Alvorada by Cartola

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 3

Form: A Section → A Section → B 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

A Section 1

• Gm – C7 – F – F♯dim – Gm – C7 – F – E♭6 – D7 – G7 – D♭6 – C7 – F – D7
  ii – V7 – I – #i° – ii – V7 – I – bVII6 – VI7 – II7 – bVI6 – V7 – I – VI7

A Section 2

• Gm – C7 – F – F♯dim – Gm – C7 – F – E♭6 – D7 – G7 – D♭6 – C7 – F
  ii – V7 – I – #i° – ii – V7 – I – bVII6 – VI7 – II7 – bVI6 – V7 – I

B Section

• F – E7 – Am – F7/E♭ – B♭ – F7 – B♭ – Gm – C7♭9 – Cm – D7 – Gm – C7 – F – F♯dim
  I – VII7 – iii – I⁴₂ – IV – I7 – IV – ii – V7b9 – v – VI7 – ii – V7 – I – #i°

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm	ii	In the key	A Section, B Section
C7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section
F	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
F♯dim	#i°	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
E♭6	bVII6	Borrowed from F minor	A Section
D7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	B Section
G7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D♭6	bVI6	Borrowed from F minor	A Section
E7	VII7	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	B Section
Am	iii	In the key	B Section
F7/E♭	I⁴₂	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	B Section
B♭	IV	In the key	B Section
F7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	B Section
C7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
Cm	v	Borrowed from F minor	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• E♭6 (bVII6) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• D♭6 (bVI6) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• C7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Cm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• D7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Gm.
• E7 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Am.
• F7/E♭ acts as V/IV: it resolves to B♭.
• F7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to B♭.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Alvorada” (credited “Cartola”, style Samba) 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 “Alvorada” (credited “Cartola”, style Samba) 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 91%).
• 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.
• 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.