Fool That I Am by Etta James

Overview

Key: D♭ major · Chords used: 19 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → Verse → 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

• A♭7 – D♭ – G♭7 – D♭ – A♭7
  V7 – I – IV7 – I – V7

Verse 1

• D♭maj7 – B♭dim – D♭dim – E♭m7 – A♭ – A♭7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vi° – i° – ii7 – V – V7

Verse 2

• D♭maj7 – A7 – E♭m7 – F7 – B♭m7 – E♭7 – E♭m7 – A♭7
  Imaj7 – #V7 – ii7 – III7 – vi7 – II7 – ii7 – V7

Chorus

• D♭maj7 – B♭dim – D♭dim – E♭m7 – A♭ – A♭7 – D♭ – D♭aug – G♭maj7 – G♭6 – C♭9 – D♭maj9 – Fm7 – B♭7♭9 – E♭m7 – A♭7
  Imaj7 – vi° – i° – ii7 – V – V7 – I – I+ – IVmaj7 – IV6 – bVII9 – Imaj9 – iii7 – VI7b9 – ii7 – V7

Outro

• D♭maj7 – G♭7 – D♭ – A♭7 – D♭maj9
  Imaj7 – IV7 – I – V7 – Imaj9

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• C♭9 (bVII9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D♭ minor.
• F7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to B♭m7.
• B♭7♭9 acts as V/ii: it resolves to E♭m7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0515, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 7 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.