Speak Low by Kurt Weill

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Intro → C Section → C Section → B Section → B Section → Intro

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

Intro 1

• Gm7 – C7 (×4)
  ii7 – V7
• Am7♭5 – D7
  iiiø7 – VI7
• B♭m7 – E♭7 (×2)
  iv7 – bVII7
• Dm7 – G7 – Gm7 – C7 – F6 – F♯dim
  vi7 – II7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – #i°
• Gm7 – C7 (×5)
  ii7 – V7
• Am7♭5 – D7
  iiiø7 – VI7
• B♭m7 – E♭7 (×2)
  iv7 – bVII7
• Dm7 – G7 – Gm7 – C7 – F6 – B♭7 – F6 – Fm7 – D♭7 – E♭maj7 – Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am7 – D7
  vi7 – II7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – IV7 – I6 – i7 – bVI7 – bVIImaj7 – #ivø7 – VII7 – iii7 – VI7

Intro 2

• Gm7 – C7 (×4)
  ii7 – V7
• Am7♭5 – D7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm7 – C7 – F6 – Am7 – D7
  iiiø7 – VI7 – iv7 – bVII7 – iiiø7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – iii7 – VI7

C Section 1

• Gm7 – C7 (×4)
  ii7 – V7
• Am7♭5 – D7
  iiiø7 – VI7
• B♭m7 – E♭7 (×2)
  iv7 – bVII7
• Dm7 – G7 – Gm7 – C7 – F6 – F♯dim – Gm7 – C7
  vi7 – II7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – #i° – ii7 – V7

C Section 2

• Gm7 – C7 (×4)
  ii7 – V7
• Am7♭5 – D7
  iiiø7 – VI7
• B♭m7 – E♭7 (×2)
  iv7 – bVII7
• Dm7 – G7 – Gm7 – C7 – F6 – B♭7 – F6
  vi7 – II7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – IV7 – I6

B Section 1

• Fm7 – D♭7 – E♭maj7 – Bm7♭5 – E7 – Am7 – D7
  i7 – bVI7 – bVIImaj7 – #ivø7 – VII7 – iii7 – VI7

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

Intro 3

• Gm7 – C7 (×4)
  ii7 – V7
• Am7♭5 – D7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Am7♭5 – D7 – Gm7 – C7 – Am7 – D7
  iiiø7 – VI7 – iv7 – bVII7 – iiiø7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – VI7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, C Section
C7	V7	In the key	Intro, C Section
Am7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, C Section
D7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	Intro, C Section, B Section
B♭m7	iv7	Borrowed from F minor	Intro, C Section
E♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from F minor	Intro, C Section
Dm7	vi7	In the key	Intro, C Section
G7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, C Section
F6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, C Section
F♯dim	#i°	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, C Section
B♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, C Section
Fm7	i7	Borrowed from F minor	Intro, B Section
D♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section
E♭maj7	bVIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section
Bm7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, B Section
E7	VII7	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	Intro, B Section
Am7	iii7	In the key	Intro, B Section

Harmonic highlights

• B♭m7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• E♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Fm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• D7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Gm7.
• E7 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Am7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Speak Low-Rev JE” (credited “Weill Kurt”, 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 “Speak Low” (credited “Weill Kurt”, style Medium 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 67%).
• 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 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.