Affirmation by José Feliciano

Overview

Key: B minor · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 16

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section ×2 → C Section → D Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → C Section → D Section → A Section ×2

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 1

• Em9 – Bm9
  iv9 – i9

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• Em9 – Bm9
  iv9 – i9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• Bm9 – Am9 – D9 – Gmaj9 – E9
  i9 – bvii9 – bIII9 – bVImaj9 – IV9
• A9sus4 – A9 (×2)
  bVII9sus4 – bVII9

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 1.

C Section 1

• Bm9 – Am9 – D9 – Gmaj9 – C13 – F♯m7 – F9 – Em9 – E♭9 – Dmaj13
  i9 – bvii9 – bIII9 – bVImaj9 – bII13 – v7 – bV9 – iv9 – bIV9 – bIIImaj13

D Section 1

• B♭maj9 – A9sus4
  bImaj9 – bVII9sus4

A Section 5

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 6

Same chords as A Section 1.

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

D Section 2

Same chords as D Section 1.

A Section 7

Same chords as A Section 1.

A Section 8

Same chords as A Section 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Em9	iv9	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section
Bm9	i9	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
Am9	bvii9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
D9	bIII9	Secondary dominant (V/bVI)	B Section, C Section
Gmaj9	bVImaj9	In the key	B Section, C Section
E9	IV9	Secondary dominant (V/bVII)	B Section
A9sus4	bVII9sus4	In the key	B Section, D Section
A9	bVII9	In the key	B Section
C13	bII13	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F♯m7	v7	In the key	C Section
F9	bV9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
E♭9	bIV9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Dmaj13	bIIImaj13	In the key	C Section
B♭maj9	bImaj9	Outside the key (chromatic)	D Section

Harmonic highlights

• D9 acts as V/bVI: it resolves to Gmaj9.
• E9 acts as V/bVII: it resolves to A9sus4.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Affirmation” (credited “Jose Feliciano (George Benson)”, style Smooth Jazz) 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 “Affirmation” (credited “Feliciano José”, style Funk) 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 96%).
• 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.