Respect by Aretha Franklin

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Verse → Chorus ×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.

Key changes

• Solo moves to E major.
• Verse 4 moves to C major.

Section by section

Intro

• C7 – F (×2)
  I7 – IV

Verse 1

• G – F (×3)
  V – IV

Chorus 1

• C7 – F (×2)
  I7 – IV

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo

• F♯m – B – F♯m – G
  ii – V – ii – bIII

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 7

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 8

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Intro, Chorus
F	IV	In the key	Intro, Verse, Chorus
G	V	In the key	Verse
F♯m	ii (in E major)	In the key	Solo
B	V (in E major)	In the key	Solo
G	bIII (in E major)	Borrowed from E minor	Solo

Harmonic highlights

• G (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• C7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to F.

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.