Frank Sinatra - Strangers In The Night - Chord

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to F or to Dm; comparing both readings is a practice of its own.

Every chord of the key, listed 1 to 7 separately for each key. Chords played in the song show how often they appear; chords from outside the scale sit next to their own degree.

Analysis

The key pair is F major and its relative D minor (1 flat). 16 different chords appear 45 times in total; 10 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. D7, F9, G, D4 act as secondary dominants, briefly pointing at another chord of the key. Bbm is borrowed from the parallel minor, adding a darker shade to the major side.

Chord movement

1. C7 → F FV7 → Iauthentic cadence DmVII7 → III ×3
2. Gm → C4 Fii → Vii → V Dmiv → VII ×2
3. Bb/C → Dm FIV → vi DmVI → iVI → i ×2
4. Gm → C Fii → Vii → V Dmiv → VII ×2
5. D7 → G FV7/ii → V/Vsecondary resolution DmV7/iv → IV ×2
6. C → F FV → Iauthentic cadence DmVII → III ×1

The move to watch is C7 → F, heard 3 times. From the F side it reads V7 → I (authentic cadence: the strongest arrival home); from the Dm side it is VII7 → III. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Capo and easier keys

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is F; the ear learns where home is within a second. The backbone is Gm, F, D7, F9 — ii–I–V7/ii–V7/IV from the F side, iv–III–V7/iv–V7/VI from the Dm side. D7 adds a moment of surprise: secondary dominant V/ii — leads to Gm. Keep an ear on C7 → F (V7 → I in F, VII7 → III in Dm): authentic cadence — the strongest arrival home. It closes on D7, letting the F side have the last word.

This analysis is generated from the song's chords by akorculuk's harmony engine using consistent rules. When you change key, the degrees stay the same; only the chord names change.