Punjab by Joe Henderson

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 16 · Sections: 4

Form: Intro → Intro → 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 1

• Gmaj7 – Amaj7 – Bmaj7 – Cmaj7♯11 (×2)
  Vmaj7 – VImaj7 – VIImaj7 – Imaj7#11

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section

• Dmaj13 – B♭7♭9 – Bmaj7 – G13 – A♭maj7 – Fm7♭5 – B♭7 – Emaj7♯11 – E♭7♭9
  IImaj13 – bVII7b9 – VIImaj7 – V13 – bVImaj7 – ivø7 – bVII7 – IIImaj7#11 – bIII7b9

B Section

• A♭maj7 – G13 – G♭13 – Bmaj7 – E9 – F9 – F9sus4 – Gmaj7 – Amaj7 – Bmaj7 – Cmaj7♯11
  bVImaj7 – V13 – bV13 – VIImaj7 – III9 – IV9 – IV9sus4 – Vmaj7 – VImaj7 – VIImaj7 – Imaj7#11

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gmaj7	Vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section
Amaj7	VImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section
Bmaj7	VIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, B Section
Cmaj7♯11	Imaj7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section
Dmaj13	IImaj13	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭7♭9	bVII7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G13	V13	In the key	A Section, B Section
A♭maj7	bVImaj7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section, B Section
Fm7♭5	ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Emaj7♯11	IIImaj7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭7♭9	bIII7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G♭13	bV13	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
E9	III9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
F9	IV9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
F9sus4	IV9sus4	Borrowed from C minor	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• A♭maj7 (bVImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• F9sus4 (IV9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Punjab” (credited “Henderson Joe”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• 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 “Punjab 1” (credited “Henderson Joe”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 83%).
• 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.
• 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.
• 3 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.