'S Wonderful — Free Lead Sheet PDF (Eb, Bb, Concert)

Music by George Gershwin · Published 1927 · Melody & chords only

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About 'S Wonderful

A Simple, Catchy Hit From a Show That Nearly Wasn’t

'S Wonderful was composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by his brother Ira, published in 1927 for the Broadway musical Funny Face, where it was introduced by the brother-sister dance team Fred and Adele Astaire. The show opened at the newly built Alvin Theatre on 22 November 1927 and ran for 244 performances — a solid hit, though its road there was not smooth. Funny Face began life under the title Smarty, which opened for out-of-town previews earlier that year to poor reviews and was extensively rewritten. Of the original score, only four songs survived the overhaul, including ‘S Wonderful.

Part of what has kept the tune so popular for nearly a century is how immediately likeable it is. Ira Gershwin’s use of clipped, casual American slang in the lyric (“‘s wonderful, ‘s marvelous”) paired with George’s simple, chant-like melody to create something that felt fresh and conversational rather than formal — a big part of why the song has aged so well.

The chart on this page offers the melody and chords, no lyrics. If you are also working through I Got Rhythm or the other Gershwin standards on this site, it is worth hearing how differently Gershwin treated a simple, catchy hook here compared to his more harmonically adventurous writing elsewhere.

The Form & Harmony

A Simple Melody With a Few Chromatic Surprises

'S Wonderful is a standard 32-bar AABA song form in the key of Bb, built around one of Gershwin’s simplest and most immediately memorable melodic ideas: a short, chant-like falling phrase that repeats and varies across the A sections. Some listeners have noted the phrase’s resemblance to the kind of short, repeated melodic cells found in folk and liturgical chant traditions — whether or not that was a conscious influence, the effect is the same: a hook that lodges in the ear almost immediately.

Underneath that simple surface, the harmony has more character than it first appears. The approach into the tune borrows a minor iv chord under the major-key melody — a classic bit of chromatic colour that briefly darkens the harmony before resolving back to the home key, giving the tune a touch of harmonic sophistication that its plain, catchy melody doesn’t immediately advertise.

That combination — an uncomplicated, singable melody over harmony with just enough colour to keep it interesting — is a large part of why 'S Wonderful has remained such an accessible standard for players and audiences of every level, without ever feeling throwaway.

How to Play It on Saxophone

A Practical Approach to a Catchy Standard

1. Learn the melody’s opening motif exactly. The tune’s opening falling phrase is simple but instantly recognisable — learn to sing and play it with precise rhythm and pitch before moving on, since a sloppy version of a famous hook stands out far more than a sloppy version of a complex line.

2. Keep the phrasing light and conversational. This tune works best with an easy, unforced swing feel rather than heavy articulation. Practise playing the melody as though you were speaking the lyric, even without singing the words.

3. Learn the harmony underneath the simple melody. Don’t let the tune’s melodic simplicity tempt you to skim the changes. Practise outlining the chords on their own, including the brief chromatic colour under the melody, so you have real harmonic footing when you improvise.

4. Build a relaxed medium-swing tempo. Work with a metronome at a comfortable medium tempo, prioritising a relaxed, easy feel that matches the tune’s light-hearted character over speed or technical display.

5. Study how vocalists shape the lyric’s rhythm. Listen to how singers like Ella Fitzgerald time the tune’s short, punchy phrases, and let that inform your own instrumental phrasing once the plain melody is secure.

If you would like one-to-one guidance on jazz phrasing, improvisation or building a wider vocabulary, saxophone lessons in person in South East London or online are available. The free saxophone transcriptions on this site are also useful for hearing how great players navigate this and other standards.

Essential Recordings

Where to Start Listening

Start with Ella Fitzgerald’s version from her landmark Gershwin Songbook (1959) — a definitive, effortlessly swinging reading that shows exactly why the tune has stayed a favourite for vocalists. The cool-toned pairing of Lee Konitz and Lennie Tristano offers a completely different, more harmonically searching take worth hearing alongside it.

The tune has also had a long life on screen: Gene Kelly and Georges Guétary sang it in the 1951 film An American in Paris, and Fred Astaire performed it again, thirty years after introducing it on stage, in the 1957 film version of Funny Face alongside Audrey Hepburn. For a straight-ahead instrumental take, Sonny Stitt’s recording is well worth seeking out.

If you are working through the broader Great American Songbook repertoire, browse the online real book index for related tunes, all available as free lead sheet PDFs in Concert, Bb and Eb. If you are also studying I Got Rhythm, comparing Gershwin’s fast rhythm-changes vehicle against this simple, catchy standard is a good way to hear the range of his writing.