I'm Sorry by Brenda Lee
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 13 steps · 10 unique chords · 1960s
C6
No source cited for this step
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: C major · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 1
Form: 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
A Section
- C6 – B7 – C – C/C – C/B – C/B♭ – A
I6 – VII7 – I – I – I (bass B) – I (bass B♭) – VI - Dm – G7 (×2)
ii – V7 - C – C♯dim – Dm – G7
I – #i° – ii – V7
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| C6 | I6 | Home chord (tonic) | A Section |
| B7 | VII7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | A Section |
| C | I | Home chord (tonic) | A Section |
| C/C | I | Home chord (tonic) | A Section |
| C/B | I (bass B) | Home chord (tonic) | A Section |
| C/B♭ | I (bass B♭) | Outside the key (chromatic) | A Section |
| A | VI | Secondary dominant (V/ii) | A Section |
| Dm | ii | In the key | A Section |
| G7 | V7 | In the key | A Section |
| C♯dim | #i° | Outside the key (chromatic) | A Section |
Harmonic highlights
- A acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm.
Sources & accuracy
- Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I'm Sorry (Brenda Lee)” (credited “Ronnie Self, Dub Allbritten”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
- Section names: the chart has no section markings, so sections were detected by code from repeated 8-, 12- and 16-bar phrases (letters such as A and B mark different phrases).
- 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.
- Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
- Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.
Sources & Accuracy
Every chord on this page comes from the community chart listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.
Chords from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums (archived in the ChoCo research dataset); may be in a different key from the recording, and not checked against it.
Community chord chart “I'm Sorry (Brenda Lee)” (credited “Ronnie Self, Dub Allbritten”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Section, part 1 | C6 | C2, G2 | A3, E4, G4 | — |
| 2 | A Section, part 1 | B7 | B1, F♯2 | A3, D♯4, F♯4 | — |
| 3 | A Section, part 1 | C | C2, G2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 4 | A Section, part 1 | C/C | C2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 5 | A Section, part 1 | C/B | B1 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 6 | A Section, part 1 | C/B♭ | B♭2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 7 | A Section, part 1 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 8 | A Section, part 2 (×2) | Dm | D2, A2 | D4, F4, A4 | — |
| 9 | A Section, part 2 (×2) | G7 | G2, D3 | D4, F4, B4 | — |
| 10 | A Section, part 3 | C | C2, G2 | E4, G4, C5 | — |
| 11 | A Section, part 3 | C♯dim | C♯2, C♯3 | E4, G4, C♯5 | — |
| 12 | A Section, part 3 | Dm | D2, A2 | F4, A4, D5 | — |
| 13 | A Section, part 3 | G7 | G2, D3 | F4, B4, D5 | — |