Yesterday When I Was Young by Charles Aznavour

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 6

Form: A Section → A Section → B Section → 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

A Section 1

• Gm7 – C7 – Fmaj7 – B♭maj7 – Em7♭5 – A7♯9 – Dm7 – Aaug7 – D7♯9
  iv7 – bVII7 – bIIImaj7 – bVImaj7 – iiø7 – V7#9 – i7 – V+7 – I7#9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• Gm7 – C7 – C7/B♭ – Am7 – D7♯9 – Gm7 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – D7♯9
  iv7 – bVII7 – bVII⁴₂ – v7 – I7#9 – iv7 – V7b9 – i7 – I7#9

A Section 3

• Gm7 – C7 – C7/B♭ – Am7 – D7♯9 – Gm7 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – D7♯9 – Aaug7 – D7♯9
  iv7 – bVII7 – bVII⁴₂ – v7 – I7#9 – iv7 – V7b9 – i7 – I7#9 – V+7 – I7#9

B Section 2

• Gm7 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – G7 – G7/F
  iv7 – V7b9 – i7 – IV7 – IV⁴₂

A Section 4

• Em7♭5 – A7♭9 – Dm7 – Bm7♭5 – Em7♭5 – A7sus4 – Dm6
  iiø7 – V7b9 – i7 – viø7 – iiø7 – V7sus4 – i6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm7	iv7	In the key	A Section, B Section
C7	bVII7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Fmaj7	bIIImaj7	In the key	A Section
B♭maj7	bVImaj7	In the key	A Section
Em7♭5	iiø7	In the key	A Section
A7♯9	V7#9	In the key	A Section
Dm7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section
Aaug7	V+7	In the key	A Section
D7♯9	I7#9	Secondary dominant (V/iv)	B Section, A Section
C7/B♭	bVII⁴₂	In the key	B Section, A Section
Am7	v7	In the key	B Section, A Section
A7♭9	V7b9	In the key	B Section, A Section
G7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
G7/F	IV⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bm7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
A7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section
Dm6	i6	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section

Harmonic highlights

• D7♯9 acts as V/iv: it resolves to Gm7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Yesterday When I Was Young (Hier Encore)-Rev JE” (credited “Aznavour Charles”, style Latin-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 “Yesterday When I Was Young (Hier Encore)-Rev JE” (credited “Aznavour Charles”, style Latin-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 94%).
• 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.
• 9 chords were 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.