Fakin It by Simon & Garfunkel

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 13

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → 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

• E
  I

Verse 1

• E – A – G♯m – A – G♯ – C♯
  I – IV – iii – IV – III – VI

Chorus 1

• F♯ – C♯ – F♯7 – A – E/G♯ – F♯m – E – F♯m – E/G♯ – A – E/G♯ – F♯m
  II – VI – II7 – IV – I⁶ – ii – I – ii – I⁶ – IV – I⁶ – ii

Interlude 1

• E
  I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

• F♯ – C♯ – F♯7
  II – VI – II7
• A – E/G♯ – F♯m – E – F♯m – E/G♯ (×3)
  IV – I⁶ – ii – I – ii – I⁶
• A – E/G♯ – F♯m
  IV – I⁶ – ii

Interlude 3

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 4

• F♯ – C♯ – F♯7 – A – E/G♯ – F♯m – A
  II – VI – II7 – IV – I⁶ – ii – IV
• F♯m – E – F♯m – E/G♯ – A – E/G♯ (×6)
  ii – I – ii – I⁶ – IV – I⁶
• F♯m
  ii

Outro

• E
  I

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0947, 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.