Please, Please, Please by James Brown

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 6

Form: Verse → Verse ×5

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

Verse 1

• F – B♭ – C – F – C7 (×2)
  I – IV – V – I – V7
• F – Dm – G – C – F – B♭ – C – F
  I – vi – II – V – I – IV – V – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 6

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
F	I	Home chord (tonic)	Verse
B♭	IV	In the key	Verse
C	V	In the key	Verse
C7	V7	In the key	Verse
Dm	vi	In the key	Verse
G	II	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Verse

Harmonic highlights

• G acts as V/V: it resolves to C.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 100% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.