You Are Reading the First 6 FREE Chapters (470 pages)

6.10.16
"I've Got You Under My Skin" Chords: One of Cole Porter's Best Songs

Now for the other extreme. How in blazes does Cole Porter stuff this exquisitely-wrought three-minute masterpiece with 20—count ’em, 20—chords without modulating, and without borrowing chromatic chords?

First, an inventory of the 20 chords he uses in “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” Starting with the major tonic chord and moving clockwise around the harmonic scale, here are all the chords (Table 48):

TABLE 48 Inventory of Chords: “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”

Table showing a list of all 20 chords used in the 1956 Frank Sinatra hit recording of the 1936 Cole Porter song, I've Got You Under My Skin

Even though the song has a lot of minor chords, it does not modulate because, by definition, modulation means establishing a new tonal centre. This song does not do that.

< Previous   Next >