Tones for Joan's Bones by Chick Corea

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 33 · Sections: 4

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → 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

• Em7 – Em7♭5 – E♭7
  ii7 – iiø7 – bII7

A Section 1

• Dmaj7 – Gm7/D – D7♯9 – F7♭9 – B♭maj7 – A♭m7 – G♭maj7 – F7 – B♭m7♭5 – E♭7♯9 – A♭m7 – A♭m7/G♭ – Fm7♭5 – Emaj7♯11
  Imaj7 – iv⁴₃ – I7#9 – bIII7b9 – bVImaj7 – bv7 – bIVmaj7 – bIII7 – bviø7 – bII7#9 – bv7 – bv⁴₂ – biiiø7 – IImaj7#11

B Section

• E♭maj7 – G♭maj7 – Fmaj7 – A♭maj7 – Cmaj7 – E♭maj7 – D♭mmaj7 – A7♭9
  bIImaj7 – bIVmaj7 – bIIImaj7 – bVmaj7 – bVIImaj7 – bIImaj7 – bimaj7 – V7b9

A Section 2

• Dmaj7 – Gm7/D – D7♯9 – F7♭9 – B♭maj7 – Em7 – A7 – B♭dim7 – Bm7 – E7 – Em7 – F♯m7 – Fm7 – B♭7 – E♭maj7 – Dm7 – Cm7 – F7 – Em7 – F♯m7 – Gmaj7 – A7♭9 – E♭maj7♯11
  Imaj7 – iv⁴₃ – I7#9 – bIII7b9 – bVImaj7 – ii7 – V7 – bvi°7 – vi7 – II7 – ii7 – iii7 – biii7 – bVI7 – bIImaj7 – i7 – bvii7 – bIII7 – ii7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – V7b9 – bIImaj7#11

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Em7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section
Em7♭5	iiø7	Borrowed from D minor	Intro
E♭7	bII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
Dmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section
Gm7/D	iv⁴₃	Borrowed from D minor	A Section
D7♯9	I7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F7♭9	bIII7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭maj7	bVImaj7	Borrowed from D minor	A Section
A♭m7	bv7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G♭maj7	bIVmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section
F7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭m7♭5	bviø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭7♯9	bII7#9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A♭m7/G♭	bv⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Fm7♭5	biiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Emaj7♯11	IImaj7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E♭maj7	bIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, A Section
Fmaj7	bIIImaj7	Borrowed from D minor	B Section
A♭maj7	bVmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Cmaj7	bVIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
D♭mmaj7	bimaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A7♭9	V7b9	Borrowed from D minor	B Section, A Section
A7	V7	In the key	A Section
B♭dim7	bvi°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bm7	vi7	In the key	A Section
E7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F♯m7	iii7	In the key	A Section
Fm7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Dm7	i7	Borrowed from D minor	A Section
Cm7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Gmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section
E♭maj7♯11	bIImaj7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• Em7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Gm7/D (iv⁴₃) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• B♭maj7 (bVImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Fmaj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• A7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Dm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Tones For Joan's Bones” (credited “Corea Chick”, 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 “Tones For Joan's Bones” (credited “Corea Chick”, 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 87%).
• 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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.