Joy Spring by Clifford Brown

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 18 · Sections: 4

Form: A Section → B Section → C 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

A Section 1

• Fmaj7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – A♭m7 – D♭7
  Imaj7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – biii7 – bVI7

B Section

• G♭maj7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 – G♭maj7 – Bm7 – E7 – B♭m7 – A7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 – G♭maj7 – Am7 – D7
  bIImaj7 – biii7 – bVI7 – bIImaj7 – #iv7 – VII7 – iv7 – III7 – biii7 – bVI7 – bIImaj7 – iii7 – VI7

C Section

• Gmaj7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 – G♭maj7 – Gm7 – C7
  IImaj7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – i7 – IV7 – bVIImaj7 – biii7 – bVI7 – bIImaj7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 2

• Fmaj7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7 – A♭7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7
  Imaj7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7
• Gm7 – C7 – Am7 – A♭7 (×2)
  ii7 – V7 – iii7 – bIII7
• Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7
  ii7 – V7 – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Fmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, C Section
Gm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, C Section
C7	V7	In the key	A Section, C Section
B♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from F minor	A Section, B Section
E♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from F minor	A Section
Am7	iii7	In the key	A Section, B Section
A♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭m7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section, C Section
D♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section, C Section
G♭maj7	bIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
Bm7	#iv7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
D7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Gmaj7	IImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Fm7	i7	Borrowed from F minor	C Section
B♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
E♭maj7	bVIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• B♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• E♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Fm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Joy Spring-Rev JE” (credited “Brown Clifford”, style Medium Up 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 “Joy Spring” (credited “Brown Clifford”, style Up Tempo 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 98%).
• 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.