Get Up (I Feel Like Being Like A) Sex Machine (Part 1) by James Brown
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 5 steps · 2 unique chords · 1970s
A♭13
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 2 · Sections: 6
Form: Intro → Verse → Bridge → Transition → Verse → 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♭13
IV13
Verse 1
- E♭13
I13
Bridge
- A♭13
IV13
Transition
- A♭13
IV13
Verse 2
Same chords as Verse 1.
Outro
- A♭13
IV13
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| A♭13 | IV13 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Intro, Bridge, Transition, Outro |
| E♭13 | I13 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Verse |
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0857, 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 0857, CC0), via ChoCo.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | A♭13 | A♭2, E♭3 | B♭3, C4, F4, G♭4 | — |
| 2 | Verse 1 | E♭13 | E♭2, B♭2 | C4, D♭4, F4, G4 | — |
| 3 | Bridge | A♭13 | A♭2, E♭3 | B♭3, C4, F4, G♭4 | — |
| 4 | Transition | A♭13 | A♭2, E♭3 | B♭3, C4, F4, G♭4 | — |
| 5 | Outro | A♭13 | A♭2, E♭3 | B♭3, C4, F4, G♭4 | — |