Magic Man by Heart

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Verse → Transition → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Transition → Chorus → Interlude → Chorus → Solo → Solo → Solo → 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

• G5
  I5

Verse 1

• G5 – F (×2)
  I5 – bVII

Transition 1

• G5
  I5

Chorus 1

• B♭ – F – G5 (×2)
  bIII – bVII – I5
• F – G – B♭ – C
  bVII – I – bIII – IV

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude

• G5
  I5

Chorus 3

• B♭ – F – G5 (×2)
  bIII – bVII – I5
• F – G – E♭ – Em – F – G – B♭ – C
  bVII – I – bVI – vi – bVII – I – bIII – IV

Solo 1

• G5 – F5 (×9)
  I5 – bVII5
• G5
  I5

Solo 2

• G5 – F5 (×8)
  I5 – bVII5
• F♯5 – G5
  VII5 – I5

Solo 3

• G5 – F5 – F♯5 (×2)
  I5 – bVII5 – VII5
• G5 – F5 (×9)
  I5 – bVII5
• G5 – F
  I5 – bVII

Chorus 4

• B♭ – F – G5 (×2)
  bIII – bVII – I5
• F – G – B♭ – C
  bVII – I – bIII – IV
• B♭ – F (×3)
  bIII – bVII

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• F5 (bVII5) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0215, 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.