“Have You Met Miss Jones?” was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart for the 1937 musical I’d Rather Be Right. Jazz musicians love it mainly for its bridge, which moves through keys a major third apart, a pattern that foreshadowed John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” more than two decades later.
The form is a 32-bar AABA, usually in F major. The A sections move from Fmaj7 through a diminished passing chord to Gm7 and C7, then into the relative minor and back to F. The bridge is the highlight: it goes to Bbmaj7, then Abm7 and Db7 to Gbmaj7, then Em7 and A7 to Dmaj7, then Abm7 and Db7 to Gbmaj7 again, and finally Gm7 and C7 back to F. That’s Bb, Gb and D, three keys a major third apart.
For improvisation, the A sections are friendly ii-V territory; use F major and target chord tones. The bridge requires focus. Practice ii-V-I patterns in Bb, Gb and D, then connect them using common tones. For instance, the Bb in Bbmaj7 becomes the A# of the D major area, a helpful anchor. Once you’ve mastered this bridge, “Giant Steps” will feel much less intimidating.
Practice the bridge slowly and on its own, saying the key names aloud. Then play the whole tune at a medium tempo. Learn the melody from a vocal recording, since Rodgers’s melody follows the harmony beautifully and helps you hear the key changes.
Common mistake: memorizing the bridge as random chords. Learn it as three keys a major third apart and it becomes logical. Once you hear that pattern, you’ll start spotting it in other tunes too.
Recordings to study: Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, McCoy Tyner’s trio version and Frank Sinatra’s swinging take. Learn more about the songwriters on the Rodgers and Hart Wikipedia page, and find more harmonically interesting standards on Minedit.