Chicago by Graham Nash

Overview

Key: A minor · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription 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

• Am – Dm/A (×8)
  i – iv⁶₄

Verse 1

• Am – Dm/A (×4)
  i – iv⁶₄
• G – C/G (×2)
  bVII – bIII⁶₄
• Am – Dm/A (×6)
  i – iv⁶₄
• G – C/G (×2)
  bVII – bIII⁶₄
• Am – Dm/A – Am
  i – iv⁶₄ – i

Chorus 1

• G – F – Em (×2)
  bVII – bVI – v
• D – G/D – D7 – G/D
  IV – bVII⁶₄ – IV7 – bVII⁶₄

Transition 1

• Am – Dm/A (×4)
  i – iv⁶₄

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• G – F – Em (×2)
  bVII – bVI – v
• D – G/D – D7 – G/D (×2)
  IV – bVII⁶₄ – IV7 – bVII⁶₄
• G – G/F
  bVII – bVII (bass F)

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Outro

• G – F – E (×11)
  bVII – bVI – V

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D (IV) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.
• D7 acts as V/bVII: it resolves to G/D.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0025, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.