Four by Miles Davis

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → B 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

Intro 1

• E♭maj7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7/B♭ – E♭m7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7/B♭ – A♭m7 – D♭7 – Gm7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Fm9 – B♭9 – E♭maj7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Fm7 – B♭13
  Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 (bass B♭) – i7 – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – iii⁶₅ – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – #ii7 – #V9 – ii9 – V9 – Imaj7 – #ii7 – #V9 – ii7 – V13

Intro 2

• E♭maj7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7/B♭ – E♭m7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7/B♭ – A♭m7 – D♭7 – Gm7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Fm9 – B♭9 – Gm7 – C9 – Fm7 – B♭9 – E♭maj7
  Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 (bass B♭) – i7 – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – iii⁶₅ – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – #ii7 – #V9 – ii9 – V9 – iii7 – VI9 – ii7 – V9 – Imaj7

A Section 1

• E♭maj7 – E♭m7 – Fm7 – A♭m7 – D♭7
  Imaj7 – i7 – ii7 – iv7 – bVII7

B Section 1

• Gm7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Fm9 – B♭9 – E♭maj7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Fm7 – B♭13
  iii7 – #ii7 – #V9 – ii9 – V9 – Imaj7 – #ii7 – #V9 – ii7 – V13

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• Gm7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Fm9 – B♭9 – Gm7 – C9 – Fm7 – B♭9 – E♭maj7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7/B♭ – E♭m7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7/B♭ – A♭m7 – D♭7 – Gm7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Fm9 – B♭9 – E♭maj7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Fm7 – B♭13 – E♭maj7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7/B♭ – E♭m7 – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7/B♭ – A♭m7 – D♭7 – Gm7 – F♯m7 – B9 – Fm9 – B♭9 – Gm7 – C9 – Fm7 – B♭9 – E♭69 – E♭7♯9
  iii7 – #ii7 – #V9 – ii9 – V9 – iii7 – VI9 – ii7 – V9 – Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 (bass B♭) – i7 – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – iii⁶₅ – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – #ii7 – #V9 – ii9 – V9 – Imaj7 – #ii7 – #V9 – ii7 – V13 – Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 (bass B♭) – i7 – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – iii⁶₅ – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – #ii7 – #V9 – ii9 – V9 – iii7 – VI9 – ii7 – V9 – I69 – I7#9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	Intro, B Section
A♭maj7/B♭	IVmaj7 (bass B♭)	In the key	Intro, B Section
E♭m7	i7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section, B Section
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Intro, B Section
Gm7/B♭	iii⁶₅	In the key	Intro, B Section
A♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section, B Section
D♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section, B Section
F♯m7	#ii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section
B9	#V9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section
Fm9	ii9	In the key	Intro, B Section
B♭9	V9	In the key	Intro, B Section
B♭13	V13	In the key	Intro, B Section
C9	VI9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	Intro, B Section
E♭69	I69	Home chord (tonic)	B Section
E♭7♯9	I7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• E♭m7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Four-Rev JE 2” (credited “Davis Miles”, style Up Tempo 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 “Four (melody-solos)” (credited “Davis Miles”, style Up Tempo 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 98%).
• 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.