Alfie by Burt Bacharach

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 19 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → Bridge → A Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro

• Cm7 – F7sus4 – B♭dim7 – F7sus4 – Faug7
  ii7 – V7sus4 – i°7 – V7sus4 – V+7

A Section 1

• B♭maj7 – F7sus4 – B♭maj7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cm7 – Dm7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F7sus4 – B♭dim7 – F7sus4 – F7 – Faug7
  Imaj7 – V7sus4 – Imaj7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – i°7 – V7sus4 – V7 – V+7

A Section 2

• B♭maj7 – F7sus4 – B♭maj7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cm7 – Dm7 – Gm7 – Cm7 – F7sus4 – B♭dim7
  Imaj7 – V7sus4 – Imaj7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – i°7

Bridge

• Am7 – B♭m/C – C7 – Am7 – C7sus4 – Am7 – B♭m/C – C7 – F7sus4 – F6 – F7
  vii7 – i (bass C) – II7 – vii7 – II7sus4 – vii7 – i (bass C) – II7 – V7sus4 – V6 – V7

A Section 3

• B♭maj7 – F7sus4
  Imaj7 – V7sus4
• Em7♭5 – E♭7 – Dm7 – Gm7 (×2)
  #ivø7 – IV7 – iii7 – vi7
• C7♯11 – Cm7 – F7sus4 – B♭dim7 – F7sus4 – Bdim7 – Cm9 – Bdim7 – B♭maj7
  II7#11 – ii7 – V7sus4 – i°7 – V7sus4 – #i°7 – ii9 – #i°7 – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Cm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section
F7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
B♭dim7	i°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
Faug7	V+7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Intro, A Section
B♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Dm7	iii7	In the key	A Section
G7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
Gm7	vi7	In the key	A Section
F7	V7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
Am7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
B♭m/C	i (bass C)	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Bridge
C7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Bridge
C7sus4	II7sus4	In the key	Bridge
F6	V6	In the key	Bridge
Em7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C7♯11	II7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bdim7	#i°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cm9	ii9	In the key	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• Faug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• B♭m/C (i (bass C)) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• G7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Cm7.
• C7 acts as V/V: it resolves to F7sus4.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Alfie” (credited “Bacharach Burt”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Alfie” (credited “Bacharach Burt”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 100%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.