PianoChords.studio

Night Ride Home by Joni Mitchell

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 21 steps · 7 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.
IntroStep 1 of 21

C

LeftC2, G2RightC4, E4, G4
C2G2C4E4G4
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 4

Form: Intro → 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

Intro

  • C – Am9 – Dm7 – G7 – G7sus4 – G7 – C
    I – vi9 – ii7 – V7 – V7sus4 – V7 – I

A Section 1

  • C – Am9 – Dm7 – G7 – G7sus4 – G7 – C
    I – vi9 – ii7 – V7 – V7sus4 – V7 – I

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section

  • F – G9 – C – F – G9 – G7 – C
    IV – V9 – I – IV – V9 – V7 – I

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
CIHome chord (tonic)Intro, A Section, B Section
Am9vi9In the keyIntro, A Section
Dm7ii7In the keyIntro, A Section
G7V7In the keyIntro, A Section, B Section
G7sus4V7sus4In the keyIntro, A Section
FIVIn the keyB Section
G9V9In the keyB Section

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Night Ride Home” (credited “Mitchell Joni”, style Ballad Even) 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.
  • 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 “Night Ride Home” (credited “Mitchell Joni”, style Ballad Even) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1IntroCC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
2IntroAm9A2, E3B3, C4, E4, G4—
3IntroDm7D2, A2A3, C4, F4—
4IntroG7G2, D3B3, D4, F4—
5IntroG7sus4G2, D3C4, D4, F4—
6IntroG7G2, D3B3, D4, F4—
7IntroCC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
8A Section 1CC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
9A Section 1Am9A2, E3B3, C4, E4, G4—
10A Section 1Dm7D2, A2A3, C4, F4—
11A Section 1G7G2, D3B3, D4, F4—
12A Section 1G7sus4G2, D3C4, D4, F4—
13A Section 1G7G2, D3B3, D4, F4—
14A Section 1CC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
15B SectionFF2, C3C4, F4, A4—
16B SectionG9G2, D3B3, D4, F4, A4—
17B SectionCC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
18B SectionFF2, C3C4, F4, A4—
19B SectionG9G2, D3B3, D4, F4, A4—
20B SectionG7G2, D3B3, D4, F4—
21B SectionCC2, G2C4, E4, G4—