Honesty by Billy Joel

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 26 · Sections: 13

Form: Intro → A Section → Chorus → B Section → A Section → Chorus → B Section → Bridge → C Section → A Section → Chorus → B Section → Outro

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

• Am – Am/G – Fmaj7 – E7
  i – i (bass G) – bVImaj7 – V7

A Section 1

• A – Dmaj7 – E7 – C♯m7 – Dmaj7 – F♯m7 – G♯m – Bm – E7 – A – B7 – E/B – Cm7♭5 – C♯m – Dmaj7 – G♯7
  I – IVmaj7 – V7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – vi7 – vii – ii – V7 – I – II7 – V⁶₄ – biiiø7 – iii – IVmaj7 – VII7

Chorus 1

• C♯7sus4 – C♯7
  III7sus4 – III7

B Section 1

• Dmaj7 – E7 – C♯7/F – F♯m – F♯m/E – Dmaj7 – E7 – A – C♯7 – Dmaj7 – E7 – C♯7/F – F♯m – F♯m/E – Dmaj7 – E7 – A – E
  IVmaj7 – V7 – III⁶₅ – vi – vi (bass E) – IVmaj7 – V7 – I – III7 – IVmaj7 – V7 – III⁶₅ – vi – vi (bass E) – IVmaj7 – V7 – I – V

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

B Section 2

• Dmaj7 – E7 – C♯7/F – F♯m – F♯m/E – Dmaj7 – E7 – A – C♯7 – Dmaj7 – E7 – C♯7/F – F♯m – F♯m/E – Dmaj7 – E7 – A – Am/G
  IVmaj7 – V7 – III⁶₅ – vi – vi (bass E) – IVmaj7 – V7 – I – III7 – IVmaj7 – V7 – III⁶₅ – vi – vi (bass E) – IVmaj7 – V7 – I – i (bass G)

Bridge

• Fmaj7 – E7
  bVImaj7 – V7

C Section

• F♯m – C♯7/F♯ – Em6 – D♯m7♭5 – Dmaj7 – E7 – D/A – A – B7 – E7 – C♯/F
  vi – III7 (bass F♯) – v6 – #ivø7 – IVmaj7 – V7 – IV⁶₄ – I – II7 – V7 – III⁶

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

B Section 3

• Dmaj7 – E7 – C♯7/F – F♯m – F♯m/E – Dmaj7 – E7 – A – C♯7 – Dmaj7 – E7 – C♯7/F – F♯m – F♯m/E – Dmaj7 – E7
  IVmaj7 – V7 – III⁶₅ – vi – vi (bass E) – IVmaj7 – V7 – I – III7 – IVmaj7 – V7 – III⁶₅ – vi – vi (bass E) – IVmaj7 – V7

Outro

• Am – Am/G – Fmaj7 – E7 – Dmaj7 – E7 – A
  i – i (bass G) – bVImaj7 – V7 – IVmaj7 – V7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Am	i	Borrowed from A minor	Intro, Outro
Am/G	i (bass G)	Borrowed from A minor	Intro, B Section, Outro
Fmaj7	bVImaj7	Borrowed from A minor	Intro, Bridge, Outro
E7	V7	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, Bridge, C Section, Outro
A	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, C Section, Outro
Dmaj7	IVmaj7	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section, Outro
C♯m7	iii7	In the key	A Section
F♯m7	vi7	In the key	A Section
G♯m	vii	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
Bm	ii	In the key	A Section
B7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section, C Section
E/B	V⁶₄	In the key	A Section
Cm7♭5	biiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C♯m	iii	In the key	A Section
G♯7	VII7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section
C♯7sus4	III7sus4	In the key	Chorus
C♯7	III7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Chorus, B Section
C♯7/F	III⁶₅	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	B Section
F♯m	vi	In the key	B Section, C Section
F♯m/E	vi (bass E)	In the key	B Section
E	V	In the key	B Section
C♯7/F♯	III7 (bass F♯)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Em6	v6	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D♯m7♭5	#ivø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D/A	IV⁶₄	In the key	C Section
C♯/F	III⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• Am (i) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Am/G (i (bass G)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Fmaj7 (bVImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• B7 acts as V/V: it resolves to E/B.
• C♯7/F acts as V/vi: it resolves to F♯m.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Honesty (gig)” (credited “Joel Billy”, style Pop) 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 “Honesty” (credited “Joel Billy”, style Pop Ballad) 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 79%).
• 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.