Piano Man by Billy Joel

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 20 · Sections: 21

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). 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

Part 1 (0:00)

• Dm7 – D♭9
  ii7 – bII9

Part 2 (0:08)

• C – G/B – F/A – C/G – Fmaj7 – C/E – D7 – G7 – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7 – C – F/C
  I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IVmaj7 – I⁶ – II7 – V7 – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7 – I – IV⁶₄

Part 3 (0:25)

• Cmaj7 – C – F/C – Cmaj7 – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – C/E – D7 – G – C – G/B
  Imaj7 – I – IV⁶₄ – Imaj7 – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – I – V⁶

Part 4 (0:41)

• F/A – C/G – F – G7 – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7 – C – F/C
  IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7 – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7 – I – IV⁶₄

Part 5 (0:57)

• C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – C/E – D7 – G – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7 – C
  I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7 – I

Part 6 (1:14)

• Am – Am7/G – D7/F♯ – F – Am – Am7/G – D7/F♯ – G – Gmaj7/F♯ – C/E – G/D – C – G/B – F/A – C/G
  vi – vi⁴₂ – II⁶₅ – IV – vi – vi⁴₂ – II⁶₅ – V – Vmaj⁴₂ – I⁶ – V⁶₄ – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄

Part 7 (1:30)

• F – C/E – D7 – G – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7 – C – G/B – F/A – C/G
  IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7 – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄

Part 8 (1:46)

• F – G7
  IV – V7
• C – F/C – Cmaj7 (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄ – Imaj7
• C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – C/E
  I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – I⁶

Part 9 (2:03)

• D7 – G – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7 – C – F/C – C – G/B – F/A – C/G
  II7 – V – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7 – I – IV⁶₄ – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄

Part 10 (2:19)

• F – C/E – D7 – G – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7 – C – Am – Am7/G – D7/F♯ – F
  IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7 – I – vi – vi⁴₂ – II⁶₅ – IV

Part 11 (2:35)

• Am – Am7/G – D7/F♯ – G – Gmaj7/F♯ – C/E – G/A – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – C/E – D7 – G
  vi – vi⁴₂ – II⁶₅ – V – Vmaj⁴₂ – I⁶ – V (bass A) – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – I⁶ – II7 – V

Part 12 (2:51)

• C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7 (×2)
  I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7
• C
  I

Part 13 (3:07)

• F/C – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – C/E – D7 – G – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7
  IV⁶₄ – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7

Part 14 (3:23)

• C – Am – Am7/G – D7 – F – Am – Am7/G – D7/F♯ – F – Am – Am7/G – D7 – G – Gmaj7/F♯
  I – vi – vi⁴₂ – II7 – IV – vi – vi⁴₂ – II⁶₅ – IV – vi – vi⁴₂ – II7 – V – Vmaj⁴₂

Part 15 (3:39)

• C/E – G/A – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – C/E – D7 – G – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7
  I⁶ – V (bass A) – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7

Part 16 (3:55)

• C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7
  I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7
• C – F/C – Cmaj7 (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄ – Imaj7

Part 17 (4:11)

Same chords as Part 5 (0:57).

Part 18 (4:27)

Same chords as Part 13 (3:07).

Part 19 (4:43)

• C – Am – Am7/G – D7/F♯ – F – Am – Am7/G – D7/F♯ – G – Gmaj7/F♯ – C/E – G/A – C – G/B
  I – vi – vi⁴₂ – II⁶₅ – IV – vi – vi⁴₂ – II⁶₅ – V – Vmaj⁴₂ – I⁶ – V (bass A) – I – V⁶

Part 20 (4:59)

• F/A – C/G – F – C/E – D7 – G – C – G/B – F/A – C/G – F – G7 – C – G/B
  IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – I⁶ – II7 – V – I – V⁶ – IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7 – I – V⁶

Part 21 (5:15)

• F/A – C/G – F – G7
  IV⁶ – I⁶₄ – IV – V7
• C – F/C – Cmaj7 (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄ – Imaj7
• F – C/E – Dm7 – C
  IV – I⁶ – ii7 – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D7 acts as V/V: it resolves to G7.
• D7/F♯ acts as V/V: it resolves to G.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Piano Man), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Piano Man), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 1 chord was simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.