Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Judy Garland

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 24 · Sections: 5

Form: A Section → B Section → C Section → A Section → D 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

A Section 1

• Cmaj7 – Am – Dm – Dm/G
  Imaj7 – vi – ii – ii (bass G)
• G7 – Cmaj7 – Am – Dm (×2)
  V7 – Imaj7 – vi – ii
• G7 – F7 – E7 – A7♭9 – Daug7 – G7♭9
  V7 – IV7 – III7 – VI7b9 – II+7 – V7b9

B Section

• Cmaj7 – Am – Dm – G7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vi – ii – V7
• Cmaj7 – Am – Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am – A♭m – Gm – C7
  Imaj7 – vi – viiø7 – III7 – vi – bvi – v – I7

C Section

• Fmaj7 – B♭7♭5 – Em – E♭dim – Dm – G7 – Cmaj7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7♭9 – Em – A7 – Am – D7 – Dm – G7
  IVmaj7 – bVII7♭5 – iii – biii° – ii – V7 – Imaj7 – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii – VI7 – vi – II7 – ii – V7

A Section 2

• Cmaj7 – Am – Dm – Dm/G – G7 – Cmaj7 – Am – Dm – G7 – Cmaj7 – Am – Bm7♭5 – E7♯9 – Am – A♭m – Gm – C7
  Imaj7 – vi – ii – ii (bass G) – V7 – Imaj7 – vi – ii – V7 – Imaj7 – vi – viiø7 – III7#9 – vi – bvi – v – I7

D Section

• Fmaj7 – Fmaj7/E – Dm – G7 – Cmaj7 – Dm/G – Cmaj7
  IVmaj7 – IVmaj⁴₂ – ii – V7 – Imaj7 – ii (bass G) – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
Am	vi	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section
Dm	ii	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
Dm/G	ii (bass G)	In the key	A Section, D Section
G7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
F7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section
A7♭9	VI7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Daug7	II+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Bm7♭5	viiø7	In the key	B Section, A Section
A♭m	bvi	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, A Section
Gm	v	Borrowed from C minor	B Section, A Section
C7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, A Section
Fmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	C Section, D Section
B♭7♭5	bVII7♭5	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Em	iii	In the key	C Section
E♭dim	biii°	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F♯m7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
B7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	C Section
A7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
E7♯9	III7#9	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section
Fmaj7/E	IVmaj⁴₂	In the key	D Section

Harmonic highlights

• G7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.
• B7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Em.
• E7♯9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 1” (credited “Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane”, style Ballad Even) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: the chart has no section markings, so sections were detected by code from repeated 8-, 12- and 16-bar phrases (letters such as A and B mark different phrases).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” (credited “Hugh Martin & Ralph Blane”, 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 88%).
• 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.