Blue Skies chords

by Willie Nelson

Blue Skies was written by Irving Berlin in 1926
Willie Nelson's recording of the song became a No. 1 country music hit in 1978 from the album - Stardust
Recorded: December 3 - 12, 1977
Released: April 1978
Music: Key of Bm with a key change to Cm in 4/4 time at 84 bpm (♩)
Chords: Bm, BmM7, Bm7, Bm6, D, A7, F#7, D, D(alt), Eb7/D, F#7/C#, F#, G7, Cm, CmM7 Cm7, Cm6, Eb, Bb7, Ab, Fm7

Chart Legend

Numbered Circles: Fingers used to play chords O: Optional Note
Barre Line: One finger holds down multiple strings R: Root Note
Unmarked strings: Play open X: Don't play string B: Bass Note

Blue Skies

The Relative Major Key of Bm is highlighted - Transpose to any other key.

 
               Bm   BmM7     Bm7   Bm6
Intro: 4/4 ‖:             |             :‖


          Bm        BmM7             Bm7
Chorus 1: Blue skies     smil-in' at me
       Bm6              D            A7        D      F#7
          Noth-in' but  blue   skies    do I | see -      |
          Bm        BmM7           Bm7
          Blue-birds    sing-in' a song
        Bm6             D            A7          D
          Noth-in' but  blue   skies    from now on

          D                  Eb7/D       D
Bridge: I ne-ver saw the sun shin-in' so bright
        Eb7/D        D          Eb7/D       D
        Ne-ver  saw  things     go-in'  so  right
        D                   Eb7/D      D
        No-ti-cing the days hur-ry-ing by
        Eb7/D          D      Eb7/D           D   F#7/C#
        When you're in love   my    how they  fly by

          Bm         BmM7              Bm7
Chorus 2: Blue days,       all of them gone
        Bm6             D            A7            D     F#7
          Noth-in' but  blue   skies    from now | on -      |

Instr: Repeat Chorus 1 / Bridge / Chorus 2

         Bm           BmM7             Bm7
Chorus 3: Blue skies       smil-in' at me
        Bm6             D             A7        D      F#7
          Noth-in' but  blue    skies    do I | see -      |
          Bm          BmM7            Bm7
          Blue days,      all of them gone
       Bm6              D            A7           D     F#  G7 
          Noth-in' but  blue   skies   from now | on /          |
                                                       (key change +1)

          Cm         CmM7               Cm7
Chorus 4: Blue skies     smil-in'    at me
        Cm6                Eb         Bb7          Eb     G7
          Noth-in'    but  blue skies    do I    | see -      |
          Cm   CmM7                 Cm7
          Blue days,  all    of them  gone
        Cm6             Eb          Bb7              Eb     G7 
          Noth-in' but  blue   skies   from now    | on  -      |

          Cm   CmM7               Cm7
Chorus 4: Blue skies  smil-in' at me
      Cm6               Eb            Bb7        Eb     G7
          Noth-in' but  blue    skies    do I  | see -      |
          Cm   CmM7                 Cm7      Cm6 
          Blue days,  all of them | gone  -       |
                        Eb        Bb7          Ab    Fm7    Eb
          Noth-in' but  blue skies    from now on  |     |      |...

Help on reading the song charts

Notes:

Level: Intermediate - lots of Jazzy chords

Many chords are played in a jazz-like fashion whereby some typical barre chords are played open using a mini-barre and omitting strings 5 & 6 or 1 & 6.

You don't have to play the jazz version of these chords, but if you want to sound like the recording, it is worth the extra effort to learn these chords and add them to your list.

Learn all the chords first before playing, as the song moves along at a fair pace in relation to chord changes.

mM7 chords are minor Major 7th chords - a root, a minor third, a perfect fifth and a major seventh.

They can also be written as mΔ7, −Δ7, mM7, m/M7, m(M7), minmaj7, m⑦, m♮7, m7+.

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