I Left My Heart in San Francisco by Tony Bennett

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 35 · Sections: 5

Form: Lead-in → Intro → A Section → B Section → 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

Lead-in

• Dm7 – Cmaj7 – G7/B – Am7 – D9 – Dm7 – G13
  ii7 – Imaj7 – V⁶₅ – vi7 – II9 – ii7 – V13

Intro

• Dm7 – Cmaj7 – Fmaj7 – F/G – Cmaj7 – Bm7♭5 – E7♭9/B – Am7 – D9 – Dm7 – G13 – Dm7♭5 – G7 – A♭7 – F♯7 – Bm7♭5 – E7♭9 – Am7 – D9 – Dm7 – G13
  ii7 – Imaj7 – IVmaj7 – IV (bass G) – Imaj7 – viiø7 – III7b9 (bass B) – vi7 – II9 – ii7 – V13 – iiø7 – V7 – bVI7 – #IV7 – viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7 – II9 – ii7 – V13

A Section 1

• C6 – Cmaj7 – Em7 – E♭dim7
  I6 – Imaj7 – iii7 – biii°7
• Dm7 – G13 (×2)
  ii7 – V13
• Dm – Dmmaj7 – Dm7 – Gaug7 – C – Cmaj7 – C6 – C6/E – F – A7/F♯
  ii – iimaj7 – ii7 – V+7 – I – Imaj7 – I6 – I6 (bass E) – IV – VI7 (bass F♯)

B Section

• Em7 – C6 – Cmaj7
  iii7 – I6 – Imaj7
• Baug7 – Em7 (×2)
  VII+7 – iii7
• Em6 – Am7 – D7 – Dm7 – A7/C♯ – Dm7 – G13
  iii6 – vi7 – II7 – ii7 – VI⁶₅ – ii7 – V13

A Section 2

• C6 – Cmaj7 – Em7 – E♭dim7
  I6 – Imaj7 – iii7 – biii°7
• Dm7 – G13 (×2)
  ii7 – V13
• G7 – G7♯11 – G7 – Bm7 – E7 – A7 – D9 – Dm7 – G7♭9 – C6 – Fm9 – C6
  V7 – V7#11 – V7 – vii7 – III7 – VI7 – II9 – ii7 – V7b9 – I6 – iv9 – I6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Dm7	ii7	In the key	Lead-in, Intro, A Section, B Section
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Lead-in, Intro, A Section, B Section
G7/B	V⁶₅	In the key	Lead-in
Am7	vi7	In the key	Lead-in, Intro, B Section
D9	II9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Intro, A Section
G13	V13	In the key	Lead-in, Intro, A Section, B Section
Fmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Intro
F/G	IV (bass G)	In the key	Intro
Bm7♭5	viiø7	In the key	Intro
E7♭9/B	III7b9 (bass B)	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Intro
Dm7♭5	iiø7	Borrowed from C minor	Intro
G7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section
A♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
F♯7	#IV7	Secondary dominant (V/vii)	Intro
E7♭9	III7b9	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Intro
C6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
Em7	iii7	In the key	A Section, B Section
E♭dim7	biii°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm	ii	In the key	A Section
Dmmaj7	iimaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gaug7	V+7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
C6/E	I6 (bass E)	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
F	IV	In the key	A Section
A7/F♯	VI7 (bass F♯)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Baug7	VII+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Em6	iii6	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
D7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A7/C♯	VI⁶₅	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	B Section
G7♯11	V7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bm7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Fm9	iv9	Borrowed from C minor	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• Dm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gaug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• G7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm9 (iv9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E7♭9/B acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am7.
• F♯7 acts as V/vii: it resolves to Bm7♭5.
• E7♭9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am7.
• A7/C♯ acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Left My Heart In San Francisco 1” (credited “Tony Bennett (Cory-Cross)”, 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 Left My Heart In San Francisco (Tony Bennett)” (credited “Cory-Cross (Tony Bennett)”, 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 60%).
• 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.
• 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.