“‘Round Midnight” is a tune written by the great innovative pianist Thelonious Monk. Monk claims that he composed Round Midnight when he was 18 and eight years later, Cootie Williams recorded it with his orchestra. It is believed that Williams may have changed the composition slightly but regardless, his name remains on the copyright. Monk first recorded it himself in 1947. Lyrics were later written to this tune by Bernie Hanighen. This is normally played as a walking ballad and features an interesting set of harmonic twists and turns. There is a standard intro that is worth learning. You can hear this on different recordings of this tune and we have included the chord changes in our chord charts.
This is certainly a great one to add to your Monk repertoire!
