PianoChords.studio

Bennie and the Jets by Elton John

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 21 steps · 12 unique chords · 1970s

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 21

Gmaj7

LeftG2, D3RightB3, D4, F♯4
C4G2D3B3D4F♯4
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 12 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → B Section → C Section → C Section

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

  • Gmaj7 – Fmaj7
    Imaj7 – bVIImaj7

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section

  • Am7 – D7 – G – G♯m7♭5 – Am7 – D7 – Em – Am – Bm – C
    ii7 – V7 – I – #iø7 – ii7 – V7 – vi – ii – iii – IV

B Section

  • Gmaj7 – Am – C (×2)
    Imaj7 – ii – IV
  • D – Em – C – C7
    V – vi – IV – IV7

C Section 1

  • Gmaj7 – Fmaj7
    Imaj7 – bVIImaj7

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
Gmaj7Imaj7Home chord (tonic)Intro, B Section, C Section
Fmaj7bVIImaj7Outside the key (chromatic)Intro, C Section
Am7ii7In the keyA Section
D7V7In the keyA Section
GIHome chord (tonic)A Section
G♯m7♭5#iø7Outside the key (chromatic)A Section
EmviIn the keyA Section, B Section
AmiiIn the keyA Section, B Section
BmiiiIn the keyA Section
CIVIn the keyA Section, B Section
DVIn the keyB Section
C7IV7Outside the key (chromatic)B Section

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Bennie And The Jets” (credited “John Elton”, style Pop) 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 “Bennie And The Jets” (credited “John Elton”, style Pop) 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 1Gmaj7G2, D3B3, D4, F♯4—
2Intro 1Fmaj7F2, C3C4, E4, A4—
3A SectionAm7A2, E3C4, E4, G4—
4A SectionD7D2, A2C4, F♯4, A4—
5A SectionGG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
6A SectionG♯m7♭5G♯2, G♯3D4, F♯4, B4—
7A SectionAm7A2, E3E4, G4, C5—
8A SectionD7D2, A2F♯4, A4, C5—
9A SectionEmE2, B2E4, G4, B4—
10A SectionAmA2, E3E4, A4, C5—
11A SectionBmB1, F♯2D4, F♯4, B4—
12A SectionCC2, G2E4, G4, C5—
13B Section, part 1 (×2)Gmaj7G2, D3D4, F♯4, B4—
14B Section, part 1 (×2)AmA2, E3C4, E4, A4—
15B Section, part 1 (×2)CC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
16B Section, part 2DD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
17B Section, part 2EmE2, B2B3, E4, G4—
18B Section, part 2CC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
19B Section, part 2C7C2, G2B♭3, E4, G4—
20C Section 1Gmaj7G2, D3B3, D4, F♯4—
21C Section 1Fmaj7F2, C3C4, E4, A4—