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She's Got a Way by Billy Joel

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 43 steps · 14 unique chords

Community chart. These chords come from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums, not from a transcription checked against the recording. Charts are sometimes written in a different key or simplified, and no second chart of this song agreed closely enough to mark this page verified. Trust your ears.
Lead-inStep 1 of 43

G

LeftG2, D3RightB3, D4, G4
C4G2D3B3D4G4
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 7

Form: Lead-in → A Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A 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

Lead-in

  • G
    I

A Section 1

  • G – D/F♯ – E – G7/D – C – D – C/E – D/F♯ – D (×2)
    I – V⁶ – VI – I⁴₃ – IV – V – IV⁶ – V⁶ – V
  • E♭ – F
    bVI – bVII

A Section 2

  • G – D/F♯ – E – G7/D – C – D – C/E – D/F♯ – D (×2)
    I – V⁶ – VI – I⁴₃ – IV – V – IV⁶ – V⁶ – V
  • E♭ – F – G
    bVI – bVII – I

B Section 1

  • D – A – G – C9 – D/F♯ – F♯/A♯ – B – D7/A
    V – II – I – IV9 – V⁶ – VII⁶ – III – V⁴₃

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

B Section 2

  • D – A – G – C9 – D/F♯ – F♯/A♯ – B – D7/A – G – D/F♯ – E
    V – II – I – IV9 – V⁶ – VII⁶ – III – V⁴₃ – I – V⁶ – VI

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 2.

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
GIHome chord (tonic)Lead-in, A Section, B Section
D/F♯V⁶In the keyA Section, B Section
EVIOutside the key (chromatic)A Section, B Section
G7/DI⁴₃Secondary dominant (V/IV)A Section
CIVIn the keyA Section
DVIn the keyA Section, B Section
C/EIV⁶In the keyA Section
E♭bVIBorrowed from G minorA Section
FbVIIBorrowed from G minorA Section
AIIOutside the key (chromatic)B Section
C9IV9Outside the key (chromatic)B Section
F♯/A♯VII⁶Outside the key (chromatic)B Section
BIIIOutside the key (chromatic)B Section
D7/AV⁴₃In the keyB Section

Harmonic highlights

  • E♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
  • F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
  • G7/D acts as V/IV: it resolves to C.

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “She's Got a Way” (credited “Joel Billy”, style Slow and Steady) 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).
  • 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.
  • About the song: Wikipedia.
  • Not verified: only one chart of this song is available, so it hasn't been cross-checked.
  • Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.

Sources & Accuracy

Every chord on this page comes from the community chart listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.

  • Chords from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums (archived in the ChoCo research dataset); may be in a different key from the recording, and not checked against it.

    Community chord chart “She's Got a Way” (credited “Joel Billy”, style Slow and Steady) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1Lead-inGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
2A Section 1, part 1 (×2)GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
3A Section 1, part 1 (×2)D/F♯F♯2A3, D4, F♯4—
4A Section 1, part 1 (×2)EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
5A Section 1, part 1 (×2)G7/DD2B3, D4, F4, G4—
6A Section 1, part 1 (×2)CC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
7A Section 1, part 1 (×2)DD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
8A Section 1, part 1 (×2)C/EE2C4, E4, G4—
9A Section 1, part 1 (×2)D/F♯F♯2A3, D4, F♯4—
10A Section 1, part 1 (×2)DD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
11A Section 1, part 2E♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
12A Section 1, part 2FF2, C3C4, F4, A4—
13A Section 2, part 1 (×2)GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
14A Section 2, part 1 (×2)D/F♯F♯2A3, D4, F♯4—
15A Section 2, part 1 (×2)EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
16A Section 2, part 1 (×2)G7/DD2B3, D4, F4, G4—
17A Section 2, part 1 (×2)CC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
18A Section 2, part 1 (×2)DD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
19A Section 2, part 1 (×2)C/EE2C4, E4, G4—
20A Section 2, part 1 (×2)D/F♯F♯2A3, D4, F♯4—
21A Section 2, part 1 (×2)DD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
22A Section 2, part 2E♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
23A Section 2, part 2FF2, C3C4, F4, A4—
24A Section 2, part 2GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
25B Section 1DD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
26B Section 1AA2, E3A3, C♯4, E4—
27B Section 1GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
28B Section 1C9C2, G2B♭3, D4, E4, G4—
29B Section 1D/F♯F♯2A3, D4, F♯4—
30B Section 1F♯/A♯A♯2A♯3, C♯4, F♯4—
31B Section 1BB1, F♯2B3, D♯4, F♯4—
32B Section 1D7/AA2A3, C4, D4, F♯4—
33B Section 2DD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
34B Section 2AA2, E3A3, C♯4, E4—
35B Section 2GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
36B Section 2C9C2, G2B♭3, D4, E4, G4—
37B Section 2D/F♯F♯2A3, D4, F♯4—
38B Section 2F♯/A♯A♯2A♯3, C♯4, F♯4—
39B Section 2BB1, F♯2B3, D♯4, F♯4—
40B Section 2D7/AA2A3, C4, D4, F♯4—
41B Section 2GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
42B Section 2D/F♯F♯2A3, D4, F♯4—
43B Section 2EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—