Cinnamon Girl by Neil Young and Crazy Horse

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 12 · Sections: 16

Form: Vamp → Vamp → A Section → Vamp → Vamp → A Section → Vamp → Vamp → A Section → Vamp → Vamp → B Section → A Section → Vamp → A 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

Vamp 1

• D5 – C5 – F5 – G5 – D5 – C5 – F5
  I5 – bVII5 – bIII5 – IV5 – I5 – bVII5 – bIII5

Vamp 2

Same chords as Vamp 1.

A Section 1

• D – Am7 – Cadd9
  I – v7 – bVIIadd9

Vamp 3

• G – F5 – D5
  IV – bIII5 – I5

Vamp 4

• C5 – A5
  bVII5 – V5

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Vamp 5

Same chords as Vamp 3.

Vamp 6

• C5 – A5 – D5 – C5 – F5 – G5 – D5
  bVII5 – V5 – I5 – bVII5 – bIII5 – IV5 – I5

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

Vamp 7

Same chords as Vamp 3.

Vamp 8

• C5 – A5 – D5 – C5 – F5 – G5 – D5
  bVII5 – V5 – I5 – bVII5 – bIII5 – IV5 – I5
• C5 – F5 (×2)
  bVII5 – bIII5

B Section

• C – Am7 (×3)
  bVII – v7
• Gm7 – A7
  iv7 – V7

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 1.

Vamp 9

• G – F5 – D5 – C5 – A5
  IV – bIII5 – I5 – bVII5 – V5

A Section 5

Same chords as A Section 1.

Vamp 10

• G – F5 – D5 – C5 – A5 – D
  IV – bIII5 – I5 – bVII5 – V5 – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D5	I5	Home chord (tonic)	Vamp
C5	bVII5	Borrowed from D minor	Vamp
F5	bIII5	Borrowed from D minor	Vamp
G5	IV5	In the key	Vamp
D	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, Vamp
Am7	v7	Borrowed from D minor	A Section, B Section
Cadd9	bVIIadd9	Borrowed from D minor	A Section
G	IV	In the key	Vamp
A5	V5	In the key	Vamp
C	bVII	Borrowed from D minor	B Section
Gm7	iv7	Borrowed from D minor	B Section
A7	V7	In the key	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• C5 (bVII5) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• F5 (bIII5) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Am7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Cadd9 (bVIIadd9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• C (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Gm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Cinnamon Girl” (credited “Young Neil”, style Rock) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• 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 “Cinnamon Girl” (credited “Young Neil”, style Rock) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 93%).
• 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.