Once Upon a Time in America by Ennio Morricone

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 21 · Sections: 2

Form: Intro → 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

• G – Asus4
  IV – Vsus4

A Section

• Dmaj7 – Em7/D (×2)
  Imaj7 – ii⁴₂
• Am7/C – B7 – Em7/G – C♯m7♭5 – F♯m7 – Bm7 – Em7 – A7sus4 – A7 – Fm7/A – Em7/A – F♯m7/A – Gmaj7/A – A7 – Dmaj7 – Em7/D – Dmaj7 – Asus4/E – A7 – A7/G – F♯m7 – B7♭9 – Em7/G – C♯m7♭5 – F♯m7 – Bm7 – Em7 – A7sus4 – A7 – Dmaj7 – A7 – G – D
  v⁶₅ – VI7 – ii⁶₅ – viiø7 – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – V7 – biii7 (bass A) – ii7 (bass A) – iii⁶₅ – IVmaj7 (bass A) – V7 – Imaj7 – ii⁴₂ – Imaj7 – Vsus4 (bass E) – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii⁶₅ – viiø7 – iii7 – vi7 – ii7 – V7sus4 – V7 – Imaj7 – V7 – IV – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G	IV	In the key	Intro, A Section
Asus4	Vsus4	In the key	Intro
Dmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Em7/D	ii⁴₂	In the key	A Section
Am7/C	v⁶₅	Borrowed from D minor	A Section
B7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
Em7/G	ii⁶₅	In the key	A Section
C♯m7♭5	viiø7	In the key	A Section
F♯m7	iii7	In the key	A Section
Bm7	vi7	In the key	A Section
Em7	ii7	In the key	A Section
A7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section
A7	V7	In the key	A Section
Fm7/A	biii7 (bass A)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Em7/A	ii7 (bass A)	In the key	A Section
F♯m7/A	iii⁶₅	In the key	A Section
Gmaj7/A	IVmaj7 (bass A)	In the key	A Section
Asus4/E	Vsus4 (bass E)	In the key	A Section
A7/G	V⁴₂	In the key	A Section
B7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
D	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• Am7/C (v⁶₅) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• B7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Em7/G.
• B7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Em7/G.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Once Upon a Time in America” (credited “Morricone Ennio”, style Ballad) 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 “Once Upon A Time In America 1” (credited “Morricone Ennio”, style Slow 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 63%).
• 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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.