Happy Birthday by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 20 · Sections: 23

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → B Section → Interlude → B Section → Interlude → B Section → Interlude → B Section → Interlude → Vamp → Vamp ×5 → 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 1

• C – F/C – C – B♭ – E♭/B♭ – B♭ – Am – E7sus4/A – Am – G – G9sus4
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – bVII – bIII⁶₄ – bVII – vi – III7sus4 (bass A) – vi – V – V9sus4

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• C – F/C – C – B♭ – E♭/B♭ – B♭ – Am – E7sus4/A – Am – G – G9sus4
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – bVII – bIII⁶₄ – bVII – vi – III7sus4 (bass A) – vi – V – V9sus4

A Section 2

• C – F/C – C – B♭ – E♭/B♭ – B♭ – Am – E7sus4/A – Am – G – G9sus4 – F – G – F – G7sus4
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – bVII – bIII⁶₄ – bVII – vi – III7sus4 (bass A) – vi – V – V9sus4 – IV – V – IV – V7sus4

B Section 1

• C – F/C (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• C
  I

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

B Section 2

• C – F/C (×4)
  I – IV⁶₄
• C
  I

C Section

• Dm – Am – Dm – A♭ – B♭ – C – G7sus4 – A♭7sus4
  ii – vi – ii – bVI – bVII – I – V7sus4 – bVI7sus4

B Section 3

• D♭ – G♭/D♭ (×2)
  bII – bV⁶₄
• D♭
  bII

Interlude 1

• G♭/D♭ – D♭
  bV⁶₄ – bII

B Section 4

Same chords as B Section 3.

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

B Section 5

Same chords as B Section 3.

Interlude 3

Same chords as Interlude 1.

B Section 6

Same chords as B Section 3.

Interlude 4

• G♭/D♭ – D♭ – B – E/B – B – B♭m
  bV⁶₄ – bII – VII – III⁶₄ – VII – bvii

Vamp 1

• F7sus4/B♭ – B♭m – A♭ – A♭9sus4 – D♭ – B – E/B – B – B♭m
  IV7sus4 (bass B♭) – bvii – bVI – bVI9sus4 – bII – VII – III⁶₄ – VII – bvii

Vamp 2

Same chords as Vamp 1.

Vamp 3

Same chords as Vamp 1.

Vamp 4

Same chords as Vamp 1.

Vamp 5

Same chords as Vamp 1.

Vamp 6

Same chords as Vamp 1.

Vamp 7

• F7sus4/B♭ – B♭m – A♭ – A♭9sus4
  IV7sus4 (bass B♭) – bvii – bVI – bVI9sus4

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
F/C	IV⁶₄	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
B♭	bVII	Borrowed from C minor	Intro, A Section, C Section
E♭/B♭	bIII⁶₄	Borrowed from C minor	Intro, A Section
Am	vi	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section
E7sus4/A	III7sus4 (bass A)	In the key	Intro, A Section
G	V	In the key	Intro, A Section
G9sus4	V9sus4	In the key	Intro, A Section
F	IV	In the key	A Section
G7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	A Section, C Section
Dm	ii	In the key	C Section
A♭	bVI	Borrowed from C minor	C Section, Vamp
A♭7sus4	bVI7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D♭	bII	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, Interlude, Vamp
G♭/D♭	bV⁶₄	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, Interlude
B	VII	Outside the key (chromatic)	Interlude, Vamp
E/B	III⁶₄	Outside the key (chromatic)	Interlude, Vamp
B♭m	bvii	Outside the key (chromatic)	Interlude, Vamp
F7sus4/B♭	IV7sus4 (bass B♭)	Borrowed from C minor	Vamp
A♭9sus4	bVI9sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	Vamp

Harmonic highlights

• B♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• E♭/B♭ (bIII⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• F7sus4/B♭ (IV7sus4 (bass B♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Happy Birthday (Stevie Wonder)” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, 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 “Happy Birthday (Stevie Wonder)” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Disco 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 82%).
• 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.