Wave by Antônio Carlos Jobim

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 24 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → Chorus → Chorus → Interlude → Chorus → Outro

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

• Dm7 – G7 (×4)
  i7 – IV7
• Dmaj7 – B♭dim – Am7 – D7♭9 – Gmaj7 – Gm6 – F♯13 – B13 – Bm – Bm11 – B♭7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7
  Imaj7 – bvi° – v7 – I7b9 – IVmaj7 – iv6 – III13 – VI13 – vi – vi11 – bVI7 – V7 – i7 – IV7

Chorus 1

• Dm7 – G7 – Dmaj7 – B♭dim – Am7 – D7♭9 – Gmaj7 – Gm6 – F♯13 – B13 – Bm – Bm11 – B♭7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7
  i7 – IV7 – Imaj7 – bvi° – v7 – I7b9 – IVmaj7 – iv6 – III13 – VI13 – vi – vi11 – bVI7 – V7 – i7 – IV7

Chorus 2

• Dm7 – G7 – Gm7 – C9 – Am7 – D9 – Fm7 – B♭9 – E♭maj7
  i7 – IV7 – iv7 – bVII9 – v7 – I9 – biii7 – bVI9 – bIImaj7

Interlude

• A7 – Dmaj7 – B♭dim – Am7 – D7♭9 – Gmaj7 – Gm6 – F♯13 – B13 – Bm – Bm11 – B♭7 – A7 – Dm7 – G7
  V7 – Imaj7 – bvi° – v7 – I7b9 – IVmaj7 – iv6 – III13 – VI13 – vi – vi11 – bVI7 – V7 – i7 – IV7

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Outro

• A7 – Dmaj7 – B♭dim7 – Am7 – D7♭9 – Gmaj7 – Gm6 – F♯13 – B9 – Bm – Bm11 – B♭7 – A7
  V7 – Imaj7 – bvi°7 – v7 – I7b9 – IVmaj7 – iv6 – III13 – VI9 – vi – vi11 – bVI7 – V7
• Dm7 – G (×6)
  i7 – IV
• Dmaj13
  Imaj13

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Dm7	i7	Borrowed from D minor	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
G7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, Chorus, Interlude
Dmaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
B♭dim	bvi°	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, Chorus, Interlude
Am7	v7	Borrowed from D minor	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
D7♭9	I7b9	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
Gmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
Gm6	iv6	Borrowed from D minor	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
F♯13	III13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
B13	VI13	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, Chorus, Interlude
Bm	vi	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
Bm11	vi11	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
B♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
A7	V7	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Interlude, Outro
Gm7	iv7	Borrowed from D minor	Chorus
C9	bVII9	Borrowed from D minor	Chorus
D9	I9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Chorus
Fm7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Chorus
B♭9	bVI9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Chorus
E♭maj7	bIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Chorus
B♭dim7	bvi°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
B9	VI9	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
G	IV	In the key	Outro
Dmaj13	Imaj13	Home chord (tonic)	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• Dm7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Am7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Gm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Gm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• C9 (bVII9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• D7♭9 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Gmaj7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Wave” (credited “Antonio Carlos Jobim”, style Bossa Nova) 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 “Wave” (credited “Jobim Antonio-Carlos”, style Bossa Nova) 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 63%).
• 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.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.