My Mammy by Walter Donaldson

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 33 · Sections: 13

Form: A Section → B Section → C Section → D Section → E Section → F Section → G Section → B Section → C Section → D Section → E Section → F Section → G Section

Where these chords come from: a lead sheet of this public-domain song, contributed by a musician to the Wikifonia archive and preserved in the OpenEWLD lead-sheet collection (Simonetta et al., 2018). It describes the song as written, not any particular recording. This page shows that lead sheet 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

• F – G♭dim – C – Cm6 – D7
  IV – bv° – I – i6 – II7
• G7 – C – A♭7 – F (×2)
  V7 – I – bVI7 – IV
• G7
  V7

B Section 1

• C/E – A♭7/E♭ – Dm7 – C/G – G7/F – Gaug – C – D♭dim – G7/D – G7/B – G7 – C
  I⁶ – bVI⁴₃ – ii7 – I⁶₄ – V⁴₂ – V+ – I – bii° – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – V7 – I

C Section 1

• C/E – A♭7/E♭ – Dm7 – C/G – G7/F – Gaug – C – C/E – A7♭5/E – G/D – E7/B – Am7 – Bm/D – G7 – Em – Gaug
  I⁶ – bVI⁴₃ – ii7 – I⁶₄ – V⁴₂ – V+ – I – I⁶ – VI7♭5 (bass E) – V⁶₄ – III⁴₃ – vi7 – vii⁶ – V7 – iii – V+

D Section 1

• C – Em
  I – iii
• F – C (×2)
  IV – I
• F – F7 – C – F – C/E – C – D7/A – G7
  IV – IV7 – I – IV – I⁶ – I – II⁴₃ – V7

E Section 1

• Ddim – E7 – A7 – G – E♭7/B♭ – Am7 – D7 – G7
  ii° – III7 – VI7 – V – bIII⁴₃ – vi7 – II7 – V7

F Section 1

• C – C7 – F – Dm7 – D – G7
  I – I7 – IV – ii7 – II – V7

G Section 1

• C – Em – F – C/E – F – G♭dim – C/G – C/E – Cm6/E♭ – D7 – G7/B – C – E♭dim – G7
  I – iii – IV – I⁶ – IV – bv° – I⁶₄ – I⁶ – i6 (bass E♭) – II7 – V⁶₅ – I – biii° – V7

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

D Section 2

Same chords as D Section 1.

E Section 2

Same chords as E Section 1.

F Section 2

Same chords as F Section 1.

G Section 2

• C – Em – F – C/E – F – G♭dim – C/G – C/E – Cm6/E♭ – D7 – G7/B – C
  I – iii – IV – I⁶ – IV – bv° – I⁶₄ – I⁶ – i6 (bass E♭) – II7 – V⁶₅ – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Gaug (V+) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Ddim (ii°) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• D7 acts as V/V: it resolves to G7.
• E7/B acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am7.
• D7/A acts as V/V: it resolves to G7.
• C7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to F.
• D acts as V/V: it resolves to G7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the OpenEWLD lead-sheet collection (Simonetta et al., 2018). Community-contributed lead sheet (chord symbols over the melody) from the Wikifonia archive, MIT licence. Title and songwriter credit as written on the sheet.
• Section names: detected by code from repeated 8-, 12- and 16-bar phrases (letters such as A and B mark different phrases; a phrase that comes back keeps its letter). Lead sheets rarely print section names.
• Not verified: only one lead sheet 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.