White Christmas by Bing Crosby

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 31 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → Theme → Theme → Theme → Theme

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription 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/E – C♯m7/E – Cdim – Aadd9/E – A/E – C♯m7/E – Cdim – Bm7/E
  I⁶₄ – iii⁶₅ – biii° – Iadd9 (bass E) – I⁶₄ – iii⁶₅ – biii° – ii7 (bass E)

Theme 1

• A – D/A – A – G♯/A – A – Bm – D♯dim/E – E7 – Bm7 – Bm7/D – E7 – A – E7 – G♯/A – A – Bm7 – E7 – A – A9 – A7♭9 – Dmaj7 – Dmaj13 – F♯m – F♯m7 – B7 – E7sus4 – E7
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – VII (bass A) – I – ii – #iv° (bass E) – V7 – ii7 – ii⁶₅ – V7 – I – V7 – VII (bass A) – I – ii7 – V7 – I – I9 – I7b9 – IVmaj7 – IVmaj13 – vi – vi7 – II7 – V7sus4 – V7

Theme 2

• A7 – D/A – A – G♯/A – A – Bm – D♯dim/E – E7 – Bm7 – Bm7/D – E7 – A – G♯/A – A – Bm7 – E7 – A – A9 – A7♭9 – Dmaj7 – Dm – A – A7 – D – E7♭9 – A – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – E7/B – B♭
  I7 – IV⁶₄ – I – VII (bass A) – I – ii – #iv° (bass E) – V7 – ii7 – ii⁶₅ – V7 – I – VII (bass A) – I – ii7 – V7 – I – I9 – I7b9 – IVmaj7 – iv – I – I7 – IV – V7b9 – I – iii7 – vi7 – V⁴₃ – bII

Theme 3

• A – D/A – A – G♯/A – A – Bm7 – D♯dim/E – E7 – Bm7 – D – E7 – A – G♯/A – A – A7 – D – Dmaj13 – A – Asus4 – A – B7 – E7
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – VII (bass A) – I – ii7 – #iv° (bass E) – V7 – ii7 – IV – V7 – I – VII (bass A) – I – I7 – IV – IVmaj13 – I – Isus4 – I – II7 – V7

Theme 4

• A – D/A – A – G♯/A – A – Bm7 – D♯dim/E – E7 – Bm7 – D – E7 – A – G♯/A – A – A7 – D – Dmmaj7 – A – E7 – A6
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – VII (bass A) – I – ii7 – #iv° (bass E) – V7 – ii7 – IV – V7 – I – VII (bass A) – I – I7 – IV – ivmaj7 – I – V7 – I6

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Dm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• E7♭9 (V7b9) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• A7♭9 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Dmaj7.
• B7 acts as V/V: it resolves to E7sus4.
• A7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to D/A.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0241, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 1 chord was simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.