The Birth Of The Blues by Ray Henderson

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → 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

Intro

• G7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – E♭dim7 – Dm7 – G7
  V7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – biii°7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 1

• Cmaj7 – C♯dim7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 – E7 – Fmaj7 – F♯dim7 – G7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – E♭dim7 – Dm7 – D♭7
  Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – III7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – V7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – biii°7 – ii7 – bII7

A Section 2

• Cmaj7 – C♯dim7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 – E7 – Fmaj7 – F♯dim7 – G7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – F7 – C6
  Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – III7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – V7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – IV7 – I6

Bridge

• E7 – A7 – D7 – Dm7 – D♭7
  III7 – VI7 – II7 – ii7 – bII7

A Section 3

• Cmaj7 – C♯dim7 – Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7 – E7 – Fmaj7 – F♯dim7 – G7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – E♭dim7 – Dm7 – G7
  Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7 – III7 – IVmaj7 – #iv°7 – V7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – biii°7 – ii7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, Bridge
C6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
E♭dim7	biii°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
C♯dim7	#i°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
Fmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
F♯dim7	#iv°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
D♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
F7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
D7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Birth Of The Blues, The” (credited “Henderson Ray”, style Slow Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• 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 “Birth Of The Blues, The” (credited “Henderson Ray”, style Slow Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. 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.
• 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.