Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 19 · Sections: 9

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

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

• D – F♯m – D – G – D/F♯ – Em
  I – iii – I – IV – I⁶ – ii

A Section 1

• D6 – F♯m7 – D6 – E♭dim7
  I6 – iii7 – I6 – bii°7
• Em7 – A9 (×3)
  ii7 – V9
• Em7 – A9sus4 – A9
  ii7 – V9sus4 – V9

A Section 2

• D6 – F♯m7 – D6 – E♭dim7
  I6 – iii7 – I6 – bii°7
• Em7 – A9 (×3)
  ii7 – V9
• Em7 – A7 – D – D6 – Em7 – D/F♯
  ii7 – V7 – I – I6 – ii7 – I⁶

B Section 1

• G6 – G♯dim7 – D6 – E7 – A7 – G – D/F♯ – Em
  IV6 – #iv°7 – I6 – II7 – V7 – IV – I⁶ – ii

A Section 3

• D6 – F♯m7 – D6 – Am/C – B7 – G6 – Gm6 – E9 – A7
  I6 – iii7 – I6 – v⁶ – VI7 – IV6 – iv6 – II9 – V7

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 2.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 5

• D6 – F♯m7 – D6 – Am/C – B7 – G6 – Gm6
  I6 – iii7 – I6 – v⁶ – VI7 – IV6 – iv6

Outro

• E9 – A7 (×3)
  II9 – V7
• D6
  I6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
F♯m	iii	In the key	Intro
G	IV	In the key	Intro, B Section
D/F♯	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section
Em	ii	In the key	Intro, B Section
D6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, Outro
F♯m7	iii7	In the key	A Section
E♭dim7	bii°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Em7	ii7	In the key	A Section
A9	V9	In the key	A Section
A9sus4	V9sus4	In the key	A Section
A7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section, Outro
G6	IV6	In the key	B Section, A Section
G♯dim7	#iv°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	B Section
Am/C	v⁶	Borrowed from D minor	A Section
B7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gm6	iv6	Borrowed from D minor	A Section
E9	II9	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section, Outro

Harmonic highlights

• Am/C (v⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Gm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• E7 acts as V/V: it resolves to A7.
• E9 acts as V/V: it resolves to A7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Jingle Bell Rock” (credited “Beal-Boothe (Bobby Helms)”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
• 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 “Jingle Bell Rock (Beloff Arr.)” (credited “Joe Beal, Jim Boothe”, style Moderately) 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 61%).
• 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.
• 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.