8: Co.. Inc.
KEY: G maj., STARTS: b’ (F-sharp min. 7). FORM: AABA’

From: SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY. INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF AMERICA’S GREAT POPULAR SONGS 1920-1945

by Marvin E. Paymer
two bytes publishing Ltda
Connecticutt 1999

​

 

[Mikeo1938]

Thanks very much, OL, for your most interesting and detailed reply about that lovely song.
It's interesting that the opening is recognised as ambiguous.
I'd very much like to know how the progression "F#m7 - B7 - Em7" goes in the keys that I mainly use, namely:
C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb
Hopefully someone will come up with a reply.
Thanks in advance.
M

 

[CowboyNQ]

(1) Does the single sharp in the key signature of this Rodgers and Hart song indicate G major or E minor? (I suspect Em on the basis that the happy-sounding "C'est si bon" also has a single sharp in the key signature and therefore would seem to be in G.)

This could potentially indicate both. The article Oriane has pulled demonstrates exactly how this can sometimes be ambiguous.

I'd very much like to know how the progression "F#m7 - B7 - Em7" goes in the keys that I mainly use, namely:
C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb

If you want to play the song in C instead of G, the progression you're after would be:

Bm7 - E7 - Am7

 

[Mikeo1938]

OK and thanks for your input.

Before receiving your post, I was looking through some of the songs with chords on my iPad and found "F#m7 - B7 - E" (but not Em) in the middle eight of "Stars fell on Alabama": [ in the ] centre just you and me [ dear ]. I had supposed that this song was in C but perhaps not ... (?) Is it perhaps in Am? (Unfortunately the book with the chords and top line ... probably one of the Wise Books ... is hundreds of miles from where I am right now so I can't check the key signature.)

For the same phrase from the same song (the chords for which I had transposed into Eb), I have "Am7 - D7 - G".

For the same phrase from the same song (the chords for which I had transposed into Bb), I have "Em7 - A7 - D"

(BTW, I don't have a keyboard but an acoustic piano.)

M

 

[CowboyNQ]

I'm not familiar with that tune at all, but I had a look at a sheet for it on line and it appears to be in C Major.

 

[Oriane Lima]

I got the impression that the original was written in G major. In the Real Book, it appears in F Major. But many scores exist, too, in other keys. (Photos). What happens is the use of modal changes and borrowed chords. In this case, I think chords of the minor melodic mode were used. I could be wrong. Anyway Mike, I am adding these links here for a more appropriate evaluation.

If you follow the harmony closely, you will see that transposing to Eb is not am7 - D7 - G, but (dm7 - G7 - C) and for Bb, it is not em7 - A7 - D, but (am7 - D7 - G ). As Cowboy saíd to C.

___________________________________
IN G Major

_____________________________________

In F Major

Details concerning the Major and Minor Modes

http://legacy.earlham.edu/~tobeyfo/musictheory/Book1/FFH1_CH3/3K_MoreonMajorMinor.html

Modal Interchange (Borrowed Chords)

https://walkthatbass.wordpress.com/2016/10/01/modal-interchange-borrowed-chords/

 

[CowboyNQ]

I'm not familiar with that tune at all, but I had a look at a sheet for it on line and it appears to be in C Major.

I got the impression that the original was written in G major. In the Real Book, it appears in F Major.

Oriane, I was referring to this question, about "Stars Fell On Alabama".

in the middle eight of "Stars fell on Alabama": [ in the ] centre just you and me [ dear ]. I had supposed that this song was in C but perhaps not ... (?)

This is the sheet I was looking at:

 

[Oriane Lima]

Cowboy, I confused the reading of the comment. As you mentioned, in your previous comment, the logical sequence chord line for C major mode would be Bm E7 Am. And I, not only thought it was the same subject, but I also confused myself with Mike's response. I apologize to both of you. Thanks for correcting me Cowboy. Anyway, taking into account my line of reasoning, which although it was based on an erroneous premise, it was right in what concerns the logical sequence for its application to the C major mode. Thanks for correcting me Cowboy. It's interesting how a seemingly simple question can get us to review basic music concepts.

 

[Mikeo1938]

Very many thanks indeed to you both for your detailed replies. I wish that I understood all the musical theory! Anyway, I've now got the progression and noted the correction. Will seek out examples in these other keys.
M