Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 28 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → Bridge → A Section → Outro

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

• E♭6 – Cm – Fm – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – Cm – Fm – B♭7 – E♭6 – E♭maj7 – Fm9 – B♭13 – E♭6 – Cm – Fm – B♭7 – E♭6 – Cm – E♭m – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – Cm – G7 – Cm9 – Cm7/B♭ – F7sus4 – F7
  I6 – vi – ii – V7 – Imaj7 – vi – ii – V7 – I6 – Imaj7 – ii9 – V13 – I6 – vi – ii – V7 – I6 – vi – i – V7 – Imaj7 – vi – III7 – vi9 – vi⁴₂ – II7sus4 – II7
• Fm11 – B♭9sus4 (×2)
  ii11 – V9sus4
• Fm – B♭7
  ii – V7

A Section 1

• E♭6 – Cm7 – Gm7 – E♭maj7 – A♭maj7 – Adim7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fm7 – D♭7 – Gm7 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭6 – B♭7
  I6 – vi7 – iii7 – Imaj7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – bVII7 – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – V7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Bridge

• E♭6 – Fm7 – B♭7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭6 – Am7♭5 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – F♯dim7 – Fm7 – B♭7
  I6 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii7 – #ii°7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 3

• Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm7 – E♭maj7 – A♭maj7 – Adim7 – Gm7 – C7 – Fm7 – D♭7 – Gm7 – C7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭7
  #ivø7 – VII7 – iii7 – Imaj7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – bVII7 – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7

Outro

• E♭6 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – Fm7 – B♭9 – E♭6
  I6 – V7 – Imaj7 – ii7 – V9 – I6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E♭6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, Bridge, Outro
Cm	vi	In the key	Intro
Fm	ii	In the key	Intro
B♭7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge, Outro
E♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, Outro
Fm9	ii9	In the key	Intro
B♭13	V13	In the key	Intro
E♭m	i	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Intro
G7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Intro
Cm9	vi9	In the key	Intro
Cm7/B♭	vi⁴₂	In the key	Intro
F7sus4	II7sus4	In the key	Intro
F7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
Fm11	ii11	In the key	Intro
B♭9sus4	V9sus4	In the key	Intro
Cm7	vi7	In the key	A Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
Adim7	#iv°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, Bridge
Fm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, Bridge, Outro
D♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	A Section
C7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
Am7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge, A Section
D7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	Bridge
F♯dim7	#ii°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
D7	VII7	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	A Section
B♭9	V9	In the key	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• E♭m (i) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• G7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm9.
• C7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.
• C7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Fm7.
• D7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Gm7.
• D7 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Gm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Over The Rainbow (Somewhere) 2” (credited “Arlen Harold”, 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 “Over The Rainbow (Somewhere)” (credited “Arlen Harold”, style 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 100%).
• 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.