Lean on Me by Bill Withers

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 9

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

• C – F – C – Em/G – G9 – G9sus4 – C – F – C – G7 – C
  I – IV – I – iii⁶ – V9 – V9sus4 – I – IV – I – V7 – I

B Section

• C – F – C – Cmaj7/E – G9/D – G9sus4 – C – F – C – G7 – C
  I – IV – I – Imaj⁶₅ – V9 (bass D) – V9sus4 – I – IV – I – V7 – I

A Section 1

• C – F – C – Em – G9/D – G9sus4 – C – F – C – G7 – C
  I – IV – I – iii – V9 (bass D) – V9sus4 – I – IV – I – V7 – I

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

C Section 1

• C – G9 – C
  I – V9 – I

A Section 3

• C – F – C – Cmaj7/E – G9/D – G9sus4 – C – F – C
  I – IV – I – Imaj⁶₅ – V9 (bass D) – V9sus4 – I – IV – I

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 3.

Outro

• G7
  V7
• C – Dm/C (×14)
  I – ii (bass C)
• C
  I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, B Section, A Section, C Section, Outro
F	IV	In the key	Intro, B Section, A Section
Em/G	iii⁶	In the key	Intro
G9	V9	In the key	Intro, C Section
G9sus4	V9sus4	In the key	Intro, B Section, A Section
G7	V7	In the key	Intro, B Section, A Section, Outro
Cmaj7/E	Imaj⁶₅	Home chord (tonic)	B Section, A Section
G9/D	V9 (bass D)	In the key	B Section, A Section
Em	iii	In the key	A Section
Dm/C	ii (bass C)	In the key	Outro

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Lean On Me” (credited “Withers Bill”, style Soul) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
• 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 “Lean On Me” (credited “Withers Bill”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts. 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.
• 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.