I.G.Y. by Donald Fagen

Overview

Key: G♯ minor · Chords used: 28 · Sections: 19

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

• G♯m – C♯m7 – Emaj9 – F♯9sus4
  i – iv7 – bVImaj9 – bVII9sus4

Intro 2

• G♯m – C♯m7
  i – iv7
• Emaj9 – F♯9sus4 – G♯m – G♯9sus4 – G♯m7/F♯ – C♯m7 – D♯m – C♯m7 – Emaj9 – F♯/E (×4)
  bVImaj9 – bVII9sus4 – i – I9sus4 – i⁴₂ – iv7 – v – iv7 – bVImaj9 – bVII (bass E)
• Emaj9 – F♯9sus4 – D♯7sus4
  bVImaj9 – bVII9sus4 – V7sus4

A Section 1

• Fm9 – D♭maj7 – Fm9 – B♭m7 – Fm9 – D♭maj7 – Cm7 – B♭m9
  vi9 – IVmaj7 – vi9 – ii7 – vi9 – IVmaj7 – biv7 – ii9

B Section 1

• Bmaj7/F♯ – B9/F♯ – Emaj13 – Bmaj7/F♯ – B9/F♯ – F♯m11 – Bmaj7/F♯ – B9/F♯ – Fm7♭5 – Emaj9 – Em6
  bIIImaj⁴₃ – bIII9 (bass F♯) – bVImaj13 – bIIImaj⁴₃ – bIII9 (bass F♯) – bvii11 – bIIImaj⁴₃ – bIII9 (bass F♯) – viø7 – bVImaj9 – bvi6

C Section 1

• G♯m7 – G♯9sus4 – G♯m7/F♯ – C♯m7 – D♯m – C♯m7 – Emaj7 – F♯/E – Emaj7 – F♯9sus4 – G♯m7 – G♯9sus4 – G♯m7/F♯ – C♯m7 – D♯m – C♯m7 – Emaj7 – F♯/E – Emaj7 – G♯m – G♯9sus4 – G♯m7/F♯ – C♯m7 – D♯m – C♯m7 – Emaj9 – F♯/E – Emaj9 – F♯9sus4 – D♯7sus4
  i7 – I9sus4 – i⁴₂ – iv7 – v – iv7 – bVImaj7 – bVII (bass E) – bVImaj7 – bVII9sus4 – i7 – I9sus4 – i⁴₂ – iv7 – v – iv7 – bVImaj7 – bVII (bass E) – bVImaj7 – i – I9sus4 – i⁴₂ – iv7 – v – iv7 – bVImaj9 – bVII (bass E) – bVImaj9 – bVII9sus4 – V7sus4

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Interlude 1

• C♯m9 – Fdim7
  iv9 – vi°7

B Section 2

• Bmaj7/F♯ – B9/F♯ – Emaj13 – Bmaj7/F♯ – B9/F♯ – F♯m11 – Bmaj7/F♯ – B9/F♯ – Fm7♭5 – Emaj7♯11 – D♯m7 – C♯m11 – F♯7sus4
  bIIImaj⁴₃ – bIII9 (bass F♯) – bVImaj13 – bIIImaj⁴₃ – bIII9 (bass F♯) – bvii11 – bIIImaj⁴₃ – bIII9 (bass F♯) – viø7 – bVImaj7#11 – v7 – iv11 – bVII7sus4

B Section 3

• Bmaj7/F♯ – B9/F♯ – Emaj13 – Bmaj7/F♯ – B9/F♯ – Emaj9 – Bmaj7/F♯ – B9/F♯ – Fm7♭5 – Emaj9 – Em6
  bIIImaj⁴₃ – bIII9 (bass F♯) – bVImaj13 – bIIImaj⁴₃ – bIII9 (bass F♯) – bVImaj9 – bIIImaj⁴₃ – bIII9 (bass F♯) – viø7 – bVImaj9 – bvi6

C Section 2

• G♯m7 – G♯9sus4 – G♯m7/F♯ – C♯m7 – D♯m – C♯m7 – Emaj7 – F♯/E – Emaj7
  i7 – I9sus4 – i⁴₂ – iv7 – v – iv7 – bVImaj7 – bVII (bass E) – bVImaj7

Interlude 2

• F♯9sus4
  bVII9sus4

C Section 3

Same chords as C Section 2.

Interlude 3

Same chords as Interlude 2.

C Section 4

Same chords as C Section 2.

Interlude 4

Same chords as Interlude 2.

C Section 5

Same chords as C Section 2.

Interlude 5

• F♯9sus4 – G♯m – G♯9sus4 – G♯m7/F♯ – C♯m7 – D♯m – C♯m7
  bVII9sus4 – i – I9sus4 – i⁴₂ – iv7 – v – iv7

Vamp 1

• Emaj9 – F♯/E – Emaj9 – F♯9sus4 – G♯m – G♯9sus4 – G♯m7/F♯ – C♯m7 – D♯m – C♯m7
  bVImaj9 – bVII (bass E) – bVImaj9 – bVII9sus4 – i – I9sus4 – i⁴₂ – iv7 – v – iv7

Vamp 2

• Emaj9 – F♯/E – Emaj9 – F♯9sus4
  bVImaj9 – bVII (bass E) – bVImaj9 – bVII9sus4

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Fm9 (vi9) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♯ major.
• D♭maj7 (IVmaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♯ major.
• B♭m7 (ii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♯ major.
• Cm7 (biv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♯ major.
• B♭m9 (ii9) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♯ major.
• B9/F♯ acts as V/bVI: it resolves to Emaj13.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World)” (credited “Fagen Donald”, style Shuffle) 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.
• 2 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.