Ribbon in the Sky by Stevie Wonder

Overview

Key: E♭ minor · Chords used: 20 · Sections: 20

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → A Section → A Section → Interlude → B Section → B Section → B Section → C Section → C Section → C Section → C Section ×2 → C Section → D Section → D Section → D Section → D Section → D Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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 1

• E♭m7 – Fm7 – B♭7sus4 (×2)
  i7 – ii7 – V7sus4

Intro 2

• E♭m7 – Fm7 – B♭7sus4 (×3)
  i7 – ii7 – V7sus4
• E♭m7 – E♭m7/G♭ – A♭7sus4 – Bmaj9 – A♭7sus4
  i7 – i⁶₅ – IV7sus4 – #Vmaj9 – IV7sus4

A Section 1

• E♭m7 – Fm7 – B♭7sus4 (×2)
  i7 – ii7 – V7sus4
• E♭m7 – Fm – B♭sus4 – E♭m7 – E♭m7/G♭ – A♭7sus4 – Bmaj9 – A♭7sus4
  i7 – ii – Vsus4 – i7 – i⁶₅ – IV7sus4 – #Vmaj9 – IV7sus4

A Section 2

• E♭m7 – Fm7 – B♭7sus4 (×2)
  i7 – ii7 – V7sus4
• E♭m7 – Fm – B♭sus4 – E♭m7 – E♭m7/G♭ – A♭7sus4
  i7 – ii – Vsus4 – i7 – i⁶₅ – IV7sus4

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

Interlude

• A7♯11 – A7sus4
  #IV7#11 – #IV7sus4

B Section 1

• Em7 – F♯m7 – B7sus4
  #i7 – #ii7 – #V7sus4

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

B Section 3

• Em7 – F♯m7 – B7sus4 – Em7 – Em7/G – A7sus4 – B♭7sus4
  #i7 – #ii7 – #V7sus4 – #i7 – #i⁶₅ – #IV7sus4 – V7sus4

C Section 1

• Fm7 – Gm7 – C7sus4
  ii7 – iii7 – VI7sus4

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

C Section 3

• Fm7 – Gm7 – C7sus4 – Fm7 – Fm7/A – B♭7sus4 – Gm7♭5 – C7 – Fm7 – Fm7/A – B♭7sus4
  ii7 – iii7 – VI7sus4 – ii7 – ii7 (bass A) – V7sus4 – iiiø7 – VI7 – ii7 – ii7 (bass A) – V7sus4

C Section 4

Same chords as C Section 1.

C Section 5

Same chords as C Section 1.

C Section 6

• Fm7 – Gm7 – C7sus4 – Fm7 – Fm7/A – B♭7sus4 – D♭maj9 – B♭7sus4
  ii7 – iii7 – VI7sus4 – ii7 – ii7 (bass A) – V7sus4 – bVIImaj9 – V7sus4

D Section 1

• Fm7 – Gm7 – C7sus4 (×3)
  ii7 – iii7 – VI7sus4
• Fm7 – Fm7/A – B♭7sus4 – D♭maj9 – B♭7sus4
  ii7 – ii7 (bass A) – V7sus4 – bVIImaj9 – V7sus4

D Section 2

Same chords as D Section 1.

D Section 3

• Fm7 – Gm7 – C7sus4
  ii7 – iii7 – VI7sus4

D Section 4

Same chords as D Section 3.

D Section 5

• Fm7 – Gm7 – C7sus4 – Fm7 – Fm7/A – B♭7sus4 – D♭maj9
  ii7 – iii7 – VI7sus4 – ii7 – ii7 (bass A) – V7sus4 – bVIImaj9

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E♭m7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
Fm7	ii7	Borrowed from E♭ major	Intro, A Section, C Section, D Section
B♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
E♭m7/G♭	i⁶₅	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
A♭7sus4	IV7sus4	In the key	Intro, A Section
Bmaj9	#Vmaj9	In the key	Intro, A Section
Fm	ii	Borrowed from E♭ major	A Section
B♭sus4	Vsus4	In the key	A Section
A7♯11	#IV7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Interlude
A7sus4	#IV7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	Interlude, B Section
Em7	#i7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
F♯m7	#ii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
B7sus4	#V7sus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Em7/G	#i⁶₅	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
Gm7	iii7	Borrowed from E♭ major	C Section, D Section
C7sus4	VI7sus4	Borrowed from E♭ major	C Section, D Section
Fm7/A	ii7 (bass A)	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section, D Section
Gm7♭5	iiiø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
C7	VI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
D♭maj9	bVIImaj9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section, D Section

Harmonic highlights

• Fm7 (ii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ major.
• Fm (ii) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ major.
• Gm7 (iii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ major.
• C7sus4 (VI7sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Ribbon In The Sky” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Soul) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Ribbon In The Sky” (credited “Wonder Stevie”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 86%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.