Promises by Eric Clapton

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Bridge → Chorus → Verse → Bridge → Chorus → 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

• G – D/G (×2)
  I – V (bass G)

Verse 1

• G – D – C – G – C/G – D – D/F♯ – G
  I – V – IV – I – IV⁶₄ – V – V⁶ – I

Verse 2

• G – C – G – D – D/F♯ – G
  I – IV – I – V – V⁶ – I

Chorus 1

• C – Bm – D (×2)
  IV – iii – V
• D/F♯ – G
  V⁶ – I

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 2.

Bridge 1

• C – G/B – Am7 – G (×2)
  IV – I⁶ – ii7 – I

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 2.

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chorus 3

• C – Bm – D (×2)
  IV – iii – V

Chorus 4

• C – Bm – D (×3)
  IV – iii – V
• C – Bm
  IV – iii

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0124, 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.