Evil Ways by Santana
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 13 steps · 3 unique chords · 1970s
Gm
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: G minor · Chords used: 3 · Sections: 5
Form: Verse → Verse → Solo → Verse → Solo
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
Verse 1
- Gm – C7 (×20)
i – IV7 - D7
V7
Verse 2
- Gm – C7 (×16)
i – IV7 - D7
V7
Solo 1
- Gm – C7 (×28)
i – IV7
Verse 3
- Gm – C7 (×12)
i – IV7 - D7
V7
Solo 2
- Gm – C7 (×32)
i – IV7
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gm | i | Home chord (tonic) | Verse, Solo |
| C7 | IV7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Verse, Solo |
| D7 | V7 | In the key | Verse |
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0364, 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.
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 0364, CC0), via ChoCo.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Verse 1, part 1 (×20) | Gm | G2, D3 | B♭3, D4, G4 | — |
| 2 | Verse 1, part 1 (×20) | C7 | C2, G2 | B♭3, E4, G4 | — |
| 3 | Verse 1, part 2 | D7 | D2, A2 | C4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 4 | Verse 2, part 1 (×16) | Gm | G2, D3 | D4, G4, B♭4 | — |
| 5 | Verse 2, part 1 (×16) | C7 | C2, G2 | E4, G4, B♭4 | — |
| 6 | Verse 2, part 2 | D7 | D2, A2 | C4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 7 | Solo 1 (×28) | Gm | G2, D3 | D4, G4, B♭4 | — |
| 8 | Solo 1 (×28) | C7 | C2, G2 | E4, G4, B♭4 | — |
| 9 | Verse 3, part 1 (×12) | Gm | G2, D3 | D4, G4, B♭4 | — |
| 10 | Verse 3, part 1 (×12) | C7 | C2, G2 | E4, G4, B♭4 | — |
| 11 | Verse 3, part 2 | D7 | D2, A2 | C4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 12 | Solo 2 (×32) | Gm | G2, D3 | D4, G4, B♭4 | — |
| 13 | Solo 2 (×32) | C7 | C2, G2 | E4, G4, B♭4 | — |