Bird Of Beauty by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 11

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

• Bm7 – B♭m7 – Am7 – D7♯11 – G69 (×2)
  iii7 – biii7 – ii7 – V7#11 – I69

A Section 1

• Bm7 – B♭m7 – Am7 – D7♯11 – G69
  iii7 – biii7 – ii7 – V7#11 – I69

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• E7 – A9 – E♭13 – D9sus4
  VI7 – II9 – bVI13 – V9sus4

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section

• C69 – Cm6 – G/B – G7/D (×2)
  IV69 – iv6 – I⁶ – I⁴₃
• C69 – Cm6 – G/B – E7♭9 – A9 – A♭9 – G69
  IV69 – iv6 – I⁶ – VI7b9 – II9 – bII9 – I69

Interlude

• G69 – A♭9 – G69
  I69 – bII9 – I69

Vamp 1

• A♭9 – G69 (×2)
  bII9 – I69

Vamp 2

• A♭9
  bII9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Bm7	iii7	In the key	Intro, A Section
B♭m7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
Am7	ii7	In the key	Intro, A Section
D7♯11	V7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section
G69	I69	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, C Section, Interlude, Vamp
E7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A9	II9	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
E♭13	bVI13	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
D9sus4	V9sus4	In the key	B Section
C69	IV69	In the key	C Section
Cm6	iv6	Borrowed from G minor	C Section
G/B	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	C Section
G7/D	I⁴₃	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	C Section
E7♭9	VI7b9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
A♭9	bII9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section, Interlude, Vamp

Harmonic highlights

• Cm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• G7/D acts as V/IV: it resolves to C69.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Bird Of Beauty” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Soul) 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 “Bird of Beauty 2” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Samba) 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.
• 3 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.