I Can't Get Started by Vernon Duke

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 19 · Sections: 5

Form: 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

• Cmaj7 – Aaug7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – A7 – D7 – G7
  Imaj7 – VI+7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – VI7 – II7 – V7

A Section 1

• Cmaj7 – Am7 – Dm7 – G7 – Bm7 – E7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – D7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 – Cmaj7 – Am7 – Dm7 – G7♭9 – E7 – A7 – D7 – G7
  Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – vii7 – III7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – vi7 – II7 – bvi7 – bII7 – Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7b9 – III7 – VI7 – II7 – V7

A Section 2

• Cmaj7 – Am7 – Dm7 – G7 – Bm7 – E7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – D7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 – Cmaj7 – Am7 – Dm7 – G7♭9 – Cmaj7
  Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – vii7 – III7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – vi7 – II7 – bvi7 – bII7 – Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7b9 – Imaj7

Bridge

• Em7 – A7 (×2)
  iii7 – VI7
• Dmaj7
  IImaj7
• Dm7 – G7 (×2)
  ii7 – V7
• Em7 – E♭dim7 – Dm7 – G7sus4
  iii7 – biii°7 – ii7 – V7sus4

A Section 3

• Cmaj7 – Am7 – Dm7 – G7 – Bm7 – E7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – D7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 – Cmaj7 – Aaug7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – A7 – D7 – G7
  Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – vii7 – III7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – vi7 – II7 – bvi7 – bII7 – Imaj7 – VI+7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – VI7 – II7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Aaug7	VI+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
G7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
C6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
A7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, Bridge
D7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Intro, A Section
Am7	vi7	In the key	A Section
Bm7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭m7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭m7	bvi7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Em7	iii7	In the key	Bridge
Dmaj7	IImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
E♭dim7	biii°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
G7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• G7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• D7 acts as V/V: it resolves to G7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Can't Get Started” (credited “Duke Vernon”, 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 “I Can't Get Started” (credited “Duke Vernon”, 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 83%).
• 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.