PianoChords.studio

Always by Atlantic Starr

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 45 steps · 13 unique chords · 1980s

Community chart. These chords come from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums, not from a transcription checked against the recording. Charts are sometimes written in a different key or simplified, and no second chart of this song agreed closely enough to mark this page verified. Trust your ears.
Intro 1Step 1 of 45

G

LeftG2, D3RightB3, D4, G4
C4G2D3B3D4G4
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 13

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → B Section → A Section → Instrumental → A Section → B Section → A Section → Instrumental → B Section → A Section → Tag

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

  • G – Gmaj7 – G7 – C – Am7 – Am7/D – G
    I – Imaj7 – I7 – IV – ii7 – ii7 (bass D) – I

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

  • G – Gmaj7 – G7 – C – Am7 – Am7/D (×2)
    I – Imaj7 – I7 – IV – ii7 – ii7 (bass D)
  • G
    I

B Section 1

  • Cmaj7 – Bm7 (×2)
    IVmaj7 – iii7
  • Am7 – Bm7 – Cm7 – A♭maj7 – Am7/D – D – C/E – D/F♯
    ii7 – iii7 – iv7 – bIImaj7 – ii7 (bass D) – V – IV⁶ – V⁶

A Section 2

  • G – Gmaj7 – G7 – C – Am7 – Am7/D – G – Gmaj7 – G7 – C – Am7
    I – Imaj7 – I7 – IV – ii7 – ii7 (bass D) – I – Imaj7 – I7 – IV – ii7

Instrumental 1

  • Am7/D – G
    ii7 (bass D) – I

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 2.

Instrumental 2

Same chords as Instrumental 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 5

Same chords as A Section 2.

Tag

  • Am7/D – G – Gmaj7 – G7 – C – Am7 (×2)
    ii7 (bass D) – I – Imaj7 – I7 – IV – ii7
  • Am7/D – G
    ii7 (bass D) – I

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
GIHome chord (tonic)Intro, A Section, Instrumental, Tag
Gmaj7Imaj7Home chord (tonic)Intro, A Section, Tag
G7I7Secondary dominant (V/IV)Intro, A Section, Tag
CIVIn the keyIntro, A Section, Tag
Am7ii7In the keyIntro, A Section, B Section, Tag
Am7/Dii7 (bass D)In the keyIntro, A Section, B Section, Instrumental, Tag
Cmaj7IVmaj7In the keyB Section
Bm7iii7In the keyB Section
Cm7iv7Borrowed from G minorB Section
A♭maj7bIImaj7Outside the key (chromatic)B Section
DVIn the keyB Section
C/EIV⁶In the keyB Section
D/F♯V⁶In the keyB Section

Harmonic highlights

  • Cm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
  • G7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to C.

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Always (Atlantic Starr)” (credited “Lewis Jonathan”, style Pop Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
  • 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).
  • 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.
  • About the song: Wikipedia.
  • Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
  • Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.

Sources & Accuracy

Every chord on this page comes from the community chart listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.

  • Chords from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums (archived in the ChoCo research dataset); may be in a different key from the recording, and not checked against it.

    Community chord chart “Always (Atlantic Starr)” (credited “Lewis Jonathan”, style Pop Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1Intro 1GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
2Intro 1Gmaj7G2, D3B3, D4, F♯4—
3Intro 1G7G2, D3B3, D4, F4—
4Intro 1CC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
5Intro 1Am7A2, E3C4, E4, G4—
6Intro 1Am7/DD2C4, E4, G4, A4—
7Intro 1GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
8A Section 1, part 1 (×2)GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
9A Section 1, part 1 (×2)Gmaj7G2, D3D4, F♯4, B4—
10A Section 1, part 1 (×2)G7G2, D3D4, F4, B4—
11A Section 1, part 1 (×2)CC2, G2E4, G4, C5—
12A Section 1, part 1 (×2)Am7A2, E3E4, G4, C5—
13A Section 1, part 1 (×2)Am7/DD2E4, G4, A4, C5—
14A Section 1, part 2GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
15B Section 1, part 1 (×2)Cmaj7C2, G2E4, G4, B4—
16B Section 1, part 1 (×2)Bm7B1, F♯2D4, F♯4, A4—
17B Section 1, part 2Am7A2, E3C4, E4, G4—
18B Section 1, part 2Bm7B1, F♯2A3, D4, F♯4—
19B Section 1, part 2Cm7C2, G2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
20B Section 1, part 2A♭maj7A♭2, E♭3C4, E♭4, G4—
21B Section 1, part 2Am7/DD2A3, C4, E4, G4—
22B Section 1, part 2DD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
23B Section 1, part 2C/EE2C4, E4, G4—
24B Section 1, part 2D/F♯F♯2A3, D4, F♯4—
25A Section 2GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
26A Section 2Gmaj7G2, D3B3, D4, F♯4—
27A Section 2G7G2, D3B3, D4, F4—
28A Section 2CC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
29A Section 2Am7A2, E3C4, E4, G4—
30A Section 2Am7/DD2C4, E4, G4, A4—
31A Section 2GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
32A Section 2Gmaj7G2, D3D4, F♯4, B4—
33A Section 2G7G2, D3D4, F4, B4—
34A Section 2CC2, G2E4, G4, C5—
35A Section 2Am7A2, E3E4, G4, C5—
36Instrumental 1Am7/DD2E4, G4, A4, C5—
37Instrumental 1GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
38Tag, part 1 (×2)Am7/DD2C4, E4, G4, A4—
39Tag, part 1 (×2)GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
40Tag, part 1 (×2)Gmaj7G2, D3D4, F♯4, B4—
41Tag, part 1 (×2)G7G2, D3D4, F4, B4—
42Tag, part 1 (×2)CC2, G2E4, G4, C5—
43Tag, part 1 (×2)Am7A2, E3E4, G4, C5—
44Tag, part 2Am7/DD2E4, G4, A4, C5—
45Tag, part 2GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—