Honeysuckle Rose by Fats Waller

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → A Section → Bridge → 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

• D♭7 – C7 – F – D♭7 – C7 – F69
  bVI7 – V7 – I – bVI7 – V7 – I69

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• Gm7 – C7 (×3)
  ii7 – V7
• D♭7 – C7 – F – D♭7 – C7 – F69
  bVI7 – V7 – I – bVI7 – V7 – I69

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Bridge

• F7 – B♭69 – G7 – C7
  I7 – IV69 – II7 – V7

A Section 3

• Gm7 – C7 (×3)
  ii7 – V7
• D♭7 – C7 – F – D♭7 – C7 – F69 (×2)
  bVI7 – V7 – I – bVI7 – V7 – I69

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
C7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
F	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
F69	I69	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Gm7	ii7	In the key	A Section
F7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Bridge
B♭69	IV69	In the key	Bridge
G7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• F7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to B♭69.
• G7 acts as V/V: it resolves to C7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Honeysuckle Rose - bsk” (credited “Waller Fats”, style Gypsy 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 “Honeysuckle Rose (Dixieland Tunes)” (credited “Fats Waller, Andy Razaf (1929)”, 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 63%).
• 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.