Softly as I Leave You by Tony De Vita

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 27 · Sections: 2

Form: A Section → 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 – Cmaj7/B
  Imaj7 – Imaj⁴₂
• A7 – Dm7 – G7 – G7/F – Em7 (×2)
  VI7 – ii7 – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7
• Am7 – Am7/G – F♯m7♭5 – F7 – Em7 – E♭7 – Dm7 – D♭7 – E♭maj7 – E♭maj7/D
  vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – IV7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7 – bIIImaj7 – bIIImaj⁴₂
• C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – B♭7/A♭ – Gm7 (×2)
  I7 – iv7 – bVII7 – bVII⁴₂ – v7
• Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – A♭7 – Gm7 – G♭7 – Fm7 – B♭7
  i7 – i⁴₂ – viø7 – bVI7 – v7 – bV7 – iv7 – bVII7
• Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 (×2)
  iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7
• E7/G♯ – Am7 – Am7/G – F♯m7♭5 – B7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭7 – Em7 – E♭7 – Dm7 – D♭7
  III⁶₅ – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7

A Section 2

• Cmaj7 – Cmaj7/B
  Imaj7 – Imaj⁴₂
• A7 – Dm7 – G7 – G7/F – Em7 (×2)
  VI7 – ii7 – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7
• Am7 – Am7/G – F♯m7♭5 – F7 – Em7 – E♭7 – Dm7 – D♭7 – E♭maj7 – E♭maj7/D
  vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – IV7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7 – bIIImaj7 – bIIImaj⁴₂
• C7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – B♭7/A♭ – Gm7 (×2)
  I7 – iv7 – bVII7 – bVII⁴₂ – v7
• Cm7 – Cm7/B♭ – Am7♭5 – A♭7 – Gm7 – G♭7 – Fm7 – B♭7
  i7 – i⁴₂ – viø7 – bVI7 – v7 – bV7 – iv7 – bVII7
• Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 (×2)
  iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7
• E7/G♯ – Am7 – Am7/G – F♯m7♭5 – B7♭9 – Fm7 – B♭7 – Em7 – E♭7 – Dm7 – G7 – G7/F – Em7 – E♭7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 – E♭7 – Dm7 – D♭7 – F♯m7♭5 – Fm7 – Em7 – E♭7 – Dm7 – D♭7 – Cmaj7
  III⁶₅ – vi7 – vi⁴₂ – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iv7 – bVII7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – V7 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7 – #ivø7 – iv7 – iii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – bII7 – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Cmaj7/B	Imaj⁴₂	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
A7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	A Section
G7	V7	In the key	A Section
G7/F	V⁴₂	In the key	A Section
Em7	iii7	In the key	A Section
Am7	vi7	In the key	A Section
Am7/G	vi⁴₂	In the key	A Section
F♯m7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭maj7	bIIImaj7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
E♭maj7/D	bIIImaj⁴₂	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
C7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fm7	iv7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
B♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
B♭7/A♭	bVII⁴₂	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Gm7	v7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Cm7	i7	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Cm7/B♭	i⁴₂	Borrowed from C minor	A Section
Am7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G♭7	bV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E7/G♯	III⁶₅	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section
B7♭9	VII7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• E♭maj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭maj7/D (bIIImaj⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Fm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• B♭7/A♭ (bVII⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Gm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Cm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• Cm7/B♭ (i⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm7.
• E7/G♯ acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Softly As I Leave You” (credited “A. De Vita”, style Medium Up 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 “Softly As I Leave You” (credited “A. De Vita”, style Medium Up Swing) 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 89%).
• 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.