I'll Take Romance by Ben Oakland

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 21 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B 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

• Am7 – D7 – Gm7 – C7
  iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 1

• F6 – Dm7 – Gm7 – C7 – C7/B♭ – Am7 – A♭7 – D♭maj7 – G♭7 – A7♯9 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – C7 – F6 – A♭7 – Gm7 – C7
  I6 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – bII7 – III7#9 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – bIII7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 2

• F6 – Dm7 – Gm7 – C7 – C7/B♭ – Am7 – A♭7 – D♭maj7 – G♭7 – A7♯9 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – C7 – F6 – Bm7♭5 – E7
  I6 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – bII7 – III7#9 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – #ivø7 – VII7

B Section 1

• E♭m7 – A♭7 – D♭maj7 – B♭7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – D♭maj7 – D♭6 – C♯m7 – F♯7 – Bmaj7 – Emaj7 – Am7 – D7 – Gm7
  bvii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – IV7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – bVI6 – #v7 – #I7 – #IVmaj7 – VIImaj7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

B Section 2

• E♭m7 – A♭7 – D♭maj7 – B♭7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – D♭maj7 – D♭6 – C♯m7 – F♯7 – Bmaj7 – Emaj7 – Am7 – D7 – Gm7 – C7
  bvii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – IV7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – bVI6 – #v7 – #I7 – #IVmaj7 – VIImaj7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Am7	iii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
D7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	Intro, B Section
Gm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
C7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
F6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Dm7	vi7	In the key	A Section
C7/B♭	V⁴₂	In the key	A Section
A♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
D♭maj7	bVImaj7	Borrowed from F minor	A Section, B Section
G♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A7♯9	III7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
Bm7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭m7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
D♭6	bVI6	Borrowed from F minor	B Section
C♯m7	#v7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
F♯7	#I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bmaj7	#IVmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Emaj7	VIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• D♭maj7 (bVImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• D♭6 (bVI6) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• D7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Gm7.
• D7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Gm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I'll Take Romance” (credited “Oakland Ben”, style Waltz) 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'll Take Romance” (credited “Oakland Ben”, style Waltz) 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.
• 1 chord was 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.