Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree by Johnny Marks

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 4

Form: 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

A Section 1

• Cmaj7 – Dm7 – Em7 – Aaug7
  Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – VI+7
• Dm7 – G7 (×4)
  ii7 – V7
• Cmaj7 – G9sus4
  Imaj7 – V9sus4

A Section 2

• Cmaj7 – Dm7 – Em7 – Aaug7
  Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – VI+7
• Dm7 – G7 (×4)
  ii7 – V7
• C6 – C7
  I6 – I7

Bridge

• F6 – Em7 – Am – Ammaj7 – Am7 – D7 – G7
  IV6 – iii7 – vi – vimaj7 – vi7 – II7 – V7

A Section 3

• Cmaj7 – Dm7 – Em7 – Aaug7
  Imaj7 – ii7 – iii7 – VI+7
• Dm7 – G7 (×3)
  ii7 – V7
• C6 – G7 – C6
  I6 – V7 – I6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	A Section
Em7	iii7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
Aaug7	VI+7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7	V7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
G9sus4	V9sus4	In the key	A Section
C6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
C7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F6	IV6	In the key	Bridge
Am	vi	In the key	Bridge
Ammaj7	vimaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Am7	vi7	In the key	Bridge
D7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• D7 acts as V/V: it resolves to G7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (HLTRCB)” (credited “Marks Johnny”, style Medium Swing) 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 “Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree 1” (credited “Brenda Lee (Johnny Marks)”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 100%).
• 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.