Change the World by Eric Clapton

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 18 · Sections: 9

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

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

• E – Aadd9/F♯ – G – Aadd9/F♯ (×2)
  I – IVadd9 (bass F♯) – bIII – IVadd9 (bass F♯)
• B11
  V11

A Section 1

• E – Aadd9/E – E7 – Aadd9/E (×2)
  I – IVadd9 (bass E) – I7 – IVadd9 (bass E)
• E – A – Bm/A – A7 – Bm/A – A – E – Aadd9/E – E7 – Aadd9/E – G♯7
  I – IV – v (bass A) – IV7 – v (bass A) – IV – I – IVadd9 (bass E) – I7 – IVadd9 (bass E) – III7

B Section 1

• F♯m7
  ii7
• G♯7 – C♯m7 – D♯m7♭5 (×2)
  III7 – vi7 – viiø7
• G♯7 – C♯m7 – Cm7 – Bm7 – A – E/G♯ – Edim/G – F♯m7 – B11 – E – Aadd9/F♯ – G – Aadd9/F♯ – E
  III7 – vi7 – bvi7 – v7 – IV – I⁶ – i°⁶ – ii7 – V11 – I – IVadd9 (bass F♯) – bIII – IVadd9 (bass F♯) – I

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• F♯m7
  ii7
• G♯7 – C♯m7 – D♯m7♭5 (×2)
  III7 – vi7 – viiø7
• G♯7 – C♯m7 – Cm7 – Bm7 – A – Eadd9/G♯ – E/G♯ – Edim/G – F♯m7 – E – A – Eadd9/G♯ – E/G♯ – Edim/G – F♯m7 – B11
  III7 – vi7 – bvi7 – v7 – IV – Iadd9 (bass G♯) – I⁶ – i°⁶ – ii7 – I – IV – Iadd9 (bass G♯) – I⁶ – i°⁶ – ii7 – V11

C Section 1

• E – Aadd9/F♯ – G – Aadd9/F♯ – E
  I – IVadd9 (bass F♯) – bIII – IVadd9 (bass F♯) – I

C Section 2

• E – Aadd9/F♯ – G – Aadd9/F♯
  I – IVadd9 (bass F♯) – bIII – IVadd9 (bass F♯)

B Section 3

• F♯m7
  ii7
• G♯7 – C♯m7 – D♯m7♭5 (×2)
  III7 – vi7 – viiø7
• G♯7 – C♯m7 – Cm7 – Bm7 – A – E/G♯ – Edim/G – F♯m7
  III7 – vi7 – bvi7 – v7 – IV – I⁶ – i°⁶ – ii7

Outro

• A – E/G♯ – Edim/G – F♯m7 (×2)
  IV – I⁶ – i°⁶ – ii7
• B11 – E – Aadd9/F♯ – G – Aadd9/F♯ – E
  V11 – I – IVadd9 (bass F♯) – bIII – IVadd9 (bass F♯) – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section, Outro
Aadd9/F♯	IVadd9 (bass F♯)	In the key	Intro, B Section, C Section, Outro
G	bIII	Borrowed from E minor	Intro, B Section, C Section, Outro
B11	V11	In the key	Intro, B Section, Outro
Aadd9/E	IVadd9 (bass E)	In the key	A Section
E7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	A Section
A	IV	In the key	A Section, B Section, Outro
Bm/A	v (bass A)	Borrowed from E minor	A Section
A7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
G♯7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section, A Section
F♯m7	ii7	In the key	B Section, Outro
C♯m7	vi7	In the key	B Section
D♯m7♭5	viiø7	In the key	B Section
Cm7	bvi7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Bm7	v7	Borrowed from E minor	B Section
E/G♯	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	B Section, Outro
Edim/G	i°⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, Outro
Eadd9/G♯	Iadd9 (bass G♯)	Home chord (tonic)	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• G (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• Bm/A (v (bass A)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• Bm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• E7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to Aadd9/E.
• G♯7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to C♯m7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Change The World” (credited “Eric Clapton (Sims-Kennedy-Kirkpatrick)”, style Blues) 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).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Change The World (Gig)” (credited “Clapton Eric”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 78%).
• 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.