It Don’t Mean a Thing Chords

Easy tutorial for beginners with some explanations, the tab, the lyrics and the chords to play It Don’t Mean a Thing by Duke Ellington on guitar.

It Don’t Mean a Thing with chords

The two first verses are played in the same way.

The third verse is played differently.

We will therefore only look at verse 1 and verse 2.

Verse 1 of this Ellington music

Here are the chords you will be using in verses 1 and 2 :

chords It Don't Mean a Thing

When you master those, you can follow the next framework to play verses 1 and 2 :

Remember that the chords are written above the lyrics so that you can play them at the right time. Therefore, it’s better to play while singing. Chords that are to the right of a phrase (not above a word) are played between the two phrases.

lyrics It Don't Mean a Thing
Tab text
Gm
It don’t mean a thing
Eb7 D7 Gm
If it ain’t got that swing
C9 F
Doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah
BbM7 D7
Doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah

End of Verse 2 of the jazz song

Between verse 2 and verse 3, there is a small change.

In the last phrase of verse two, you don’t have to play the D7 :

guitar chords
Tab text
C9 F
Doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah
BbM7
Doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah

Verse 3 of It Don’t Mean a Thing

To play the chorus, you need to know any four new chords :

tab Ellington

Than, you can continue by following this tab :

guitar tab
Tab text
Fm
It makes no difference
Bb7 Eb9 Eb7
If it’s sweet or hot
Gm
Just give that rhythm
C9 F9 D7
Everything you’ve got

It Don’t Mean a Thing video with tab

You can play other Jazz guitar tab like the famous song by Bobby Hebb Sunny.

It Don’t Mean a Thing lyrics

The lyrics of the song It Don’t Mean a Thing by Duke Ellington are composed of three verses.

The structure of the lyrics is simple:

Verse 1 – Verse 2 – Verse 3

Verse 1

It don’t mean a thing, If it ain’t got that swing
Doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah

Verse 2

It don’t mean a thing, All you got to do is sing Doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah

Verse 3

It makes no difference
If it’s sweet or hot
Just give that rhythm
Everything you’ve got

Find all our tab, chords and guitar lessons on Decibel Score.

It Don’t Mean a Thing history

It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing) is a jazz standard composed in 1932 by Duke Ellington with lyrics by Irving Mills. Ellington would be the first to record it with his big band the same year.

Ellington guitar

If Ellington’s career is very large and full of hits, It Don’t Mean a Thing is certainly the most famous. Transcending the sphere of jazz, this music will travel around the world and its typical refrain “Doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah, doo-ah” will enter all ears.

The song, sung in jazz by Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone or Lady Gaga, played by Louis Armstrong or Sidney Bechet, will reach Paris where it will be played by the greats of Gipsy Jazz such as Django Reinhardt or Angelo Debarre.

Jazz guitar score by Ellington

The following score is a “home-made” score that we created according to the above frameworks and explanations.

Summarizes everything we just covered. You can download it for free to play the jazz song It Don’t Mean a Thing by Duke Ellington on guitar.