PianoChords.studio

Slip Slidin' Away by Paul Simon

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 22 steps · 6 unique chords · 1970s

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.
C SectionStep 1 of 22

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: 6 · Sections: 2

Form: C 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

C Section

  • G – Em – G – D – C – D – G – F – C – G
    I – vi – I – V – IV – V – I – bVII – IV – I

A Section

  • Em – G – D – C – Cm – G – Em – G – D – C – D – G
    vi – I – V – IV – iv – I – vi – I – V – IV – V – I

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
GIHome chord (tonic)C Section, A Section
EmviIn the keyC Section, A Section
DVIn the keyC Section, A Section
CIVIn the keyC Section, A Section
FbVIIBorrowed from G minorC Section
CmivBorrowed from G minorA Section

Harmonic highlights

  • F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
  • Cm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Slip Sliding Away” (credited “Simon Paul”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
  • 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.
  • 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 “Slip Sliding Away” (credited “Simon Paul”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1C SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
2C SectionEmE2, B2B3, E4, G4—
3C SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
4C SectionDD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
5C SectionCC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
6C SectionDD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
7C SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
8C SectionFF2, C3C4, F4, A4—
9C SectionCC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
10C SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
11A SectionEmE2, B2B3, E4, G4—
12A SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
13A SectionDD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
14A SectionCC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
15A SectionCmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
16A SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
17A SectionEmE2, B2B3, E4, G4—
18A SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
19A SectionDD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
20A SectionCC2, G2C4, E4, G4—
21A SectionDD2, A2A3, D4, F♯4—
22A SectionGG2, D3B3, D4, G4—