Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 31 steps · 7 unique chords · 1970s
E♭7♯9
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 7
Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Verse ×2 → Chorus
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
- E♭7♯9 – G♭ – A♭ (×6)
I7#9 – bIII – IV - E♭7♯9
I7#9
Verse 1
- E♭7♯9 – G♭ – A♭ (×4)
I7#9 – bIII – IV - E♭7♯9 – F7 – A♭7 – D♭7
I7#9 – II7 – IV7 – bVII7 - E♭7♯9 – G♭ – A♭ (×2)
I7#9 – bIII – IV - E♭7♯9
I7#9
Verse 2
Same chords as Verse 1.
Chorus 1
- A♭7 – E♭7♯9 (×3)
IV7 – I7#9 - F7 – B♭7♯9
II7 – V7#9 - E♭7♯9 – G♭ – A♭ (×2)
I7#9 – bIII – IV - E♭7♯9
I7#9
Verse 3
Same chords as Verse 1.
Verse 4
Same chords as Verse 1.
Chorus 2
- A♭7 – E♭7♯9 (×3)
IV7 – I7#9 - F7 – B♭7♯9
II7 – V7#9 - E♭7♯9 – G♭ – A♭ (×11)
I7#9 – bIII – IV - E♭7♯9
I7#9
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| E♭7♯9 | I7#9 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Intro, Verse, Chorus |
| G♭ | bIII | Borrowed from E♭ minor | Intro, Verse, Chorus |
| A♭ | IV | In the key | Intro, Verse, Chorus |
| F7 | II7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Verse, Chorus |
| A♭7 | IV7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Verse, Chorus |
| D♭7 | bVII7 | Borrowed from E♭ minor | Verse |
| B♭7♯9 | V7#9 | Borrowed from E♭ minor | Chorus |
Harmonic highlights
- G♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
- D♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
- B♭7♯9 (V7#9) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0625, 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 0625, CC0), via ChoCo.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro, part 1 (×6) | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 2 | Intro, part 1 (×6) | G♭ | G♭2, D♭3 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 3 | Intro, part 1 (×6) | A♭ | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, A♭4 | — |
| 4 | Intro, part 2 | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 5 | Verse 1, part 1 (×4) | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 6 | Verse 1, part 1 (×4) | G♭ | G♭2, D♭3 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 7 | Verse 1, part 1 (×4) | A♭ | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, A♭4 | — |
| 8 | Verse 1, part 2 | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 9 | Verse 1, part 2 | F7 | F2, C3 | C4, E♭4, A4 | — |
| 10 | Verse 1, part 2 | A♭7 | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 11 | Verse 1, part 2 | D♭7 | D♭2, A♭2 | C♭4, F4, A♭4 | — |
| 12 | Verse 1, part 3 (×2) | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 13 | Verse 1, part 3 (×2) | G♭ | G♭2, D♭3 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 14 | Verse 1, part 3 (×2) | A♭ | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, A♭4 | — |
| 15 | Verse 1, part 4 | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 16 | Chorus 1, part 1 (×3) | A♭7 | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 17 | Chorus 1, part 1 (×3) | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 18 | Chorus 1, part 2 | F7 | F2, C3 | C4, E♭4, A4 | — |
| 19 | Chorus 1, part 2 | B♭7♯9 | B♭2, F3 | C♯4, D4, F4, A♭4 | — |
| 20 | Chorus 1, part 3 (×2) | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 21 | Chorus 1, part 3 (×2) | G♭ | G♭2, D♭3 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 22 | Chorus 1, part 3 (×2) | A♭ | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, A♭4 | — |
| 23 | Chorus 1, part 4 | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 24 | Chorus 2, part 1 (×3) | A♭7 | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 25 | Chorus 2, part 1 (×3) | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 26 | Chorus 2, part 2 | F7 | F2, C3 | C4, E♭4, A4 | — |
| 27 | Chorus 2, part 2 | B♭7♯9 | B♭2, F3 | C♯4, D4, F4, A♭4 | — |
| 28 | Chorus 2, part 3 (×11) | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |
| 29 | Chorus 2, part 3 (×11) | G♭ | G♭2, D♭3 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 30 | Chorus 2, part 3 (×11) | A♭ | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, A♭4 | — |
| 31 | Chorus 2, part 4 | E♭7♯9 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, F♯4, G4 | — |