Right Place Wrong Time by Dr. John
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 33 steps · 8 unique chords · 1970s
E♭m7
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: E♭ minor · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 11
Form: Intro → Instrumental → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Solo → Verse → Chorus → Chorus → Outro
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
- E♭m7
i7
Instrumental
- E♭m7 – A♭7/E♭ (×4)
i7 – IV⁴₃
Chorus 1
- E♭m7 – A♭7 (×6)
i7 – IV7 - G♭7 – F7 – E7
bIII7 – II7 – #I7
Verse 1
- E♭m7 – A♭7/G♭ (×2)
i7 – IV⁴₂ - E♭m7
i7
Chorus 2
- E♭m7 – A♭7 (×4)
i7 – IV7 - G♭7 – F7 – E7
bIII7 – II7 – #I7
Transition
- E♭m7 – F7 – B♭
i7 – II7 – V
Solo
- E♭m7 – A♭7 (×14)
i7 – IV7 - G♭7 – F7 – E7
bIII7 – II7 – #I7
Verse 2
Same chords as Verse 1.
Chorus 3
- E♭m7 – A♭7 (×8)
i7 – IV7
Chorus 4
- E♭m7 – A♭7 (×8)
i7 – IV7 - G♭7 – F7 – E7
bIII7 – II7 – #I7
Outro
- E♭m7 – A♭7/G♭ (×2)
i7 – IV⁴₂
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| E♭m7 | i7 | Home chord (tonic) | Intro, Instrumental, Chorus, Verse, Transition, Solo, Outro |
| A♭7/E♭ | IV⁴₃ | Outside the key (chromatic) | Instrumental |
| A♭7 | IV7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Chorus, Solo |
| G♭7 | bIII7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Chorus, Solo |
| F7 | II7 | Secondary dominant (V/V) | Transition, Solo, Chorus |
| E7 | #I7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Chorus, Solo |
| A♭7/G♭ | IV⁴₂ | Outside the key (chromatic) | Verse, Outro |
| B♭ | V | In the key | Transition |
Harmonic highlights
- F7 acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭.
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0483, 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.
Sources & Accuracy
Every chord on this page comes from the expert transcription listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.
- the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011)Expert transcription
Annotated from the original recording by trained musicians for a published research dataset.
Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0483, CC0), via ChoCo.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 2 | Instrumental (×4) | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 3 | Instrumental (×4) | A♭7/E♭ | E♭2 | A♭3, C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 4 | Chorus 1, part 1 (×6) | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 5 | Chorus 1, part 1 (×6) | A♭7 | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 6 | Chorus 1, part 2 | G♭7 | G♭2, D♭3 | D♭4, F♭4, B♭4 | — |
| 7 | Chorus 1, part 2 | F7 | F2, C3 | C4, E♭4, A4 | — |
| 8 | Chorus 1, part 2 | E7 | E2, B2 | B3, D4, G♯4 | — |
| 9 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 10 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | A♭7/G♭ | G♭2 | A♭3, C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 11 | Verse 1, part 2 | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 12 | Chorus 2, part 1 (×4) | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 13 | Chorus 2, part 1 (×4) | A♭7 | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 14 | Chorus 2, part 2 | G♭7 | G♭2, D♭3 | D♭4, F♭4, B♭4 | — |
| 15 | Chorus 2, part 2 | F7 | F2, C3 | C4, E♭4, A4 | — |
| 16 | Chorus 2, part 2 | E7 | E2, B2 | B3, D4, G♯4 | — |
| 17 | Transition | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 18 | Transition | F7 | F2, C3 | A3, C4, E♭4 | — |
| 19 | Transition | B♭ | B♭2, F3 | B♭3, D4, F4 | — |
| 20 | Solo, part 1 (×14) | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 21 | Solo, part 1 (×14) | A♭7 | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 22 | Solo, part 2 | G♭7 | G♭2, D♭3 | D♭4, F♭4, B♭4 | — |
| 23 | Solo, part 2 | F7 | F2, C3 | C4, E♭4, A4 | — |
| 24 | Solo, part 2 | E7 | E2, B2 | B3, D4, G♯4 | — |
| 25 | Chorus 3 (×8) | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 26 | Chorus 3 (×8) | A♭7 | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 27 | Chorus 4, part 1 (×8) | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 28 | Chorus 4, part 1 (×8) | A♭7 | A♭2, E♭3 | C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 29 | Chorus 4, part 2 | G♭7 | G♭2, D♭3 | D♭4, F♭4, B♭4 | — |
| 30 | Chorus 4, part 2 | F7 | F2, C3 | C4, E♭4, A4 | — |
| 31 | Chorus 4, part 2 | E7 | E2, B2 | B3, D4, G♯4 | — |
| 32 | Outro (×2) | E♭m7 | E♭2, B♭2 | B♭3, D♭4, G♭4 | — |
| 33 | Outro (×2) | A♭7/G♭ | G♭2 | A♭3, C4, E♭4, G♭4 | — |