My Favorite Things — Chord Changes & Harmonic Analysis
- Composer:
- Richard Rodgers
- Year:
- 1959
- Key:
- E minor
- Form:
- AABA (32 bars)
- Style:
- Post-Bop
- Tempo:
- 120–200 BPM
A modal jazz waltz from The Sound of Music. Features alternating Em and E major sections with a Cmaj7-D7-G progression in the bridge.
About This Standard
Composed by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II for the 1959 Broadway musical The Sound of Music, My Favorite Things was transformed from a charming children's song into a landmark jazz piece by John Coltrane's soprano saxophone recording in 1960. Coltrane's version — treating the minor and major sections as modal vamps — became one of the best-selling jazz recordings of the 1960s.
Notable recordings:
- John Coltrane — My Favorite Things (1960, soprano saxophone)
- The Sound of Music — (1959 original Broadway)
- McCoy Tyner — (various recordings)
Chord Changes
Notation
Harmonic Analysis
In Coltrane's jazz interpretation, My Favorite Things alternates between E minor (the verse) and E major (the chorus) — treated as modal vamps rather than song form. The E minor section uses E Dorian mode, while the E major section uses E major (Ionian). Coltrane extended each section into long modal improvisations, often 10-20 minutes in concert, treating each chord as a modal area to explore at length. The tune's simple waltz feel (3/4) and tonic/relative major alternation created an ideal framework for this modal approach.