One Less Bell to Answer by The 5th Dimension

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 32 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Instrumental → Bridge → 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.

Section by section

Intro

• Dmaj7 – G9 – Dmaj7 – Gadd9 – F♯m7 – E9sus4 (×2)
  Imaj7 – IV9 – Imaj7 – IVadd9 – iii7 – II9sus4

Verse

• Dmaj7 – D6 – Dmaj7
  Imaj7 – I6 – Imaj7
• Bm7 – F♯m7 (×2)
  vi7 – iii7
• Gmaj7 – F♯9sus4 – F♯7 – Bm7 – E9 – A9sus4 – Em7 – F♯m7 – Gadd9 – A9sus4 – Dmaj7 – D6 – Dmaj7
  IVmaj7 – III9sus4 – III7 – vi7 – II9 – V9sus4 – ii7 – iii7 – IVadd9 – V9sus4 – Imaj7 – I6 – Imaj7
• Bm7 – F♯m7 (×2)
  vi7 – iii7
• Gmaj7 – F♯9sus4 – F♯7
  IVmaj7 – III9sus4 – III7

Chorus

• E♭ – Gm7 – A♭6 – F69 – Cmaj9 – Em7
  bII – iv7 – bV6 – bIII69 – bVIImaj9 – ii7
• Fmaj7 – Cmaj9/E (×2)
  bIIImaj7 – bVIImaj9 (bass E)
• Esus4 – E
  IIsus4 – II
• Em9 – A9 (×2)
  ii9 – V9

Instrumental

• Dmaj9 – A6 – D69 – A6
  Imaj9 – V6 – I69 – V6
• Bm9 – F♯m7 (×2)
  vi9 – iii7

Bridge

• Gmaj7 – A6 – Bm7 – Em7 – A9sus4 – Am7 – B7♭9 – B7 – Em9 – F♯m7 – Gmaj9 – A9sus4 – Gmaj7 – F♯m7 – Em9 – A9sus4
  IVmaj7 – V6 – vi7 – ii7 – V9sus4 – v7 – VI7b9 – VI7 – ii9 – iii7 – IVmaj9 – V9sus4 – IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii9 – V9sus4

Outro

• Dmaj7 – D6 – Dmaj7 – Bm7 – F♯m7 – Gmaj7 – F♯m7 – Em9 – A9sus4 (×4)
  Imaj7 – I6 – Imaj7 – vi7 – iii7 – IVmaj7 – iii7 – ii9 – V9sus4
• Dmaj7
  Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Gm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• F69 (bIII69) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Fmaj7 (bIIImaj7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Am7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• F♯7 acts as V/vi: it resolves to Bm7.
• E9 acts as V/V: it resolves to A9sus4.
• B7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Em9.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1127, 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.