Road Song by Wes Montgomery

Overview

Key: G minor · Chords used: 21 · Sections: 5

Form: A Section → A Section → Bridge → A Section → Tag

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

A Section 1

• Gm7 – D7sus4/A – D7 – Gm9 – Fm9 – E♭maj9 – Cm7 – Em7♭5 – Cm9 – D7♯9 – Gm7
  i7 – V7sus4 (bass A) – V7 – i9 – bvii9 – bVImaj9 – iv7 – viø7 – iv9 – V7#9 – i7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Bridge

• Cm7 – F7 – Dm7 – Bm7 – E7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – A♭maj7 – Am7♭5 – D7♭9
  iv7 – bVII7 – v7 – iii7 – VI7 – biii7 – bVI7 – bIImaj7 – iiø7 – V7b9

A Section 3

• Gm7 – D7sus4/A – D7 – Gm9 – Fm9 – E♭maj9 – Cm7 – Em7♭5 – Cm7 – D7♯9 – Gm7
  i7 – V7sus4 (bass A) – V7 – i9 – bvii9 – bVImaj9 – iv7 – viø7 – iv7 – V7#9 – i7

Tag

• Gm7 – Fm9 – B♭7 – E♭maj9 – Cm7 – Em7♭5 – Cm9 – D7♯9 – Gm11
  i7 – bvii9 – bIII7 – bVImaj9 – iv7 – viø7 – iv9 – V7#9 – i11

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Tag
D7sus4/A	V7sus4 (bass A)	In the key	A Section
D7	V7	In the key	A Section
Gm9	i9	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Fm9	bvii9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Tag
E♭maj9	bVImaj9	In the key	A Section, Tag
Cm7	iv7	In the key	A Section, Bridge, Tag
Em7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Tag
Cm9	iv9	In the key	A Section, Tag
D7♯9	V7#9	In the key	A Section, Tag
F7	bVII7	In the key	Bridge
Dm7	v7	In the key	Bridge
Bm7	iii7	Borrowed from G major	Bridge
E7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
B♭m7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
E♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
A♭maj7	bIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Am7♭5	iiø7	In the key	Bridge
D7♭9	V7b9	In the key	Bridge
B♭7	bIII7	Secondary dominant (V/bVI)	Tag
Gm11	i11	Home chord (tonic)	Tag

Harmonic highlights

• Bm7 (iii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G major.
• B♭7 acts as V/bVI: it resolves to E♭maj9.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Road Song” (credited “Montgomery Wes”, style Latin jazz) 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 “Road Song 1” (credited “Montgomery Wes”, style Latin) 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 64%).
• 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.