The Folks Who Live On The Hill by Jerome Kern

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 23 · Sections: 4

Form: 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

A Section 1

• Cmaj7 – C♯dim7 – Dm7 – G7 – Em7 – E♭dim7 – Dm7 – Am7/C – G7/B – Am7 – Dm7 – G7 – E7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – Am7 – Dm7 – G7
  Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – biii°7 – ii7 – vi⁶₅ – V⁶₅ – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – III7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – vi7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 2

• Cmaj7 – C♯dim7 – Dm7 – G7 – Em7 – E♭dim7 – Dm7 – Am7/C – G7/B – Am7 – Dm7 – G7 – E7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – F♯m7♭5 – B7♭9
  Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – biii°7 – ii7 – vi⁶₅ – V⁶₅ – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – III7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – #ivø7 – VII7b9

Bridge

• Em7 – F♯m7♭5 – B7♭9 – Em – Emmaj7/D♯ – Em7/D – A7/C♯ – D7 – G6 – G7/F – Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7
  iii7 – #ivø7 – VII7b9 – iii – iiimaj⁴₂ – iii⁴₂ – VI⁶₅ – II7 – V6 – V⁴₂ – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7

A Section 3

• Cmaj7 – C♯dim7 – Dm7 – G7 – Em7 – E♭dim7 – Dm7 – Am7/C – G7/B – Am7 – Dm7 – G7 – E7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – Em7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7 – Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – G7 – C6 – Am7 – Dm7 – G7
  Imaj7 – #i°7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – biii°7 – ii7 – vi⁶₅ – V⁶₅ – vi7 – ii7 – V7 – III7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – iii7 – VI7 – ii7 – V7 – iiiø7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – vi7 – ii7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Cmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
C♯dim7	#i°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
G7	V7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
Em7	iii7	In the key	A Section, Bridge
E♭dim7	biii°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am7/C	vi⁶₅	In the key	A Section
G7/B	V⁶₅	In the key	A Section
Am7	vi7	In the key	A Section
E7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A7	VI7	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section, Bridge
C6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
F♯m7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, Bridge
B7♭9	VII7b9	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	Bridge
Em	iii	In the key	Bridge
Emmaj7/D♯	iiimaj⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
Em7/D	iii⁴₂	In the key	Bridge
A7/C♯	VI⁶₅	Outside the key (chromatic)	Bridge
D7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Bridge
G6	V6	In the key	Bridge
G7/F	V⁴₂	In the key	Bridge
Em7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A7♭9	VI7b9	Secondary dominant (V/ii)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• A7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm7.
• B7♭9 acts as V/iii: it resolves to Em.
• D7 acts as V/V: it resolves to G6.
• A7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Dm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Folks Who Live On The Hill, The” (credited “Kern Jerome”, style Ballad) 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 “Folks Who Live On The Hill, The” (credited “Kern Jerome”, style Ballad) 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 64%).
• 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.