Arranging Chord Melody for Misty

"Misty" by Erroll Garner (1954) is one of the most beautiful and most arranged jazz standards. The melody is lyrical with long, sustained notes — ideal for chord melody because you have time to place full voicings underneath each melody note. The harmony is rich: a cycle-of-fifths middle section, chromatic passing chords, and plenty of extended chord colour. Joe Pass's solo arrangement of "Misty" on Virtuoso is the benchmark for guitar chord melody — worth studying bar by bar.

Form and Key

"Misty" is in E♭ major, AABA form (32 bars).
The melody starts on B♭ — the 5th of E♭ — a comfortable chord tone to start from.

A section (bars 1–8), simplified changes:
| E♭maj7      | Cm7 F7      | B♭m7 E♭7   | A♭maj7      |
| A♭m7 D♭7   | E♭maj7 Cm7  | Fm7  B♭7   | E♭maj7      |

B section (bridge, bars 17–24):
| B♭m7  E♭7  | A♭maj7      | A♭m7  D♭7  | E♭maj7      |
| Fm7   B♭7  | (to A section)

Opening — Bar 1

The melody begins on B♭ (5th of E♭maj7). This is one of the best melody notes to start with: it's a strong chord tone, easy to put on top of an E♭maj7 voicing, and it resonates well. Garner's original has a rolling stride left hand; the chord melody version simplifies to melody on top, voicing below, bass at the bottom:

E♭maj7 with B♭ on top:
  Options: B♭ G E♭    (5th, 3rd, root — three notes, shell-like)
           B♭ G D E♭  (5th, 3rd, 7th, root — four notes, fuller)
           B♭ G D B♭  (drop-2 variant — B♭ on top and in bass for octave effect)

Bass: E♭ (root on bottom string)

The ii-V Pairs

"Misty" is full of ii-V progressions, both major and minor. Voice leading through them is the core technical challenge:

Fm7 → B♭7 → E♭maj7  (ii-V-I in E♭ major):

Guide tone voice leading:
  Fm7:   A♭ (3rd), E♭ (7th)
  B♭7:   D  (3rd), A♭ (7th) ← A♭ is common tone with Fm7's 3rd
  E♭maj7: G  (3rd), D  (7th) ← D is common tone with B♭7's 3rd

Inner voice: E♭→A♭ (stays) → G (moves down half step) = smooth
This falling half step (A♭→G) through the ii-V-I is the characteristic inner motion.

The Bridge — A♭maj7 Moment

The bridge moves to B♭m7 → E♭7 → A♭maj7 — a ii-V-I in A♭ major. This is a half step below E♭, and it's the harmonic peak of the tune: the A♭maj7 in bar 19 provides a bright, warm contrast after the preceding tension. Voice it fully and let it ring:

A♭maj7 with melody note C on top (major 3rd — common melody note here):
  C — E♭ — G — A♭  (M3, 5th, 7th, root — drop-2 variant)
  or C — G — E♭ — A♭  (another drop-2 voicing)

Let the major 7th (G) ring clearly — it distinguishes A♭maj7 from A♭7.
This is the tonic major at the end of the bridge — give it space.

Chromatic Inner Voices

Joe Pass's arrangement uses descending chromatic inner voice motion through the A sections — the most distinctive feature of his style on this tune. As the melody sustains, an inner voice walks down chromatically under it:

Melody: B♭ (held over E♭maj7 into the next chord)
Inner voice motion (below the melody):
  G → G♭ → F → E♭  (descending chromatic passing tones)

This creates motion while the melody is static — the contrapuntal principle.
Even one step of this (G → G♭ as an inner passing note) adds depth.

Guitar Key Considerations

E♭ major is not the most comfortable guitar key — no open strings to exploit. Many guitarists transpose:

  • D major (capo 1): one position up. Open D, A, B strings available. Some resonance, natural voicings.
  • F major (capo 3, transposed to D): or simply play in F major for open strings on string 1 (high E = high E♭ in concert pitch with capo).
  • Stay in E♭: advanced players often prefer this for the full harmonic range without capo. Barre chords are necessary, but the voicings are manageable.

Reharmonisation Highlights

Bar 1 (E♭maj7): → G♭maj7 (♭III — parallel major/minor colour)
                or → Bmaj7 (tritone sub of E♭ — very colourful, use sparingly)

Bar 6 (E♭maj7 Cm7): → E♭maj7 → E♭m7 (parallel minor for brief dark colour)
                     → then resolve to Fm7 B♭7 normally

Bridge A♭maj7: → A♭m7 D♭7 A♭maj7 (expand with a ii-V before the tonic)

References

  • Pass — Virtuoso (1973) — contains the definitive guitar chord melody version
  • Garner — original 1954 recording shows the tune's character and feel
  • jazzstandards.com — Misty ↗