September by Earth, Wind & Fire

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 8

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

• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯m7 – F♯m7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – vii7 – iii7
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯7 – F♯m7 – A11
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – VII7 – iii7 – V11

Verse 1

• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯m7 – F♯m7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – vii7 – iii7
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯7 – F♯m7 – A11
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – VII7 – iii7 – V11
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯m7 – F♯m7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – vii7 – iii7
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯7 – F♯m7 – A11
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – VII7 – iii7 – V11

Chorus 1

• Bm7 – E9 – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – Bm7 – E9 – Amaj9/C♯ – F♯m7 – Bm7 – E9 – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – A9sus4
  vi7 – II9 – vii7 – iii7 – vi7 – II9 – Vmaj9 (bass C♯) – iii7 – vi7 – II9 – vii7 – iii7 – V9sus4

Verse 2

• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – A6 – C♯m7 – F♯m11 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vii7 – V6 – vii7 – iii11
• Bm7 – E9 – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – A11
  vi7 – II9 – vii7 – iii7 – V11
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯m7 – F♯m7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – vii7 – iii7
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯7 – F♯m7 – A11
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – VII7 – iii7 – V11

Chorus 2

• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯m7 – F♯m7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – vii7 – iii7
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – Bm7/A – C♯7 – F♯m7 – A11
  Imaj7 – vii7 – vi⁴₂ – VII7 – iii7 – V11

Chorus 3

• Bm7 – E9 – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – Bm7 – E9 – Amaj9/C♯ – F♯m7 – Bm7 – E9 – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – A11
  vi7 – II9 – vii7 – iii7 – vi7 – II9 – Vmaj9 (bass C♯) – iii7 – vi7 – II9 – vii7 – iii7 – V11

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 3.

Outro

• B11
  VI11

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• C♯7 acts as V/iii: it resolves to F♯m7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0804, 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.