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It's My Life by Bon Jovi

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 28 steps · 10 unique chords

Community chart. These chords come from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums, not from a transcription checked against the recording. Charts are sometimes written in a different key or simplified, and no second chart of this song agreed closely enough to mark this page verified. Trust your ears.
IntroStep 1 of 28

Cm

LeftC2, G2RightC4, E♭4, G4
C2G2C4G4E♭4
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: C minor · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 13

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → A Section → Solo → A Section → Solo → C Section → A Section → B Section → B Section ×3

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

  • Cm
    i

A Section 1

  • Cm
    i

A Section 2

  • Cm – F – C5
    i – IV – I5

A Section 3

  • Cm – A♭ – E♭ – B♭/D – Cm – A♭ – B♭
    i – bVI – bIII – bVII⁶ – i – bVI – bVII

Solo 1

  • B♭ – Bdim
    bVII – vii°

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 3.

Solo 2

Same chords as Solo 1.

C Section

  • A♭ – B♭ – A♭maj7/C – F
    bVI – bVII – bVImaj⁶₅ – IV

A Section 5

  • C – C5
    I – I5

B Section 1

  • Cm – A♭ – E♭ – B♭/D – Cm – A♭ – B♭ – Bdim
    i – bVI – bIII – bVII⁶ – i – bVI – bVII – vii°

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

B Section 4

Same chords as B Section 1.

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
CmiHome chord (tonic)Intro, A Section, B Section
FIVBorrowed from C majorA Section, C Section
C5I5In the keyA Section
A♭bVIIn the keyA Section, C Section, B Section
E♭bIIIIn the keyA Section, B Section
B♭/DbVII⁶In the keyA Section, B Section
B♭bVIIIn the keyA Section, Solo, C Section, B Section
Bdimvii°In the keySolo, B Section
A♭maj7/CbVImaj⁶₅In the keyC Section
CIBorrowed from C majorA Section

Harmonic highlights

  • F (IV) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.
  • C (I) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “It's My Life (Original Structure)” (credited “Jovi Bon”, style Rock) 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.
  • About the song: Wikipedia.
  • Not verified: other charts of this song differ in places from this one, so this page isn't marked verified.
  • Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.

Sources & Accuracy

Every chord on this page comes from the community chart listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.

  • Chords from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums (archived in the ChoCo research dataset); may be in a different key from the recording, and not checked against it.

    Community chord chart “It's My Life (Original Structure)” (credited “Jovi Bon”, style Rock) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1IntroCmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
2A Section 1CmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
3A Section 2CmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
4A Section 2FF2, C3C4, F4, A4—
5A Section 2C5C2, G2C4, G4—
6A Section 3CmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
7A Section 3A♭A♭2, E♭3C4, E♭4, A♭4—
8A Section 3E♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
9A Section 3B♭/DD2B♭3, D4, F4—
10A Section 3CmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
11A Section 3A♭A♭2, E♭3C4, E♭4, A♭4—
12A Section 3B♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
13Solo 1B♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
14Solo 1BdimB1, B2B3, D4, F4—
15C SectionA♭A♭2, E♭3C4, E♭4, A♭4—
16C SectionB♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
17C SectionA♭maj7/CC2A♭3, C4, E♭4, G4—
18C SectionFF2, C3A3, C4, F4—
19A Section 5CC2, G2G3, C4, E4—
20A Section 5C5C2, G2G3, C4—
21B Section 1CmC2, G2G3, C4, E♭4—
22B Section 1A♭A♭2, E♭3A♭3, C4, E♭4—
23B Section 1E♭E♭2, B♭2G3, B♭3, E♭4—
24B Section 1B♭/DD2F3, B♭3, D4—
25B Section 1CmC2, G2G3, C4, E♭4—
26B Section 1A♭A♭2, E♭3A♭3, C4, E♭4—
27B Section 1B♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
28B Section 1BdimB1, B2B3, D4, F4—