Don't You Worry 'bout a Thing by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: D♯ minor · Chords used: 25 · Sections: 12

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

Intro 1

• D♯m – D♯mmaj7 – D♯m7 – D♯m6
  i – imaj7 – i7 – i6

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• D♯m – D♯mmaj7 – D♯m7 – G♯7 – C♯m7 – F♯7sus4 – Bmaj7 – E7♯11 (×2)
  i – imaj7 – i7 – IV7 – bvii7 – bIII7sus4 – bVImaj7 – bII7#11

B Section 1

• F♯maj7 – F♯7 – A♯7 – Bmaj9 – G♯m7 – C♯7sus4 – F♯maj9 – A♯7♭9
  bIIImaj7 – bIII7 – V7 – bVImaj9 – iv7 – bVII7sus4 – bIIImaj9 – V7b9

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

• F♯maj7 – F♯7 – A♯7 – Bmaj9 – G♯m7 – C♯7sus4
  bIIImaj7 – bIII7 – V7 – bVImaj9 – iv7 – bVII7sus4

C Section 1

• F♯sus4 – Fsus4 – Esus4 – D♯sus4 – Dsus4 – C♯sus4 – F♯ (×2)
  bIIIsus4 – IIsus4 – bIIsus4 – Isus4 – bIsus4 – bVIIsus4 – bIII
• A♯7♭9
  V7b9

D Section 1

• D♯m – D♯mmaj7 – D♯m7 – D♯m6 – Emaj9
  i – imaj7 – i7 – i6 – bIImaj9

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 2.

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

D Section 2

Same chords as D Section 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
D♯m	i	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, D Section
D♯mmaj7	imaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, D Section
D♯m7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, D Section
D♯m6	i6	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, D Section
G♯7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C♯m7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F♯7sus4	bIII7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bmaj7	bVImaj7	In the key	A Section
E7♯11	bII7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
F♯maj7	bIIImaj7	In the key	B Section
F♯7	bIII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A♯7	V7	In the key	B Section
Bmaj9	bVImaj9	In the key	B Section
G♯m7	iv7	In the key	B Section
C♯7sus4	bVII7sus4	In the key	B Section
F♯maj9	bIIImaj9	In the key	B Section
A♯7♭9	V7b9	In the key	B Section, C Section
F♯sus4	bIIIsus4	In the key	C Section
Fsus4	IIsus4	Borrowed from D♯ major	C Section
Esus4	bIIsus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D♯sus4	Isus4	In the key	C Section
Dsus4	bIsus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
C♯sus4	bVIIsus4	In the key	C Section
F♯	bIII	In the key	C Section
Emaj9	bIImaj9	Outside the key (chromatic)	D Section

Harmonic highlights

• Fsus4 (IIsus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♯ major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing 1” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Rock Pop) 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 “Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing (re)” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Rock 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 68%).
• 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.