Goodbye Pork Pie Hat by Charles Mingus

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 24 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Solo → Intro → Solo → A Section → Intro → Outro

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♭7♯9 – B13 – Emaj7 – A7♯11 – D♭7 – B13 – D♭7 – E♭7 – A♭m7 – B13 – Fm7♭5 – B♭7♯9 – C7♯11 – F13 – B7 – Emaj7 – A13 – A♭7 – B♭7 – D♭7 – E♭7♯9 – B7
  I7#9 – #V13 – #Imaj7 – #IV7#11 – bVII7 – #V13 – bVII7 – I7 – iv7 – #V13 – iiø7 – V7#9 – VI7#11 – II13 – #V7 – #Imaj7 – #IV13 – IV7 – V7 – bVII7 – I7#9 – #V7

Solo 1

• Emaj7♯11 – A7♯11
  #Imaj7#11 – #IV7#11

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

Solo 2

Same chords as Solo 1.

A Section

• E♭mmaj7 – A♭m7 (×3)
  imaj7 – iv7
• E♭mmaj7 – Aaug7 – A♭m – A♭m6 – B7 – B♭7
  imaj7 – #IV+7 – iv – iv6 – #V7 – V7
• E♭mmaj7 – A♭7 (×2)
  imaj7 – IV7
• Cm7♭5 – F7♯9 – F♯m7 – Bm7 – B♭7 – E♭mmaj7 – A♭7
  viø7 – II7#9 – #ii7 – #v7 – V7 – imaj7 – IV7

Intro 3

Same chords as Intro 1.

Outro

• Emaj7♯11 – A7♯11 – E♭7♯9 – Emaj7 – E♭mmaj7
  #Imaj7#11 – #IV7#11 – I7#9 – #Imaj7 – imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E♭7♯9	I7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, Outro
B13	#V13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
Emaj7	#Imaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, Outro
A7♯11	#IV7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, Solo, Outro
D♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro
E♭7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
A♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro, A Section
Fm7♭5	iiø7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro
B♭7♯9	V7#9	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro
C7♯11	VI7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
F13	II13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
B7	#V7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
A13	#IV13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
A♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section
Emaj7♯11	#Imaj7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo, Outro
E♭mmaj7	imaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Outro
Aaug7	#IV+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭m	iv	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
A♭m6	iv6	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
Cm7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F7♯9	II7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F♯m7	#ii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bm7	#v7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• D♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• Fm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭7♯9 (V7#9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” (credited “Mingus Charles”, style Ballad) 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 “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” (credited “Mingus Charles”, 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 100%).
• 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.
• 4 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.