Roxanne by The Police

Overview

Key: G minor · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → B Section → C Section → A Section → B Section → Outro

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

• Gm – Dm/F – E♭maj7 – Dm – Cm – Fsus4 – Gsus4
  i – v⁶ – bVImaj7 – v – iv – bVIIsus4 – Isus4

A Section 1

• Gm – Dm/F – E♭maj7 – Dm – Cm – Fsus4 – Gsus4
  i – v⁶ – bVImaj7 – v – iv – bVIIsus4 – Isus4

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• Cm – Fsus4 – Gsus4
  iv – bVIIsus4 – Isus4

B Section 2

• Cm – Fsus4 – Gsus4 – G7sus4 – C5 – B♭
  iv – bVIIsus4 – Isus4 – I7sus4 – IV5 – bIII

C Section

• B♭5 – E♭ – F – F5 – F – Gm – C5 – B♭ – B♭5 – E♭ – F – F5 – Fsus4 – Gsus4 – Gm – Gm/F – Gm
  bIII5 – bVI – bVII – bVII5 – bVII – i – IV5 – bIII – bIII5 – bVI – bVII – bVII5 – bVIIsus4 – Isus4 – i – i (bass F) – i

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 2.

Outro

• B♭5 – E♭ – F – F5 – F – Gm – C5 – B♭ (×2)
  bIII5 – bVI – bVII – bVII5 – bVII – i – IV5 – bIII

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm	i	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, C Section, Outro
Dm/F	v⁶	In the key	Intro, A Section
E♭maj7	bVImaj7	In the key	Intro, A Section
Dm	v	In the key	Intro, A Section
Cm	iv	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section
Fsus4	bVIIsus4	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
Gsus4	Isus4	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section
G7sus4	I7sus4	In the key	B Section
C5	IV5	In the key	B Section, C Section, Outro
B♭	bIII	In the key	B Section, C Section, Outro
B♭5	bIII5	In the key	C Section, Outro
E♭	bVI	In the key	C Section, Outro
F	bVII	In the key	C Section, Outro
F5	bVII5	In the key	C Section, Outro
Gm/F	i (bass F)	Home chord (tonic)	C Section

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Roxanne” (credited “The Police (Sting)”, style Rock) 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 “Roxanne 1” (credited “Sting (The Police)”, style Rock/Reggae) 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 77%).
• 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.