Smooth by Santana

Overview

Key: A minor · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 12

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse ×2 → Verse → Chorus → Vamp → Solo → Vamp → Solo → Chorus → Chorus

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

• Am – F
  i – bVI

Verse 1

• E7 – E7/G♯ – E7/E – Am – F
  V7 – V⁶₅ – V7 – i – bVI

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 4

• E7 – E7/G♯
  V7 – V⁶₅
• E7/E – Am – Am/F – E7 (×2)
  V7 – i – i (bass F) – V7
• E7/E – Dm – F/C – E7/B – E7/G♯ – E7/E – Am – E7
  V7 – iv – bVI⁶₄ – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – V7 – i – V7
• Am – Am/F – E7 – E7/G♯ (×2)
  i – i (bass F) – V7 – V⁶₅
• Dm – F/C – E7/B – E7/G♯ – Am – Am/F
  iv – bVI⁶₄ – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – i – i (bass F)

Chorus 1

• E7 – E7/G♯ – E7♯9 – E7♯11
  V7 – V⁶₅ – V7#9 – V7#11
• Am – E7 (×3)
  i – V7
• Dm – F/C – E7/B – E7/G♯ – E7/E – B7sus4 – E7 – E7/D – E7♯9/C – E7♯9/B
  iv – bVI⁶₄ – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – V7 – II7sus4 – V7 – V⁴₂ – V7#9 (bass C) – V7#9 (bass B)
• Am – E7/B (×3)
  i – V⁴₃
• Dm7 – E7♯9
  iv7 – V7#9

Vamp 1

• Am
  i

Solo 1

• E7
  V7

Vamp 2

Same chords as Vamp 1.

Solo 2

• E7 – Am – Am/F – E7 – E7/E – Dm – F/C – E7/B – E7/G♯ – E7/E – Am – E7 – Am – Am/F – E7 – E7/G♯ – Dm – F/C – E7/B – E7/G♯ – Am – Am/F
  V7 – i – i (bass F) – V7 – V7 – iv – bVI⁶₄ – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – V7 – i – V7 – i – i (bass F) – V7 – V⁶₅ – iv – bVI⁶₄ – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – i – i (bass F)

Chorus 2

• E7 – E7/G♯ – E7♯9 – E7♯11 – Am – E7 – Dm – F/C – E7/B – E7/G♯ – E7/E – B7sus4 – E7 – E7/D – E7♯9/C – E7♯9/B – Am – E7/B – Dm7 – E7♯9
  V7 – V⁶₅ – V7#9 – V7#11 – i – V7 – iv – bVI⁶₄ – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – V7 – II7sus4 – V7 – V⁴₂ – V7#9 (bass C) – V7#9 (bass B) – i – V⁴₃ – iv7 – V7#9
• Am7 – F – E7 (×7)
  i7 – bVI – V7
• Dm – F/C – E7 – B7sus4
  iv – bVI⁶₄ – V7 – II7sus4

Chorus 3

• E7 – E7/D – E7♯9/C – E7♯9/B
  V7 – V⁴₂ – V7#9 (bass C) – V7#9 (bass B)
• Am – E7 (×3)
  i – V7
• Dm7 – E7♯9
  iv7 – V7#9
• Am – Am/F – E7 – Am – E7 (×3)
  i – i (bass F) – V7 – i – V7
• Am
  i

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Am	i	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Chorus, Vamp, Solo
F	bVI	In the key	Intro, Verse, Chorus
E7	V7	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Solo
E7/G♯	V⁶₅	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Solo
E7/E	V7	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Solo
Am/F	i (bass F)	Home chord (tonic)	Verse, Solo, Chorus
Dm	iv	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Solo
F/C	bVI⁶₄	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Solo
E7/B	V⁴₃	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Solo
E7♯9	V7#9	In the key	Chorus
E7♯11	V7#11	Outside the key (chromatic)	Chorus
B7sus4	II7sus4	Borrowed from A major	Chorus
E7/D	V⁴₂	In the key	Chorus
E7♯9/C	V7#9 (bass C)	In the key	Chorus
E7♯9/B	V7#9 (bass B)	In the key	Chorus
Dm7	iv7	In the key	Chorus
Am7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Chorus

Harmonic highlights

• B7sus4 (II7sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Smooth (Santana Classic)” (credited “Rob Thomas/Itaal Shur”, style Cuban Son Montuno 2-3) 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 “Smooth (Santana Classic)” (credited “Rob Thomas/Itaal Shur”, style Cuban Son Montuno 2-3) 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 100%).
• 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.