Blues March by Benny Golson

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 20 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → Solo → Intro → Solo → 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

• B♭13 – B♭aug7 – E♭9sus4 – E♭9 – B♭13 – B♭aug7 – E♭9 – A♭13 – D♭9 – G♭13 – Gm7♭5 – A♭13 – A13 – B♭aug7 – Cm7♭5 – F7 – B♭9 – D♭9
  I13 – I+7 – IV9sus4 – IV9 – I13 – I+7 – IV9 – bVII13 – bIII9 – bVI13 – viø7 – bVII13 – VII13 – I+7 – iiø7 – V7 – I9 – bIII9

Solo 1

• G♭13 – B9
  bVI13 – #I9

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

Solo 2

Same chords as Solo 1.

A Section 1

• B♭9 – E♭9 – B♭9 – B♭aug7 – E♭9 – E9 – E♭9 – B♭9/F – E♭9 – Dm7 – G7sus4 – Cm7 – F7♭9 – B♭9 – D♭9 – G♭9 – B9
  I9 – IV9 – I9 – I+7 – IV9 – #IV9 – IV9 – I9 (bass F) – IV9 – iii7 – VI7sus4 – ii7 – V7b9 – I9 – bIII9 – bVI9 – #I9

A Section 2

• B♭9 – E♭9 – B♭9 – B♭aug7 – E♭9 – E9 – E♭9 – B♭9/F – E♭9 – Dm7 – G7sus4 – Cm7 – F7♭9 – B♭9 – D♭9 – G♭9 – B9 – B♭13 – B♭aug7 – E♭9sus4 – E♭9 – B♭13 – B♭aug7 – E♭9 – A♭13 – D♭9 – G♭13 – Gm7♭5 – A♭13 – A13 – B♭aug7 – Cm7♭5 – F7 – B♭9 – D♭9 – G♭13 – B9 – B♭13 – B♭aug7 – E♭9sus4 – E♭9 – B♭13 – B♭aug7 – E♭9 – A♭13 – D♭9 – G♭13 – Gm7♭5 – A♭13 – A13 – B♭aug7 – Cm7♭5 – F7 – B♭9 – D♭9 – G♭13 – B9 – B♭13 – B♭aug7 – E♭9sus4 – E♭9 – B♭13 – B♭aug7 – E♭9 – A♭13 – D♭9 – G♭13 – Gm7♭5 – A♭13 – A13 – B♭aug7 – Cm7♭5 – F7
  I9 – IV9 – I9 – I+7 – IV9 – #IV9 – IV9 – I9 (bass F) – IV9 – iii7 – VI7sus4 – ii7 – V7b9 – I9 – bIII9 – bVI9 – #I9 – I13 – I+7 – IV9sus4 – IV9 – I13 – I+7 – IV9 – bVII13 – bIII9 – bVI13 – viø7 – bVII13 – VII13 – I+7 – iiø7 – V7 – I9 – bIII9 – bVI13 – #I9 – I13 – I+7 – IV9sus4 – IV9 – I13 – I+7 – IV9 – bVII13 – bIII9 – bVI13 – viø7 – bVII13 – VII13 – I+7 – iiø7 – V7 – I9 – bIII9 – bVI13 – #I9 – I13 – I+7 – IV9sus4 – IV9 – I13 – I+7 – IV9 – bVII13 – bIII9 – bVI13 – viø7 – bVII13 – VII13 – I+7 – iiø7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
B♭13	I13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
B♭aug7	I+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
E♭9sus4	IV9sus4	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Intro, A Section
E♭9	IV9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
A♭13	bVII13	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Intro, A Section
D♭9	bIII9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
G♭13	bVI13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, Solo, A Section
Gm7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
A13	VII13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
Cm7♭5	iiø7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Intro, A Section
F7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section
B♭9	I9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
B9	#I9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo, A Section
E9	#IV9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭9/F	I9 (bass F)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm7	iii7	In the key	A Section
G7sus4	VI7sus4	In the key	A Section
Cm7	ii7	In the key	A Section
F7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from B♭ minor	A Section
G♭9	bVI9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• E♭9sus4 (IV9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A♭13 (bVII13) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• Cm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• F7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Blues March-Rev JE” (credited “Golson Benny”, 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 “Blues March” (credited “Golson Benny”, 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 92%).
• 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.