Ma Belle Amie by The Tee Set

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 20 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Transition → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Transition → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). 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

Intro

• D7
  V7

Chorus 1

• G – Em – A – D (×2)
  I – vi – II – V
• C – G – Am – C – Dsus4 – D – G
  IV – I – ii – IV – Vsus4 – V – I

Transition 1

• B♭ – E♭/B♭ – B♭
  bIII – bVI⁶₄ – bIII

Verse 1

• B♭ – E♭/B♭ (×2)
  bIII – bVI⁶₄
• B♭ – Dm/A – Cm/G – F – B♭ – B♭7 – E♭ – E♭m – B♭ – B♭/A♭ – E♭/G – E♭m/G♭ – B♭/F – E♭ – B♭ – B♭/A♭ – E♭/G – E♭m/G♭ – B♭/F
  bIII – v⁶₄ – iv⁶₄ – bVII – bIII – bIII7 – bVI – bvi – bIII – bIII (bass A♭) – bVI⁶ – bvi⁶ – bIII⁶₄ – bVI – bIII – bIII (bass A♭) – bVI⁶ – bvi⁶ – bIII⁶₄

Transition 2

• D7
  V7

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Transition 4

Same chords as Transition 2.

Chorus 3

• G – Em – A – D (×2)
  I – vi – II – V
• C – G – Am
  IV – I – ii
• C – Dsus4 – D – G (×2)
  IV – Vsus4 – V – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• B♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭/B♭ (bVI⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Dm/A (v⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Cm/G (iv⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭/G (bVI⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B♭/F (bIII⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• A acts as V/V: it resolves to D.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0109, CC0), via ChoCo.
• 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.