Blue Skies by Irving Berlin

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 16 · 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

• Fm – C – Gaug – C – E7
  iv – I – V+ – I – III7

A Section 1

• Am – Ammaj7/G♯ – Am7/G – Am6/F♯ – Cmaj7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – Bm7♭5 – E7♭9
  vi – vimaj⁴₂ – vi⁴₂ – vi6 (bass F♯) – Imaj7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – viiø7 – III7b9

A Section 2

• Am – Ammaj7/G♯ – Am7/G – Am6/F♯ – Cmaj7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6
  vi – vimaj⁴₂ – vi⁴₂ – vi6 (bass F♯) – Imaj7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6

Bridge

• Cmaj7 – Fm6 (×2)
  Imaj7 – iv6
• Cmaj7 – G7 – C6
  Imaj7 – V7 – I6
• Cmaj7 – Fm6 (×2)
  Imaj7 – iv6
• Cmaj7 – Bm7♭5 – E7♭9
  Imaj7 – viiø7 – III7b9

A Section 3

• Am – Ammaj7/G♯ – Am7/G – Am6/F♯ – Cmaj7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – Bm7♭5 – E7♭9 – C – Gaug – C – Cmaj7
  vi – vimaj⁴₂ – vi⁴₂ – vi6 (bass F♯) – Imaj7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – viiø7 – III7b9 – I – V+ – I – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fm	iv	Borrowed from C minor	Intro
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Gaug	V+	Borrowed from C minor	Intro, A Section
E7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
Am	vi	In the key	A Section
Ammaj7/G♯	vimaj⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am7/G	vi⁴₂	In the key	A Section
Am6/F♯	vi6 (bass F♯)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Bridge
A7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	A Section
G7	V7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
C6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Bridge
Bm7♭5	viiø7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
E7♭9	III7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
Fm6	iv6	Borrowed from C minor	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• Fm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gaug (V+) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Blue Skies (Beloff Arr.*)” (credited “Irving Berlin 1927”, style Medium Up 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 “Blue Skies - Flinner” (credited “Berlin Irving”, style Medium Swing) 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 77%).
• 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.