As If You Read My Mind by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: A minor · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → Interlude → Vamp → B Section → Vamp → B Section → Vamp → B Section → Vamp

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

• Gsus4/A – Csus4/D – Dsus4/E – Csus4/D (×2)
  bVIIsus4 (bass A) – bIIIsus4 (bass D) – IVsus4 (bass E) – bIIIsus4 (bass D)

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• Gsus4/A – Csus4/D – Dsus4/E – Csus4/D (×3)
  bVIIsus4 (bass A) – bIIIsus4 (bass D) – IVsus4 (bass E) – bIIIsus4 (bass D)
• F13 – E7♯9 – F13 – G13 – Cmaj9 – F♯7♭9 – F13 – E7♯9 – Am11 – E7♯9
  bVI13 – V7#9 – bVI13 – bVII13 – bIIImaj9 – VI7b9 – bVI13 – V7#9 – i11 – V7#9

A Section 2

• Gsus4/A – Csus4/D – Dsus4/E – Csus4/D (×3)
  bVIIsus4 (bass A) – bIIIsus4 (bass D) – IVsus4 (bass E) – bIIIsus4 (bass D)
• F13 – E7♯9 – F13 – G13 – Cmaj9 – F♯7♭9 – F13 – E7♯9 – Am11 – E♭7♯11
  bVI13 – V7#9 – bVI13 – bVII13 – bIIImaj9 – VI7b9 – bVI13 – V7#9 – i11 – bV7#11

B Section 1

• D9 – E7♯9 – Am11 – E♭7♯11 (×2)
  IV9 – V7#9 – i11 – bV7#11
• Dm9 – G/F – A9sus4 – Bm11
  iv9 – bVII (bass F) – I9sus4 – ii11

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

Interlude

• D9 – E7♯9 – Am11 – E♭7♯11 (×2)
  IV9 – V7#9 – i11 – bV7#11
• Dm9 – G/F
  iv9 – bVII (bass F)

Vamp 1

• A9sus4 – Bm11 – E7♯9 – E♭7♯11
  I9sus4 – ii11 – V7#9 – bV7#11

B Section 2

• D9 – E7♯9 – Am11 – E♭7♯11 (×2)
  IV9 – V7#9 – i11 – bV7#11
• Dm9 – G/F
  iv9 – bVII (bass F)

Vamp 2

Same chords as Vamp 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 2.

Vamp 3

Same chords as Vamp 1.

B Section 4

Same chords as B Section 2.

Vamp 4

Same chords as Vamp 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gsus4/A	bVIIsus4 (bass A)	In the key	Intro, A Section
Csus4/D	bIIIsus4 (bass D)	In the key	Intro, A Section
Dsus4/E	IVsus4 (bass E)	In the key	Intro, A Section
F13	bVI13	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E7♯9	V7#9	In the key	A Section, B Section, Interlude, Vamp
G13	bVII13	In the key	A Section
Cmaj9	bIIImaj9	In the key	A Section
F♯7♭9	VI7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Am11	i11	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, Interlude
E♭7♯11	bV7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, B Section, Interlude, Vamp
D9	IV9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, Interlude
Dm9	iv9	In the key	B Section, Interlude
G/F	bVII (bass F)	In the key	B Section, Interlude
A9sus4	I9sus4	In the key	B Section, Vamp
Bm11	ii11	Borrowed from A major	B Section, Vamp

Harmonic highlights

• Bm11 (ii11) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “As If You Read My Mind” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style RnB) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• 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 “As If You Read My Mind” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style RnB) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 73%).
• 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.
• 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.
• 10 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.