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: the opening ♭III chord, the cycle-of-fifths motion in the middle section, the chromatic passing chords. Joe Pass's solo arrangement of Misty is the benchmark for guitar chord melody.

The Form and Key Changes

"Misty" is in E♭ major, AABA form (32 bars).

A section opening (bars 1-4):
E♭maj7 | Cm7 F7 | B♭7 | E♭maj7 B♭m7 E♭7 |

The ♭III chord appears immediately — the opening E♭maj7 is often preceded by
or arrives with a ♭VII or ♭III coloring in the voicing.

B section (bridge):
B♭m7 | E♭7 | A♭maj7 | A♭m7 D♭7 | E♭maj7 Cm7 | Fm7 B♭7 | etc.

The Opening

The melody begins on the 5th (B♭) of E♭maj7 — a chord tone that's easily voiced on top. Garner's original has that rolling left-hand stride; a chord melody arrangement simplifies this to: melody note on top, chord voicing below, bass note on the bottom string. The first four bars have relatively slow chord movement — time to make each voicing sing.

Voice Leading Through the Changes

The B♭7 in bar 3 (the dominant) is a natural place for an altered voicing: B♭7♭9 with an inner voice on A♭ (the ♭7) resolving down to G (the 3rd of E♭). The melody sits above this inner resolution. This is contrapuntal chord melody in practice: the melody holds or moves slowly while the inner voices resolve independently.

B♭7♭9 → E♭maj7 voice leading:
Top melody: holds or moves by step
Inner voice: A♭ → G    (♭7 resolves down to 3rd of tonic)
Inner voice: D♭ → E♭   (♭3 of B♭7 resolves up to root of E♭)
Bass:        B♭ → E♭   (V → I, root motion)

The Bridge

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 a bright moment in the tune because A♭ major provides harmonic contrast after all the E♭ material. Voice the A♭maj7 openly with the melody on top and notice how it glows against the preceding dominant E♭7. This is the peak of the tune harmonically — let the voicing be full and clear.

Practical Tips

• Start with just melody + bass. Get the two-voice version sounding musical before adding inner voices.
• The long melody notes (half notes and dotted quarters) give you time to add bass movement or inner voice passing notes without rushing.
• The Joe Pass version on "Virtuoso" uses a lot of downward chromatic inner voice motion through the A sections — worth transcribing even a few bars to hear how he does it.
• In E♭ on guitar, you'll likely transpose to a more comfortable key. D major (capo 1) or F major (capo 3) are common options that put the melody notes in easier-to-voice positions.