Red Clay by Freddie Hubbard

Overview

Key: C♯ minor · Chords used: 12 · Sections: 3

Form: Lead-in → Solo → Solo

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

Lead-in

• C♯m11 – Bm11 – D7sus4 – E7sus4
  i11 – bvii11 – bII7sus4 – bIII7sus4

Solo 1

• F♯7sus4 – G♯7sus4 – C♯m11 – Bm11 – D7sus4 – E7sus4
  IV7sus4 – V7sus4 – i11 – bvii11 – bII7sus4 – bIII7sus4

Solo 2

• F♯7sus4 – G♯7sus4
  IV7sus4 – V7sus4
• C♯m7 – Bm7 – E7 – Amaj7 – D♯m7♭5 – G♯7♭9 (×2)
  i7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – bVImaj7 – iiø7 – V7b9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C♯m11	i11	Home chord (tonic)	Lead-in, Solo
Bm11	bvii11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
D7sus4	bII7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
E7sus4	bIII7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
F♯7sus4	IV7sus4	In the key	Solo
G♯7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	Solo
C♯m7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Solo
Bm7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
E7	bIII7	Secondary dominant (V/bVI)	Solo
Amaj7	bVImaj7	In the key	Solo
D♯m7♭5	iiø7	In the key	Solo
G♯7♭9	V7b9	In the key	Solo

Harmonic highlights

• E7 acts as V/bVI: it resolves to Amaj7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Red Clay” (credited “Hubbard Freddie”, style Funk) 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 “Red Clay” (credited “Hubbard Freddie”, style Funk) 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 95%).
• 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.