Laura by David Raksin

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 35 · Sections: 4

Form: A Section → B Section → A Section → C 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

• Am9 – D7♭9 – G6 – Gm9 – C7♭9 – Fmaj7
  vi9 – II7b9 – V6 – v9 – I7b9 – IVmaj7

B Section

• Fm7 – B♭7sus4 – B♭7♭9 – E♭maj7 – E♭maj7/D – Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – D7 – Gmaj7 – Bm7♭5 – E7
  iv7 – bVII7sus4 – bVII7b9 – bIIImaj7 – bIIImaj⁴₂ – i7 – i⁴₂ – viø7 – II7 – Vmaj7 – viiø7 – III7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

C Section

• Fm7 – Fm7/E♭ – Dm7♭5 – G7♭9 – Cmaj7 – Am7 – D7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – F7 – Bm7♭5 – E7♭9 – Em7 – E♭7 – D7♯9 – D♭7 – C9
  iv7 – iv⁴₂ – iiø7 – V7b9 – Imaj7 – vi7 – II7 – biii7 – bVI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – IV7 – viiø7 – III7b9 – iii7 – bIII7 – II7#9 – bII7 – I9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Am9	vi9	In the key	A Section
D7♭9	II7b9	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
G6	V6	In the key	A Section
Gm9	v9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C7♭9	I7b9	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	A Section
Fmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
Fm7	iv7	Borrowed from C minor	B Section, C Section
B♭7sus4	bVII7sus4	Borrowed from C minor	B Section
B♭7♭9	bVII7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E♭maj7	bIIImaj7	Borrowed from C minor	B Section
E♭maj7/D	bIIImaj⁴₂	Borrowed from C minor	B Section
Cm7	i7	Borrowed from C minor	B Section
Cm7/B♭	i⁴₂	Borrowed from C minor	B Section
Am7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
D7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
Gmaj7	Vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bm7♭5	viiø7	In the key	B Section, C Section
E7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Fm7/E♭	iv⁴₂	Borrowed from C minor	C Section
Dm7♭5	iiø7	Borrowed from C minor	C Section
G7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from C minor	C Section
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	C Section
Am7	vi7	In the key	C Section
E♭m7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
A♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	C Section
G7	V7	In the key	C Section
C6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	C Section
F7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
E7♭9	III7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Em7	iii7	In the key	C Section
E♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D7♯9	II7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
C9	I9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• Fm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭7sus4 (bVII7sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭maj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭maj7/D (bIIImaj⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Cm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Cm7/B♭ (i⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm7/E♭ (iv⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Dm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• G7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• D7♭9 acts as V/V: it resolves to G6.
• C7♭9 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Fmaj7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Laura Rev” (credited “Raksin David”, style Medium 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 “Laura” (credited “Raksin David”, style Ballad) 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 64%).
• 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.
• 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.