Fantasy by Earth, Wind & Fire

Overview

Key: E minor · Chords used: 35 · Sections: 12

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

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

• Em7 – Bm7 – Cmaj7 – Gmaj7 – Aadd9 – Badd9 – Esus4 – E – Eadd9 – E
  i7 – v7 – bVImaj7 – bIIImaj7 – IVadd9 – Vadd9 – Isus4 – I – Iadd9 – I

Vamp 1

• Em
  i

Vamp 2

Same chords as Vamp 1.

A Section 1

• Am7 – Bm7
  iv7 – v7
• Cmaj7 – Dmaj7 (×2)
  bVImaj7 – bVIImaj7
• E7sus4 – E7
  I7sus4 – I7

A Section 2

• Am7 – Bm7
  iv7 – v7
• Cmaj7 – Dmaj7 (×2)
  bVImaj7 – bVIImaj7
• B7sus4 – B7
  V7sus4 – V7

B Section

• Em7 – F♯m7 – Gmaj7 – F♯m7 (×2)
  i7 – ii7 – bIIImaj7 – ii7
• Em7 – F♯m7 – Gmaj7 – Asus4 – B7sus4 – B7
  i7 – ii7 – bIIImaj7 – IVsus4 – V7sus4 – V7

C Section 1

• Em7 – Am7 – D7sus4 – Gmaj7 – Bm7 – Cmaj7 – Am7 – F♯7/A♯ – B
  i7 – iv7 – bVII7sus4 – bIIImaj7 – v7 – bVImaj7 – iv7 – II⁶₅ – V

C Section 2

• Em7 – Am7 – D7sus4 – Gmaj7 – Bm7 – Cmaj7 – Am7 – F♯7/A♯ – B – F♯7sus4 – F♯/E – D – Em7♭5/D – D7
  i7 – iv7 – bVII7sus4 – bIIImaj7 – v7 – bVImaj7 – iv7 – II⁶₅ – V – II7sus4 – II (bass E) – bVII – iø⁴₂ – bVII7

C Section 3

• Gm7 – Cm7 – F7sus4 – B♭maj7 – Dm7 – E♭maj7 – Cm7 – A7/C♯ – D – D7/C
  biii7 – bvi7 – bII7sus4 – bVmaj7 – bvii7 – bImaj7 – bvi7 – IV⁶₅ – bVII – bVII⁴₂

Vamp 3

• Gm/B♭ – E♭maj7 – D7
  biii⁶ – bImaj7 – bVII7

C Section 4

Same chords as C Section 3.

Vamp 4

Same chords as Vamp 3.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Em7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, B Section, C Section
Bm7	v7	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section
Cmaj7	bVImaj7	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section
Gmaj7	bIIImaj7	In the key	Intro, B Section, C Section
Aadd9	IVadd9	Borrowed from E major	Intro
Badd9	Vadd9	Borrowed from E major	Intro
Esus4	Isus4	In the key	Intro
E	I	Borrowed from E major	Intro
Eadd9	Iadd9	Borrowed from E major	Intro
Em	i	Home chord (tonic)	Vamp
Am7	iv7	In the key	A Section, C Section
Dmaj7	bVIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
E7sus4	I7sus4	In the key	A Section
E7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
B7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section, B Section
B7	V7	In the key	A Section, B Section
F♯m7	ii7	Borrowed from E major	B Section
Asus4	IVsus4	In the key	B Section
D7sus4	bVII7sus4	In the key	C Section
F♯7/A♯	II⁶₅	Secondary dominant (V/V)	C Section
B	V	In the key	C Section
F♯7sus4	II7sus4	Borrowed from E major	C Section
F♯/E	II (bass E)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D	bVII	In the key	C Section
Em7♭5/D	iø⁴₂	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D7	bVII7	In the key	C Section, Vamp
Gm7	biii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Cm7	bvi7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F7sus4	bII7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
B♭maj7	bVmaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Dm7	bvii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
E♭maj7	bImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section, Vamp
A7/C♯	IV⁶₅	Secondary dominant (V/bVII)	C Section
D7/C	bVII⁴₂	In the key	C Section
Gm/B♭	biii⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	Vamp

Harmonic highlights

• Aadd9 (IVadd9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E major.
• Badd9 (Vadd9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E major.
• E (I) is borrowed from the parallel key, E major.
• Eadd9 (Iadd9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E major.
• F♯m7 (ii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E major.
• F♯7sus4 (II7sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, E major.
• F♯7/A♯ acts as V/V: it resolves to B.
• A7/C♯ acts as V/bVII: it resolves to D.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Fantasy” (credited “Earth, Wind & Fire”, style Disco Funk) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• 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 “Fantasy 1” (credited “Earth Wind Fire”, style Funk) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 70%).
• 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.