Stella by Starlight by Victor Young

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 21 · Sections: 4

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → C 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

Intro

• Cm7♭5 – F7♭9 – B♭maj7
  iiø7 – V7b9 – Imaj7

A Section

• Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Cm7 – F7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – A♭7 – B♭maj7 – Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – Fmaj7 – Em7♭5 – E♭maj7♯11 – D7♭9
  #ivø7 – VII7b9 – ii7 – V7 – v7 – I7 – IVmaj7 – bVII7 – Imaj7 – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii7 – i7 – IV7 – Vmaj7 – #ivø7 – IVmaj7#11 – III7b9

B Section

• G7 – Cm7 – A♭7♯11 – B♭maj7
  VI7 – ii7 – bVII7#11 – Imaj7

C Section

• Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm7♭5 – G7♭9 – Cm7♭5 – F7♭9 – B♭maj7
  #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iiiø7 – VI7b9 – iiø7 – V7b9 – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Cm7♭5	iiø7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Intro, C Section
F7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Intro, C Section
B♭maj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
Em7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, C Section
A7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	A Section, C Section
Cm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section
F7	V7	In the key	A Section
Fm7	v7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	A Section
B♭7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	A Section
E♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
A♭7	bVII7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	A Section
Dm7	iii7	In the key	A Section
B♭m7	i7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	A Section
E♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fmaj7	Vmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭maj7♯11	IVmaj7#11	In the key	A Section
D7♭9	III7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	B Section
A♭7♯11	bVII7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Dm7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
G7♭9	VI7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• Cm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• F7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• Fm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• B♭m7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Dm7.
• B♭7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to E♭maj7.
• G7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Cm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Stella By Starlight” (credited “Young Victor”, 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 “Stella By Starlight” (credited “Young Victor”, 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 75%).
• 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.
• 1 chord was simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.