Victor Young, music · Ned Washington, lyrics · From the 1949 film My Foolish Heart
My Foolish Heart
My Foolish Heart is a ballad by Victor Young, with words by Ned Washington, written for the 1949 film of the same name. Players like its singable melody and chord changes that invite reharmonizing, and many listeners first know it from Bill Evans's 1961 trio recording. You hear it as a piano trio feature, as a vocal ballad, and on many singers' and instrumentalists' ballad albums.
▶ Plays the whole path in order, one recording after another.
- 1 Learn the song Billy Eckstine✓
- 2 Hear the landmark trio ballad Bill Evans Trio✓
- 3 Hear the lyric with Evans at the piano Tony Bennett & Bill Evans✓
- 4 Hear a long live reading Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock & Jack DeJohnette✓
- 5 Hear a horn take the tune Chet Baker✓
- 6 Hear the tune with an orchestra Oscar Peterson Trio with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra✓
- 7 Hear the tune as solo guitar John McLaughlin✓
- 8 Hear tenor sax and trio at length Ahmad Jamal✓
How the tune works
The tune runs 32 bars in four eight-bar sections. The first A section stays in B♭, with a brief move toward D in bar 4 and a closing ii–V in bar 8. The B section visits E♭ and G minor, then returns to B♭. The second A section repeats the first except for its last two bars, which lead into G minor. The C section is a new closing section: it slides through E♭ minor and A♭7 into B♭, then runs a chain of ii–V and dominant chords that ends on a turnaround.
Read each line as four bars. Two chords in one bar share it equally. A key tag marks the first bar where a new key area arrives. The tune starts on a short pickup, then bar 1 begins on B♭maj7.
Source is one online lead sheet made for B♭ instruments, written in C. Its chords are moved down a whole step here to the usual concert key of B♭ (the transposition is mine, so check it against your own chart). Sources disagree on key: JazzStandards.com gives the original as C, the Real Book and Standard Repertoire use B♭, and Evans played it in A. The form (32 bars, A B A C) agrees with Standard Repertoire and JazzStandards.com. Reharmonizations differ a lot between players; this chart is one jazz version and may differ from the original sheet-music changes. The key regions in the form strip follow this chart.
Listen in this order
Play all 8 on YouTube ↗The path starts with the song as a pop ballad, then moves through the Bill Evans trio, Evans with Tony Bennett and Keith Jarrett's long live reading. The last four steps add a trumpet quartet, a piano trio with orchestra, solo guitar and a tenor saxophone with a trio.
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Step 1 · Learn the song Now playing
Billy Eckstine 1950
My Foolish Heart /
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- Listen for
- Follow the form as the singer and orchestra play it straight: an opening section, a second section, the opening again, then a different closing section. Sing the shape back to yourself as A, B, A, C.
- Try this
- Sing the melody along with the record until you know all four sections. Then play it from memory on your instrument, slowly.
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Step 2 · Hear the landmark trio ballad Now playing
Bill Evans Trio 1961
Waltz for Debby
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- Listen for
- LaFaro's bass plays lines of its own that answer the piano. Hear how the three players share the tune.
- Try this
- Play the first eight bars slowly with only the melody and one bass note per bar. Then add one chord tone at a time until the harmony is full.
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Step 3 · Hear the lyric with Evans at the piano Now playing
Tony Bennett & Bill Evans 1975
The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album
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- Listen for
- Listen to how Evans accompanies a singer. Follow the words line by line to hear where the piano speaks.
- Try this
- Play the chords with one chord per bar while you sing or hum the tune, then add a short answer in the rest at the end of each line.
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Step 4 · Hear a long live reading Now playing
Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock & Jack DeJohnette 2001
My Foolish Heart: Live at Montreux
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- Listen for
- At this length the form comes around more than once. Count the 32-bar choruses and listen for the point where each one begins.
- Try this
- Play along with the chart and say the section letter (A, B, A, C) at the top of each eight bars until you can stay on the form for three choruses.
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Step 5 · Hear a horn take the tune Now playing
Chet Baker 1986
Cool Cat
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- Listen for
- The trumpet leads and the piano trio stays behind it. Follow the sections (A, B, A, C) and listen for the change where the closing C section begins.
- Try this
- Play or sing the first A section and hold one long note at the end of each four-bar line. Rest for a full beat before the next phrase.
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Step 6 · Hear the tune with an orchestra Now playing
Oscar Peterson Trio with Nelson Riddle's Orchestra 1963
Oscar Peterson & Nelson Riddle
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- Listen for
- Compare this with the Evans trio. Nelson Riddle's orchestra plays written parts here. Listen for how those parts sit around the trio.
- Try this
- Write a simple pad for the last eight bars, one whole note chord per bar, and play it softly under the melody.
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Step 7 · Hear the tune as solo guitar Now playing
John McLaughlin 1978
Electric Guitarist
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- Listen for
- A single guitar plays melody and chords at once. Listen for how it fits bass notes, chords and melody into one line of sound.
- Try this
- Play the first eight bars as chord-melody on guitar or piano, with the melody on top and the root and third of each chord underneath.
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Step 8 · Hear tenor sax and trio at length Now playing
Ahmad Jamal 2000
“My Foolish Heart (feat. George Coleman, Idris Muhammad & James Cammack) [Live]”, A l'Olympia
Couldn't play this one here. Try the links below.
- Listen for
- Coleman plays tenor with Jamal's trio behind him. Listen to his low register and count how many choruses the quartet plays.
- Try this
- Tap four-bar lines and mark each return of the opening section as you listen. Try to follow the form through the whole track.
More great versions
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Carmen McRae 1956
Blue Moon
McRae sings the tune with a Jimmy Mundy orchestra in 1956, an early jazz-vocal reading after the 1950 pop hits.
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Ray Brown 1956
Bass Hit!
A bass-led version from Ray Brown's first album as leader.
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Stan Getz 1980
Jazz en Buenos Aires
A live set from 1980 that stayed unreleased until 2024, with Getz on tenor and Chuck Loeb on guitar.
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Marquis Hill 2016
The Way We Play
A recent version from trumpeter Marquis Hill with vocalist Christie Dashiell on his Concord debut.
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Biréli Lagrène 2026
Elegant People
A 2026 guitar reading by Biréli Lagrène with a small group, the newest version found.