I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free by Billy Taylor

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 10

Form: A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → C Section → D Section → D Section

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

A Section 1

• F – A7 – Dm – F7/C – B♭ – B♭/C – F – B♭ – F – C/G – G7 – C7
  I – III7 – vi – I⁴₃ – IV – IV (bass C) – I – IV – I – V⁶₄ – II7 – V7

B Section 1

• F – A7 – Dm – F7 – B♭ – B♭/C – F – Bdim7 – F/C – C♯dim7 – Dm – Bdim7 – F/C – B♭/C – F – B♭/C
  I – III7 – vi – I7 – IV – IV (bass C) – I – #iv°7 – I⁶₄ – #v°7 – vi – #iv°7 – I⁶₄ – IV (bass C) – I – IV (bass C)

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 4

• F – A7 – Dm – F7 – B♭ – B♭/C – F – B♭ – F – C/G – G7 – C7
  I – III7 – vi – I7 – IV – IV (bass C) – I – IV – I – V⁶₄ – II7 – V7

C Section

• F – A7 – Dm – F7 – B♭ – B♭/C – F – Bdim7
  I – III7 – vi – I7 – IV – IV (bass C) – I – #iv°7
• F – A7 – Dm – B♭ (×2)
  I – III7 – vi – IV

D Section 1

• F – A7 – Dm – B♭ (×4)
  I – III7 – vi – IV

D Section 2

• F – A7 – Dm – B♭ (×2)
  I – III7 – vi – IV
• F/C – B♭/C – F
  I⁶₄ – IV (bass C) – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
F	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
A7	III7	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
Dm	vi	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
F7/C	I⁴₃	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	A Section
B♭	IV	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
B♭/C	IV (bass C)	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
C/G	V⁶₄	In the key	A Section
G7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	A Section
C7	V7	In the key	A Section
F7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	B Section, A Section, C Section
Bdim7	#iv°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, C Section
F/C	I⁶₄	Home chord (tonic)	B Section, D Section
C♯dim7	#v°7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section

Harmonic highlights

• A7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Dm.
• F7/C acts as V/IV: it resolves to B♭.
• G7 acts as V/V: it resolves to C7.
• F7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to B♭.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” (credited “Taylor Billy”, style Gospel Blues) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: the chart has no section markings, so sections were detected by code from repeated 8-, 12- and 16-bar phrases (letters such as A and B mark different phrases).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free” (credited “Taylor Billy”, style Even 8ths) 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 78%).
• 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.
• 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.