Silence by Charlie Haden

Overview

Key: C minor · Chords used: 34 · 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

• D♭maj7 – Ddim – Csus4/E♭ – Cm/E♭ – Cm7♭5 – F7/C – B♭sus4/D♭ – B♭m/D♭ – B♭m7♭5 – E♭7/B♭ – A♭sus4/C♭ – A♭m/C♭ – G7sus4/D – Dm7♭5
  bIImaj7 – ii° – Isus4 (bass E♭) – i⁶ – iø7 – IV⁴₃ – bVIIsus4 (bass D♭) – bvii⁶ – bviiø7 – bIII⁴₃ – bVIsus4 (bass C♭) – bvi⁶ – V7sus4 (bass D) – iiø7

Solo 1

• G/E♭ – Cm/E♭ – D♭maj7 – Ddim – Csus4/E♭ – Cm/E♭ – Cm7♭5 – F7/C – B♭sus4/D♭ – B♭m/D♭ – B♭m7♭5 – E♭7/B♭ – A♭sus4/C♭ – A♭m/C♭ – G7sus4/D – Dm7♭5
  V (bass E♭) – i⁶ – bIImaj7 – ii° – Isus4 (bass E♭) – i⁶ – iø7 – IV⁴₃ – bVIIsus4 (bass D♭) – bvii⁶ – bviiø7 – bIII⁴₃ – bVIsus4 (bass C♭) – bvi⁶ – V7sus4 (bass D) – iiø7

Solo 2

• G/E♭ – Cm/E♭ – D♭maj7 – Ddim7 – Ddim7/G – Cm11/E♭ – Cm11/D – Cm7 – Cm7♭5 – F7/C – F7/F – B♭m11/D♭ – B♭m11/C – B♭m7 – B♭m7/F – B♭m7♭5 – E♭7/G – E♭7/B♭ – A♭m11/C♭ – A♭m7/B♭ – A♭m7/C♭ – G7sus4/C – G7/D – G7/B – D♭maj7 – Ddim – Csus4/E♭ – Cm/E♭ – Cm7♭5 – F7/C – B♭sus4/D♭ – B♭m/D♭ – B♭m7♭5 – E♭7/B♭ – A♭sus4/C♭ – A♭m/C♭ – G7sus4/D – Dm7♭5
  V (bass E♭) – i⁶ – bIImaj7 – ii°7 – ii°7 (bass G) – i11 (bass E♭) – i11 (bass D) – i7 – iø7 – IV⁴₃ – IV7 – bvii11 (bass D♭) – bvii11 (bass C) – bvii7 – bvii⁴₃ – bviiø7 – bIII⁶₅ – bIII⁴₃ – bvi11 (bass C♭) – bvi7 (bass B♭) – bvi⁶₅ – V7sus4 (bass C) – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – bIImaj7 – ii° – Isus4 (bass E♭) – i⁶ – iø7 – IV⁴₃ – bVIIsus4 (bass D♭) – bvii⁶ – bviiø7 – bIII⁴₃ – bVIsus4 (bass C♭) – bvi⁶ – V7sus4 (bass D) – iiø7
• G7♯9/E♭ – Cm7/D – Cm11/E♭ (×4)
  V7#9 (bass E♭) – i7 (bass D) – i11 (bass E♭)

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D♭maj7	bIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
Ddim	ii°	In the key	Lead-in, Solo
Csus4/E♭	Isus4 (bass E♭)	In the key	Lead-in, Solo
Cm/E♭	i⁶	Home chord (tonic)	Lead-in, Solo
Cm7♭5	iø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
F7/C	IV⁴₃	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
B♭sus4/D♭	bVIIsus4 (bass D♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
B♭m/D♭	bvii⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
B♭m7♭5	bviiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
E♭7/B♭	bIII⁴₃	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
A♭sus4/C♭	bVIsus4 (bass C♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
A♭m/C♭	bvi⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	Lead-in, Solo
G7sus4/D	V7sus4 (bass D)	In the key	Lead-in, Solo
Dm7♭5	iiø7	In the key	Lead-in, Solo
G/E♭	V (bass E♭)	In the key	Solo
Ddim7	ii°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
Ddim7/G	ii°7 (bass G)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
Cm11/E♭	i11 (bass E♭)	Home chord (tonic)	Solo
Cm11/D	i11 (bass D)	Home chord (tonic)	Solo
Cm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Solo
F7/F	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
B♭m11/D♭	bvii11 (bass D♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
B♭m11/C	bvii11 (bass C)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
B♭m7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
B♭m7/F	bvii⁴₃	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
E♭7/G	bIII⁶₅	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
A♭m11/C♭	bvi11 (bass C♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
A♭m7/B♭	bvi7 (bass B♭)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
A♭m7/C♭	bvi⁶₅	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
G7sus4/C	V7sus4 (bass C)	In the key	Solo
G7/D	V⁴₃	In the key	Solo
G7/B	V⁶₅	In the key	Solo
G7♯9/E♭	V7#9 (bass E♭)	In the key	Solo
Cm7/D	i7 (bass D)	Home chord (tonic)	Solo

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Silence” (credited “Haden Charlie”, style Ballad) 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 “Silence” (credited “Haden Charlie”, style Slow Ballad) 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 62%).
• 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.
• The chart's key setting didn't fit its chords (it was probably left at a default), so the key shown here was worked out from the chords.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.