Lady Be Good by George Gershwin

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 4

Form: 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

A Section 1

• G – C7 – Gmaj7 – E7 – Am7 – D7 – G6 – Em7 – Am7 – D7
  I – IV7 – Imaj7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – vi7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 2

• G – C7 – Gmaj7 – E7 – Am7 – D7 – G6 – Dm7 – G7
  I – IV7 – Imaj7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – v7 – I7

Bridge

• Cmaj7 – C♯dim7 – Gmaj7 – E7 – A7 – Am7 – D7
  IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – Imaj7 – VI7 – II7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 3

• Gmaj7 – C7 – Gmaj7 – E7 – Am7 – D7 – G6 – Em7 – Am7 – D7 – G6
  Imaj7 – IV7 – Imaj7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – I6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
C7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Bridge
E7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, Bridge
Am7	ii7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
D7	V7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
G6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Em7	vi7	In the key	A Section
Dm7	v7	Borrowed from G minor	A Section
G7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Cmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Bridge
C♯dim7	#iv°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
A7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• Dm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Am7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Lady Be Good (Oh) 1” (credited “Gershwin George”, 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 “Lady Be Good (Oh) 1” (credited “Gershwin George”, style Medium Up 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 68%).
• 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.