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Mary Ann by Ray Charles

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 14 steps · 8 unique chords

Community chart. These chords come from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums, not from a transcription checked against the recording. Charts are sometimes written in a different key or simplified, and no second chart of this song agreed closely enough to mark this page verified. Trust your ears.
A Section 1Step 1 of 14

C7

LeftC2, G2RightB♭3, E4, G4
C4C2G2E4G4B♭3
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 3

Form: A Section → A Section → B 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

  • C7 – F7 – C7 – G7 – F7 – C7
    bVII7 – bIII7 – bVII7 – IV7 – bIII7 – bVII7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section

  • C6 – F7 – C6 – Dm7 – Dm7/G – Cdim7 – C6 – Dm7/C
    bVII6 – bIII7 – bVII6 – i7 – i7 (bass G) – bvii°7 – bVII6 – i⁴₂

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
C7bVII7In the keyA Section
F7bIII7Outside the key (chromatic)A Section, B Section
G7IV7Outside the key (chromatic)A Section
C6bVII6In the keyB Section
Dm7i7Home chord (tonic)B Section
Dm7/Gi7 (bass G)Home chord (tonic)B Section
Cdim7bvii°7Outside the key (chromatic)B Section
Dm7/Ci⁴₂Home chord (tonic)B Section

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Mary Ann” (credited “Composer Ray Charles”, 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).
  • 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 key setting didn't fit its chords (it was probably left at a default), so the key shown here was worked out from the chords.
  • 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 “Mary Ann” (credited “Composer Ray Charles”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1A Section 1C7C2, G2B♭3, E4, G4—
2A Section 1F7F2, C3C4, E♭4, A4—
3A Section 1C7C2, G2B♭3, E4, G4—
4A Section 1G7G2, D3B3, D4, F4—
5A Section 1F7F2, C3C4, E♭4, A4—
6A Section 1C7C2, G2B♭3, E4, G4—
7B SectionC6C2, G2A3, E4, G4—
8B SectionF7F2, C3C4, E♭4, A4—
9B SectionC6C2, G2A3, E4, G4—
10B SectionDm7D2, A2C4, F4, A4—
11B SectionDm7/GG2C4, D4, F4, A4—
12B SectionCdim7C2, C3B♭♭3, E♭4, G♭4—
13B SectionC6C2, G2A3, E4, G4—
14B SectionDm7/CC2C4, D4, F4, A4—