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Day Dreaming by Aretha Franklin

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 18 steps · 9 unique chords · 1970s

Community chart. These chords come from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums, not from a transcription checked against the recording. Charts are sometimes written in a different key or simplified, and no second chart of this song agreed closely enough to mark this page verified. Trust your ears.
A SectionStep 1 of 18

F7sus4

LeftF2, C3RightC4, E♭4, B♭4
F2C3C4E♭4B♭4
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 3

Form: A Section → B Section → B Section

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

A Section

  • F7sus4 – A♭ – G – E♭ – B♭ – A♭ – G – E♭ – G♭
    V7sus4 – bVII – VI – IV – I – bVII – VI – IV – bVI

B Section 1

  • F7sus4 – B♭maj7
    V7sus4 – Imaj7

B Section 2

  • F7sus4 – B♭maj7
    V7sus4 – Imaj7
  • F7sus4 – D – G – E♭ – Cm7♭5 (×2)
    V7sus4 – III – VI – IV – iiø7

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
F7sus4V7sus4In the keyA Section, B Section
A♭bVIIBorrowed from B♭ minorA Section
GVIOutside the key (chromatic)A Section, B Section
E♭IVIn the keyA Section, B Section
B♭IHome chord (tonic)A Section
G♭bVIBorrowed from B♭ minorA Section
B♭maj7Imaj7Home chord (tonic)B Section
DIIIOutside the key (chromatic)B Section
Cm7♭5iiø7Borrowed from B♭ minorB Section

Harmonic highlights

  • A♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
  • G♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
  • Cm7♭5 (iiø7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Day Dreaming - Aretha” (credited “Walkupmusic.com Arr. of Aretha Franklin”, style Soul) 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).
  • 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.
  • About the song: Wikipedia.
  • Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
  • Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.

Sources & Accuracy

Every chord on this page comes from the community chart listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.

  • Chords from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums (archived in the ChoCo research dataset); may be in a different key from the recording, and not checked against it.

    Community chord chart “Day Dreaming - Aretha” (credited “Walkupmusic.com Arr. of Aretha Franklin”, style Soul) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1A SectionF7sus4F2, C3C4, E♭4, B♭4—
2A SectionA♭A♭2, E♭3C4, E♭4, A♭4—
3A SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
4A SectionE♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
5A SectionB♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
6A SectionA♭A♭2, E♭3C4, E♭4, A♭4—
7A SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
8A SectionE♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
9A SectionG♭G♭2, D♭3B♭3, D♭4, G♭4—
10B Section 1F7sus4F2, C3B♭3, C4, E♭4—
11B Section 1B♭maj7B♭2, F3A3, D4, F4—
12B Section 2, part 1F7sus4F2, C3B♭3, C4, E♭4—
13B Section 2, part 1B♭maj7B♭2, F3A3, D4, F4—
14B Section 2, part 2 (×2)F7sus4F2, C3B♭3, C4, E♭4—
15B Section 2, part 2 (×2)DD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
16B Section 2, part 2 (×2)GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
17B Section 2, part 2 (×2)E♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
18B Section 2, part 2 (×2)Cm7♭5C2, C3B♭3, E♭4, G♭4—