Baltimore Oriole by Hoagy Carmichael

Overview

Key: G minor · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 4

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → 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 1

• Gm7 – Gm7/F – Em7♭5 – E♭7 – D7
  i7 – i⁴₂ – viø7 – bVI7 – V7

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• Gm7 – C7 – C7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm7 – Dm7 – G7♭9 – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – A♭7 – Gm7 – C9 – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7♯9 – Gm7 – C9 – C9/B♭ – Am7♭5 – E♭7 – D7♭9 – Am7♭5 – D7♭9
  i7 – IV7 – IV⁴₂ – iiø7 – V7 – i7 – v7 – I7b9 – iv7 – iv⁴₂ – iiø7 – bII7 – i7 – IV9 – iv7 – iv⁴₂ – iiø7 – V7#9 – i7 – IV9 – IV9 (bass B♭) – iiø7 – bVI7 – V7b9 – iiø7 – V7b9

A Section 2

• Gm7 – C7 – C7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm7 – Dm7 – G7♭9 – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – A♭7 – Gm7 – C9 – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7♯9 – Gm7 – C9 – C9/B♭ – Am7♭5 – E♭7 – D7♭9
  i7 – IV7 – IV⁴₂ – iiø7 – V7 – i7 – v7 – I7b9 – iv7 – iv⁴₂ – iiø7 – bII7 – i7 – IV9 – iv7 – iv⁴₂ – iiø7 – V7#9 – i7 – IV9 – IV9 (bass B♭) – iiø7 – bVI7 – V7b9
• Gm7 – Gm7/F – Em7♭5 – E♭7 – D7 (×2)
  i7 – i⁴₂ – viø7 – bVI7 – V7
• Gm7 – Am7♭5 – D7♭9
  i7 – iiø7 – V7b9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Gm7/F	i⁴₂	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Em7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
E♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
D7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section
C7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C7/B♭	IV⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am7♭5	iiø7	In the key	A Section
Dm7	v7	In the key	A Section
G7♭9	I7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iv)	A Section
Cm7	iv7	In the key	A Section
Cm7/B♭	iv⁴₂	In the key	A Section
A♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C9	IV9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D7♯9	V7#9	In the key	A Section
C9/B♭	IV9 (bass B♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D7♭9	V7b9	In the key	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• G7♭9 acts as V/iv: it resolves to Cm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Baltimore Oriole-Rev JE 2” (credited “Carmichael Hoagy”, style Medium Swing) 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 “Baltimore Oriole” (credited “Carmichael Hoagy”, 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 84%).
• 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.