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Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 27 steps · 5 unique chords

Community chart. These chords come from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums, not from a transcription checked against the recording. Charts are sometimes written in a different key or simplified, and no second chart of this song agreed closely enough to mark this page verified. Trust your ears.
IntroStep 1 of 27

A

LeftA2, E3RightC♯4, E4, A4
C4A2E3E4A4C♯4
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 9

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

  • A – B♭dim – Bm7 – E7
    I – bii° – ii7 – V7

A Section 1

  • A – B♭dim – Bm7 – E7 – A – B♭dim – Bm7 – Dm6 – E7
    I – bii° – ii7 – V7 – I – bii° – ii7 – iv6 – V7

B Section 1

  • A – Bm7 – E7
    I – ii7 – V7

B Section 2

  • A – Bm7 – E7 – A
    I – ii7 – V7 – I

C Section

  • A – Bm7 – E7 – A
    I – ii7 – V7 – I

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 2.

Interlude

  • A – Bm7 – E7
    I – ii7 – V7

B Section 4

Same chords as B Section 2.

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
AIHome chord (tonic)Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section, Interlude
B♭dimbii°Outside the key (chromatic)Intro, A Section
Bm7ii7In the keyIntro, A Section, B Section, C Section, Interlude
E7V7In the keyIntro, A Section, B Section, C Section, Interlude
Dm6iv6Borrowed from A minorA Section

Harmonic highlights

  • Dm6 (iv6) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Friends In Low Places” (credited “Garth Brooks (Blackwell-Lee)”, style Country Ballad) 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).
  • 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.
  • Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
  • Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.

Sources & Accuracy

Every chord on this page comes from the community chart listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.

  • Chords from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums (archived in the ChoCo research dataset); may be in a different key from the recording, and not checked against it.

    Community chord chart “Friends In Low Places” (credited “Garth Brooks (Blackwell-Lee)”, style Country Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1IntroAA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
2IntroB♭dimB♭2, B♭3D♭4, F♭4, B♭4—
3IntroBm7B1, F♯2D4, F♯4, A4—
4IntroE7E2, B2D4, G♯4, B4—
5A Section 1AA2, E3E4, A4, C♯5—
6A Section 1B♭dimB♭2, B♭3F♭4, B♭4, D♭5—
7A Section 1Bm7B1, F♯2F♯4, A4, D5—
8A Section 1E7E2, B2G♯4, B4, D5—
9A Section 1AA2, E3A4, C♯5, E5—
10A Section 1B♭dimB♭2, B♭3B♭4, D♭5, F♭5—
11A Section 1Bm7B1, F♯2F♯4, A4, D5—
12A Section 1Dm6D2, A2F4, A4, B4—
13A Section 1E7E2, B2D4, G♯4, B4—
14B Section 1AA2, E3E4, A4, C♯5—
15B Section 1Bm7B1, F♯2F♯4, A4, D5—
16B Section 1E7E2, B2G♯4, B4, D5—
17B Section 2AA2, E3A4, C♯5, E5—
18B Section 2Bm7B1, F♯2F♯4, A4, D5—
19B Section 2E7E2, B2G♯4, B4, D5—
20B Section 2AA2, E3A4, C♯5, E5—
21C SectionAA2, E3A4, C♯5, E5—
22C SectionBm7B1, F♯2F♯4, A4, D5—
23C SectionE7E2, B2G♯4, B4, D5—
24C SectionAA2, E3A4, C♯5, E5—
25InterludeAA2, E3A4, C♯5, E5—
26InterludeBm7B1, F♯2F♯4, A4, D5—
27InterludeE7E2, B2G♯4, B4, D5—