The First Noel by Traditional

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 3

Form: Intro → A Section → B 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

• A♭7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – E♭ – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – Fm7 – B♭13
  IV7 – iii7 – ii7 – I – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – ii7 – V13

A Section

• E♭add9 – Cm7 – Gm7 – E♭maj9 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – E♭add9 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – E♭ – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7
  Iadd9 – vi7 – iii7 – Imaj9 – IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii7 – Iadd9 – IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii7 – I – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7
• B♭7 – E♭add9 (×2)
  V7 – Iadd9
• Cm7 – Gm7
  vi7 – iii7
• E♭add9 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 (×2)
  Iadd9 – IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii7
• E♭ – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – B♭7 – E♭add9 – B♭7
  I – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – V7 – Iadd9 – V7

B Section

• E♭add9 – Cm7 – Gm7 – E♭maj9 – A♭maj7 – E♭add9 – B♭7 – A♭maj7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – E♭ – Fm7 – Gm7 – A♭maj7 – B♭7 – E♭add9
  Iadd9 – vi7 – iii7 – Imaj9 – IVmaj7 – Iadd9 – V7 – IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii7 – I – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – V7 – Iadd9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A♭7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
Gm7	iii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
Fm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
E♭	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section
A♭maj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
B♭13	V13	In the key	Intro
E♭add9	Iadd9	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
Cm7	vi7	In the key	A Section, B Section
E♭maj9	Imaj9	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
B♭7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “First Noel, The” (credited “Excelcia Music Publishing”, style Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. A traditional carol, identified by its title from the site's hand-checked list of public-domain carols (credited to the melody's composer where that's settled, otherwise “Traditional”).
• 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 “First Noel (HLTRCB), The” (credited “17th Century English Carol”, style Medium Waltz) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. A traditional carol, identified by its title from the site's hand-checked list of public-domain carols (credited to the melody's composer where that's settled, otherwise “Traditional”). A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 79%).
• 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.