Make Me Smile by Chicago

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 24 · Sections: 17

Form: Intro → Bridge → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Chorus → Instrumental → Solo → Bridge → Chorus → Chorus → Outro

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.

Key changes

• Instrumental moves to E minor.

Section by section

Intro

• A♭maj7 – C♭/G♭ (×2)
  IVmaj7 – bVI⁶₄

Bridge 1

• Csus2/G – B♭7sus4
  VIsus2 (bass G) – V7sus4

Transition

• Emaj7 – Gmaj7 – A♭sus4
  #Imaj7 – IIImaj7 – IVsus4

Verse 1

• Cm – A♭ – E♭ – B♭ – G7 (×2)
  vi – IV – I – V – III7

Pre-Chorus 1

• Cm – B♭/D – E♭ – Fm – G7sus4 – G7
  vi – V⁶ – I – ii – III7sus4 – III7

Chorus 1

• E♭sus4 – E♭ – D♭ – A♭ (×4)
  Isus4 – I – bVII – IV

Chorus 2

• E♭ – Cm – B♭sus4 – B♭ – A♭sus4 – A♭
  I – vi – Vsus4 – V – IVsus4 – IV

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

• E♭ – Cm – B♭sus4 – B♭ – A♭ – B
  I – vi – Vsus4 – V – IV – #V

Instrumental

• Em7 – A7 (×8)
  i7 – IV7

Solo

• Em7 – A7 (×8)
  i7 – IV7

Bridge 2

• Csus2/G – B♭7sus4
  bVIsus2 (bass G) – bV7sus4

Chorus 5

• E♭sus4 – E♭ – D♭ – A♭ (×4)
  bIsus4 – bI – VI – bIV

Chorus 6

• E♭ – Cm – B♭sus4 – B♭ – A♭sus4
  bI – bvi – bVsus4 – bV – bIVsus4

Outro

• C – F – B♭ – E♭ – G (×4)
  bVI – bII – bV – bI – bIII
• C
  bVI

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• C♭/G♭ (bVI⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭sus4 (IVsus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• Csus2/G (bVIsus2 (bass G)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• C (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• G (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• G7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1085, 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.