Hello Dolly by Louis Armstrong

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 20 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Interlude → Chorus → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription 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

• D7 – G7 (×3)
  II7 – V7
• C – E♭dim – Dm7 – G7
  I – biii° – ii7 – V7

Verse

• Cmaj7 – Am – Cmaj7 – F♯dim – Dm7 – A7♭9 – Dm – A7 – Dm – Dm7 – G7 – C – E♭dim – Dm7 – G7
  Imaj7 – vi – Imaj7 – #iv° – ii7 – VI7b9 – ii – VI7 – ii – ii7 – V7 – I – biii° – ii7 – V7

Chorus 1

• Cmaj7 – Am – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – E7
  Imaj7 – vi – v7 – I7 – IVmaj7 – III7
• Am – Em7 (×2)
  vi – iii7
• D7 – G7 – C – E♭dim – Dm7 – G7
  II7 – V7 – I – biii° – ii7 – V7

Interlude 1

• Cmaj7 – Am – Cmaj7 – F♯dim – Dm7 – A7♭9 – Dm – A7 – Dm – Dm7 – G7 – C – E♭dim – Dm7 – G7
  Imaj7 – vi – Imaj7 – #iv° – ii7 – VI7b9 – ii – VI7 – ii – ii7 – V7 – I – biii° – ii7 – V7

Interlude 2

• Cmaj7 – Am – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – E7
  Imaj7 – vi – v7 – I7 – IVmaj7 – III7
• Am – Em7 (×2)
  vi – iii7
• D7 – G7 – C – E♭dim – Dm7 – G7
  II7 – V7 – I – biii° – ii7 – V7

Chorus 2

• Cmaj7 – Am – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – E7
  Imaj7 – vi – v7 – I7 – IVmaj7 – III7
• Am – Em7 (×2)
  vi – iii7

Outro

• D7 – G7 (×3)
  II7 – V7
• C – C/E – F – F♯dim – G7sus4 – G7/D♭ – C
  I – I⁶ – IV – #iv° – V7sus4 – V7 (bass D♭) – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Gm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• D7 acts as V/V: it resolves to G7.
• A7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm.
• A7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm.
• C7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Fmaj7.
• E7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0650, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 2 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.