Ramblin' Rose by Nat King Cole

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 5

Form: Chorus → Chorus → Chorus → Chorus → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription 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.

Key changes

• Chorus 3 moves to B♭ major.

Section by section

Chorus 1

• E7 – A – B7 – E7 – A7 – D – A – Bm – E – A – D – A
  V7 – I – II7 – V7 – I7 – IV – I – ii – V – I – IV – I

Chorus 2

• E7 – A – B7 – E7 – A7 – D – A – Bm – E – A – F7
  V7 – I – II7 – V7 – I7 – IV – I – ii – V – I – bVI7

Chorus 3

• F7 – B♭ – C7 – F7 – B♭7 – E♭ – B♭ – Gm – Cm – F – B♭ – E♭ – B♭
  V7 – I – II7 – V7 – I7 – IV – I – vi – ii – V – I – IV – I

Chorus 4

• F7 – B♭ – C7 – F7 – B♭7 – E♭ – B♭ – Gm – Cm – F13
  V7 – I – II7 – V7 – I7 – IV – I – vi – ii – V13

Outro

• B♭ – E♭7 – B♭
  I – IV7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• B7 acts as V/V: it resolves to E7.
• A7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to D.
• C7 acts as V/V: it resolves to F7.
• B♭7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to E♭.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0220, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.