I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart by Duke Ellington

Overview

Key: E♭ 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

• Fm/A♭ – Gm7 – Fm7 – F♯dim – E♭maj7/G – A♭7 – E♭maj7/B♭ – B♭7 – E♭6 – B♭7
  ii⁶ – iii7 – ii7 – #ii° – Imaj⁶₅ – IV7 – Imaj⁴₃ – V7 – I6 – V7

A Section 1

• E♭6 – A♭7 – E♭maj7 – Cm7
  I6 – IV7 – Imaj7 – vi7
• Gm7 – C7 (×2)
  iii7 – VI7
• Fm/A♭ – Gm7 – Fm7 – F♯dim – E♭maj7/G – A♭7 – E♭maj7 – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭7
  ii⁶ – iii7 – ii7 – #ii° – Imaj⁶₅ – IV7 – Imaj7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 2

• E♭6 – A♭7 – E♭maj7 – Cm7
  I6 – IV7 – Imaj7 – vi7
• Gm7 – C7 (×2)
  iii7 – VI7
• Fm/A♭ – Gm7 – Fm7 – F♯dim – E♭maj7/G – A♭7 – E♭6 – C7♭9
  ii⁶ – iii7 – ii7 – #ii° – Imaj⁶₅ – IV7 – I6 – VI7b9

Bridge

• Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – E♭6 – G7 – Cm7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 – G♭7 – B7 – B♭aug7
  ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – I6 – III7 – vi7 – iv7 – bVII7 – bIII7 – #V7 – V+7

A Section 3

• E♭6 – A♭7 – E♭maj7 – Cm7
  I6 – IV7 – Imaj7 – vi7
• Gm7 – C7 (×2)
  iii7 – VI7
• Fm/A♭ – Gm7 – Fm7 – F♯dim – E♭maj7/G – A♭7 – E♭maj7/B♭ – B♭7 – E♭6 – B♭7
  ii⁶ – iii7 – ii7 – #ii° – Imaj⁶₅ – IV7 – Imaj⁴₃ – V7 – I6 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fm/A♭	ii⁶	In the key	Intro, A Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	Intro, A Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
F♯dim	#ii°	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
E♭maj7/G	Imaj⁶₅	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
A♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
E♭maj7/B♭	Imaj⁴₃	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
E♭6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, Bridge
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Bridge
Cm7	vi7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
C7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
C7♭9	VI7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Bridge
A♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Bridge
D♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Bridge
G♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
B7	#V7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
B♭aug7	V+7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• A♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭aug7 (V+7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm/A♭.
• G7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart” (credited “Ellington Duke”, style Medium 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 “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart” (credited “Ellington Duke”, 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 100%).
• 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.