Cold Sweat - Part 1 by James Brown
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 8 steps · 6 unique chords · 1960s
Dm7
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: D minor · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 7
Form: Intro → 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
- Dm7
i7
Verse 1
- Dm7
i7
Chorus 1
- C7 – F7 (×5)
bVII7 – bIII7 - G7 – G9
IV7 – IV9
Transition
- D13
I13
Verse 2
Same chords as Verse 1.
Chorus 2
Same chords as Chorus 1.
Outro
- Dm7
i7
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dm7 | i7 | Home chord (tonic) | Intro, Verse, Outro |
| C7 | bVII7 | In the key | Chorus |
| F7 | bIII7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Chorus |
| G7 | IV7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Chorus |
| G9 | IV9 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Chorus |
| D13 | I13 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Transition |
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0079, CC0), via ChoCo.
- Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
- 4 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.
Sources & Accuracy
Every chord on this page comes from the expert transcription listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.
- the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011)Expert transcription
Annotated from the original recording by trained musicians for a published research dataset.
Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0079, CC0), via ChoCo.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | Dm7 | D2, A2 | C4, F4, A4 | — |
| 2 | Verse 1 | Dm7 | D2, A2 | C4, F4, A4 | — |
| 3 | Chorus 1, part 1 (×5) | C7 | C2, G2 | B♭3, E4, G4 | — |
| 4 | Chorus 1, part 1 (×5) | F7 | F2, C3 | C4, E♭4, A4 | — |
| 5 | Chorus 1, part 2 | G7 | G2, D3 | B3, D4, F4 | — |
| 6 | Chorus 1, part 2 | G9 | G2, D3 | A3, B3, D4, F4 | — |
| 7 | Transition | D13 | D2, A2 | B3, C4, E4, F♯4 | — |
| 8 | Outro | Dm7 | D2, A2 | A3, C4, F4 | — |