Pick Yourself Up by Jerome Kern

Overview

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

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → C 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

• C7sus4 – C7 – Am7 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7
  V7sus4 – V7 – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7

A Section 1

• Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – B♭maj7 – Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – G7 – C7sus4 – C7 – Am7 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7
  ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – IVmaj7 – viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7 – II7 – V7sus4 – V7 – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7

B Section

• Am7 – D7 – Gmaj7 – Cmaj7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7♭9 – Em7 – A7 – D7sus4 – D7 – Bm7 – E7♭9 – Am7 – D7 – Gmaj7
  iii7 – VI7 – IImaj7 – Vmaj7 – #iø7 – #IV7b9 – vii7 – III7 – VI7sus4 – VI7 – #iv7 – VII7b9 – iii7 – VI7 – IImaj7

C Section

• A♭maj7 – E♭m7 – A♭7 – Cmaj7 – Am7 – D7 – Gm7 – C7
  bIIImaj7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – Vmaj7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 2

• Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – B♭maj7 – Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – G7 – C7sus4 – C7 – Am7 – D7♭9 – Gm7 – C7 – F6
  ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – IVmaj7 – viiø7 – III7b9 – vi7 – II7 – V7sus4 – V7 – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7 – I6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	Intro, A Section
C7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section
Am7	iii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
D7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	Intro, A Section
Gm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section
Fmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
B♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
Em7♭5	viiø7	In the key	A Section
A7♭9	III7b9	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section
Dm7	vi7	In the key	A Section
G7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
D7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	C Section
Gmaj7	IImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cmaj7	Vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
F♯m7♭5	#iø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B7♭9	#IV7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Em7	vii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/VI)	B Section
D7sus4	VI7sus4	In the key	B Section
Bm7	#iv7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	B Section
A♭maj7	bIIImaj7	Borrowed from F minor	C Section
E♭m7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
A♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• A♭maj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• D7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Gm7.
• A7♭9 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Dm7.
• G7 acts as V/V: it resolves to C7sus4.
• D7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Gm7.
• A7 acts as V/VI: it resolves to D7sus4.
• E7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Am7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Pick Yourself Up” (credited “Kern Jerome”, style Medium Up Swing) 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 “Pick Yourself Up” (credited “Kern Jerome”, style Medium Up Swing) 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.