Isn't She Lovely by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: C♯ minor · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 24

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). 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

Part 1 (0:14)

• C♯m9 – F♯9
  i9 – IV9

Part 2 (0:18)

• B11 – E – C♯m9 – F♯9 (×2)
  bVII11 – bIII – i9 – IV9

Part 3 (0:34)

Same chords as Part 2 (0:18).

Part 4 (0:50)

• B11 – E – Amaj7 – G♯7 – C♯m9 – F♯9 – B11
  bVII11 – bIII – bVImaj7 – V7 – i9 – IV9 – bVII11

Part 5 (1:06)

• E – C♯m9 – F♯9 – B11 – E – C♯m9 – F♯9
  bIII – i9 – IV9 – bVII11 – bIII – i9 – IV9

Part 6 (1:22)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:50).

Part 7 (1:38)

Same chords as Part 5 (1:06).

Part 8 (1:55)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:50).

Part 9 (2:11)

Same chords as Part 5 (1:06).

Part 10 (2:27)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:50).

Part 11 (2:43)

Same chords as Part 5 (1:06).

Part 12 (2:59)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:50).

Part 13 (3:16)

Same chords as Part 5 (1:06).

Part 14 (3:32)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:50).

Part 15 (3:48)

Same chords as Part 5 (1:06).

Part 16 (4:04)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:50).

Part 17 (4:20)

Same chords as Part 5 (1:06).

Part 18 (4:37)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:50).

Part 19 (4:53)

Same chords as Part 5 (1:06).

Part 20 (5:09)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:50).

Part 21 (5:25)

Same chords as Part 5 (1:06).

Part 22 (5:41)

Same chords as Part 4 (0:50).

Part 23 (5:57)

Same chords as Part 5 (1:06).

Part 24 (6:14)

• B11 – E – Amaj7 – G♯7 – C♯m9 – F♯9 – B11 – E
  bVII11 – bIII – bVImaj7 – V7 – i9 – IV9 – bVII11 – bIII

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F♯9 acts as V/bVII: it resolves to B11.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Songs In The Key Of Life Disc 2), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Songs In The Key Of Life Disc 2), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• 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.