Moon River was composed by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer for the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). The song was written for Audrey Hepburn to sing on screen. She performs the vocal herself, but the guitar accompaniment is not actually played by her.
In this lesson, you will learn a chord melody arrangement of Moon River.
JGO+ members also get access to an additional beginner-friendly version featuring the melody as single notes with a straightforward chord accompaniment.
Mancini won the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Arrangement for the piece.
The movie itself won the “Best Performance By An Orchestra For Other Than Dancing” and “Best Sound Track Album Or Recording Of Score From Motion Picture Or Television” award.
In 1963, Mancini won the same rewards again for his song Days of Wine and Roses.
“I reckon I’ll have made around $100,000 on ‘Moon River’ within the next two years or so. It took me about 30 minutes to compose. It had to be in keeping with the character of Holly Golightly, the star of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and I had to bear in mind the limitations of Audrey Hepburn’s voice. I worked the whole song around a simple guitar basis, although the guitar isn’t heard much during the number.” – Henry Mancini (1962)
Moon River is an actual river in Savannah (Georgia), where lyricist Johnny Mercer grew up. It was originally called Back River but was later renamed Moon River in honor of Mercer and the song.
At the end of the arrangement (bar 36), I use a b5 ending: F#m7b5 replaces the tonic Cmaj7 and moves downward chromatically while the top note remains the same across the chords.
This version of Moon River is arranged with the principles of our Complete Chord Melody course in mind.
Recommended listening:
- Audrey Hepburn – Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
- Barney Kessel And His Men – Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
- Count Basie – This Time by Basie (1963)
- Dizzy Gillespie – Dizzy Goes Hollywood (1963)
- Stanley Jordan – Standards Volume 1 (1987)
- Larry Coryell – Private Concert (1998)
- Bill Frisell – Bill Frisell with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones (2001)
- Earl Klugh – Naked Guitar (2005)
- Bill Frisell – When You Wish Upon a Star (2016)
Moon River – Video & Guitar Tabs
Audio
Moon River – Single-Note Melody & Chord Accompaniment
If you’re a JGO+ member, you can access the extra content for this lesson, including:
- An easy chord arrangement of Moon River based on Barney Kessel’s version on his album Breakfast at Tifanny’s. This approach lets you focus on the melody, rhythm, and harmony without the added complexity of a full chord melody arrangement.
- A single-note melody arrangement as played by Barney Kessel.
Members can also download a printable PDF, Guitar Pro file, and audio examples for this lesson, along with downloads for 65+ other lessons.
Dirk,
Thank you so much for these wonderful song tabs. As someone transitioning into jazz these are a great staring point. Not to sound ungrateful but I wish the numbers for the tabs were a little larger and/or boldface for those of us who find ourselves suddenly and without warning in our later years (Yikes!) and with vision not as sharp as it used to be. If you can do that it would be great.
Also I would gladly send some money your way for your wonderful contribution if I knew a safe way to do it. PayPal is too risky. Maybe Zelle if I learn how to use it. Check?
Let me know. You deserve something for what you’ve done. And your playing of these songs, which is probably a piece of cake for you, as they say, sound so beautiful on your guitar and amp set up I get a little emotional listening.
Cheers.
Jeff Ferenc
[email protected]
Muchas gracias maestro.
Regarding measure 2, I think the chord should be F6(add9, #11) instead of Fmaj7#11, but maybe I’m overlooking something — what do you think?
Lovely arrangement of this nice little tune. Simple chords and a couple of challenging chord changes but my old ears figured it out. Thanks for your inspiring music, Mr Dirk Laukens – very happy with this one!
Applause
Years ago I listened to a video a young man posted on Youtube where he played the whole song in 4/4, and he gave credit to Johnny Mercer only as the composer. I mentioned in a comment that it was written in 3/4 and the music was by Henry Mancini. Some bud of his replied, “he’s just making it his own.” Wow!
ya, dats nice….
Hi,Dirk. Do you have a chord melody or just chords for “I left my heart in San Francisco”?
So tenderly, thanks a lot!
As always great, Dirk!
Love it, great job Dirk
A lovely arrangement of a classic. Thankyou Dirk – you have great talent!
Great job Dirk! I love bouth courses and your vids and lessons.
A fan from Texas USA
How it fits with yesterday’s full moon. Thank you!
Elegant, elegant arrangement – well done. Cheers!
P.S. I remember the Andy Williams Show and how he used this as his theme song from when I was a kid as well. 🙂
I remember (more or less) watching the Andy Williams show back in the 60s–this was his signature tune in just the way that “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” was the late Tony Bennett’s and Nina Simone’s was “Strange Fruit.” Mancini and Mercer collaborated on a lot of great songs, among them the unforgettable “Days of Wine and Roses.”
Thanks Dirk for this excellent version.
Masterful magic as usual! Thank you Dirk
Thanks you have just made my day🎶♥️
That is gorgeously sweet Dirk! Many thanks once again.
Bar 3 F maj7#11 ??? Don’t see a e in the chord
Perhaps it’s its equivalent F6/9
Tones in chords are often dropped but still appear in the name of the chord. Whoever voiced this chord wanted all three of the upper extension notes in this chord (9th, 11th, and 13th). The F, D, G, and B from low to high are 4 notes. Most good guitar players limit themselves to 3, 4, and 5-note chords. One could name this chord as G/F meaning a G triad with an F note on the bottom. In addition to no E note, the A and C notes are not played either. This is unusual. It is more common to just eliminate one or two notes from the fundamental 1-3-5-7 chord. The most common notes to leave out are the root and perfect 5th.
Thanks for this beautiful arrangement, very intelligent. Im waiting the next one.
Thank you Dirk for this lovely arrangement. Very much appreciated.
Dirk
Such a beautiful arrangement. Thank you so much!
Just a query on the Fmaj7#11 chord. You show it has having a D note, which is the 6th note in F, Surely it should have an E note (9th fret on the 3rd string) to make it maj7? What you have is an F6/9/#11 or G9/F
Thank you so much, one of my favourite songs. Beautiful arrangement.
Wonderful arrangement! Thank you for adding such a beautiful song to my repertoire.
Very nice!
So beatiful to play, thank you so much, God bless you.
Moon River was my Mom’s favorite song. Thank you so much for giving us this; I will learn it in memory of her.
this is lovely. i have to admit that i need to simply to three finger chords as i cant quite reach some of the fingerings. thank you.
Thanks Dirk. Beautiful but also accessible. Request? Over the Rainbow?
Thanks John, working on Over the Rainbow as we speak!
Do you have other classic arrangements like Moon River available?
Mil gracias!!!
sweet tone
Lovely arrangement. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful song, nice rendition, especially the ending. Adding this to my “mellow” repertoire.
Agreed, they are ‘easy’ chords. In any big band arrangement the chords are more complex and true to the original score. Keep up the good work. Thanks
Hi Mike, the original version of Moon River has very simple chords with open strings. A big band arrangement usually has very simple voicings because there’s not enough room for big chords.
Exactly …..since it’s the whole band who adds and completes the voicings. Mike
should refer to Freddie GREEN !!!! Beyond this, I CONGRATULATE AND THANK
YOU a lot DIRK for your talent and the wonderful repertoire you give us, so useful
and rich musically. That allows for great progress and pro mastery.
Wonderful arrangement, great ending! Thank you.
Thank you!
Hi Kevin, you’re welcome!