Soul Man by Sam & Dave

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → Intro → Chorus → Break → Chorus → Break → Chorus → Break → 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 1

• G – F – B♭
  I – bVII – bIII

Intro 2

• C – D
  IV – V
• G – C (×7)
  I – IV

Chorus 1

• G – C
  I – IV
• G7 – F7 (×2)
  I7 – bVII7
• G7
  I7

Break 1

• C – D7
  IV – V7
• G – C (×7)
  I – IV

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Break 2

Same chords as Break 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Break 3

• C – D7 – E♭ – B♭ – C – D – E♭ – A♭ – G♭ – B
  IV – V7 – bVI – bIII – IV – V – bVI – bII – bI – III

Outro

• D♭ – E♭7
  bV – bVI7
• A♭ – D♭ (×12)
  bII – bV
• A♭
  bII

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
G	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Chorus, Break
F	bVII	Borrowed from G minor	Intro
B♭	bIII	Borrowed from G minor	Intro, Break
C	IV	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Break
D	V	In the key	Intro, Break
G7	I7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Chorus
F7	bVII7	Borrowed from G minor	Chorus
D7	V7	In the key	Break
E♭	bVI	Borrowed from G minor	Break
A♭	bII	Outside the key (chromatic)	Break, Outro
G♭	bI	Outside the key (chromatic)	Break
B	III	Outside the key (chromatic)	Break
D♭	bV	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
E♭7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• F7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• E♭ (bVI) 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 “Soul Man” (credited “Sam and Dave”, 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).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Soul Man” (credited “Sam and Dave”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 85%).
• 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.
• 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.