Meu caro amigo by Chico Buarque

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 25 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → B 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

Intro 1

• C/E – D♯dim – Dm – G7/F (×2)
  I⁶ – #ii° – ii – V⁴₂
• Gm – C7 – Fmaj7 – Fm/A♭ – C/E – D9 – G7sus4 – G7
  v – I7 – IVmaj7 – iv⁶ – I⁶ – II9 – V7sus4 – V7

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• C/G – D♯dim – Dm – G7/F (×2)
  I⁶₄ – #ii° – ii – V⁴₂
• C/G – F♯dim – Dm/F – G7/F (×2)
  I⁶₄ – #iv° – ii⁶ – V⁴₂
• E7 – Am – Am/G – F♯m7♭5 – B7 – Em7♭5 – A7 – D9 – G7 – C – D♯dim – Dm – G7 – Em7♭5 – A7
  III7 – vi – vi (bass G) – #ivø7 – VII7 – iiiø7 – VI7 – II9 – V7 – I – #ii° – ii – V7 – iiiø7 – VI7

B Section

• Fm – Em
  iv – iii
• A7 – D9 – G7 – Em7♭5 (×2)
  VI7 – II9 – V7 – iiiø7
• A7 – D9 – G7 – C
  VI7 – II9 – V7 – I

A Section 2

• C/G – D♯dim – Dm – G7/F (×2)
  I⁶₄ – #ii° – ii – V⁴₂
• C/G – F♯dim – Dm/F – G7/F (×2)
  I⁶₄ – #iv° – ii⁶ – V⁴₂
• E7 – Am – Am/G – F♯m7♭5 – B7 – Em7♭5 – A7 – D9 – G7 – C – D♯dim – Dm – G7 – Em7♭5 – A7 – Dm9
  III7 – vi – vi (bass G) – #ivø7 – VII7 – iiiø7 – VI7 – II9 – V7 – I – #ii° – ii – V7 – iiiø7 – VI7 – ii9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C/E	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	Intro
D♯dim	#ii°	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
Dm	ii	In the key	Intro, A Section
G7/F	V⁴₂	In the key	Intro, A Section
Gm	v	Borrowed from C minor	Intro
C7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Intro
Fmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Intro
Fm/A♭	iv⁶	Borrowed from C minor	Intro
D9	II9	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Intro, A Section, B Section
G7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	Intro
G7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
C/G	I⁶₄	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
F♯dim	#iv°	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm/F	ii⁶	In the key	A Section
E7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section
Am	vi	In the key	A Section
Am/G	vi (bass G)	In the key	A Section
F♯m7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Em7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
A7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
Fm	iv	Borrowed from C minor	B Section
Em	iii	In the key	B Section
Dm9	ii9	In the key	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• Gm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm/A♭ (iv⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• C7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Fmaj7.
• D9 acts as V/V: it resolves to G7sus4.
• E7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.
• A7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm9.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Meu Caro Amigo - i ABABAB AC iii” (credited “Buarque Chico”, style Choro - Samba) 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 “Meu caro amigo” (credited “Buarque Chico”, style Choro) 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 74%).
• 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.
• 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.