Prelude to a Kiss by Duke Ellington

Overview

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

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

• Dm7 – G7 – G♯dim – Am7 – D13 – Dm7 – G7♭9 – Cmaj7 – Em7 – A7
  ii7 – V7 – #v° – vi7 – II13 – ii7 – V7b9 – Imaj7 – iii7 – VI7

A Section 1

• D9 – G9 – C7 – Fmaj7 – B9 – E9 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – G♯dim – Am7 – D13 – Dm7 – G7♭9 – Cmaj7 – Em7 – A7
  II9 – V9 – I7 – IVmaj7 – VII9 – III9 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – #v° – vi7 – II13 – ii7 – V7b9 – Imaj7 – iii7 – VI7

A Section 2

• D9 – G9 – C7 – Fmaj7 – B9 – E9 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – G♯dim – Am7 – D13 – Dm7 – G7♭9 – Cmaj7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7
  II9 – V9 – I7 – IVmaj7 – VII9 – III9 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – #v° – vi7 – II13 – ii7 – V7b9 – Imaj7 – #ivø7 – VII7

Bridge

• Emaj7 – C♯m7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7 – G♯m7 – Gdim7 – F♯m7 – B7 – Emaj7 – C♯m7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7 – E7 – A7 – Dm7 – E♭m7 – Em7 – E♭7
  IIImaj7 – #i7 – #ivø7 – VII7 – #v7 – v°7 – #iv7 – VII7 – IIImaj7 – #i7 – #ivø7 – VII7 – III7 – VI7 – ii7 – biii7 – iii7 – bIII7

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Dm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
G7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section
G♯dim	#v°	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
Am7	vi7	In the key	Intro, A Section
D13	II13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
G7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from C minor	Intro, A Section
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Em7	iii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
A7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, Bridge
D9	II9	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
G9	V9	In the key	A Section
C7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	A Section
Fmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
B9	VII9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E9	III9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F♯m7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
B7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
Emaj7	IIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
C♯m7	#i7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
G♯m7	#v7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Gdim7	v°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
F♯m7	#iv7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
E7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
E♭m7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
E♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• G7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm7.
• D9 acts as V/V: it resolves to G9.
• C7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Fmaj7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Prelude To A Kiss” (credited “Ellington Duke”, 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 “Prelude To A Kiss” (credited “Ellington Duke”, 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 86%).
• 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.