PianoChords.studio

Sound and Vision by David Bowie

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 17 steps · 5 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.
A Section 1Step 1 of 17

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: 5 · Sections: 12

Form: A Section → A Section → A Section → A Section → B Section → B Section → A Section → A Section ×2 → B 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

A Section 1

  • G – Am – D – G
    I – ii – V – I

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

A Section 3

  • G – Am – G
    I – ii – I

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 3.

B Section 1

  • C6 – G
    IV6 – I

B Section 2

  • C6 – G – Am – D – Em
    IV6 – I – ii – V – vi

A Section 5

Same chords as A Section 1.

A Section 6

Same chords as A Section 3.

A Section 7

Same chords as A Section 3.

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

B Section 4

Same chords as B Section 2.

A Section 8

  • G – Am – D
    I – ii – V

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
GIHome chord (tonic)A Section, B Section
AmiiIn the keyA Section, B Section
DVIn the keyA Section, B Section
C6IV6In the keyB Section
EmviIn the keyB Section

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Sound and Vision” (credited “Bowie David”, style Rock) 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 “Sound and Vision” (credited “Bowie David”, style Rock) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1A Section 1GG2, D3B3, D4, G4—
2A Section 1AmA2, E3C4, E4, A4—
3A Section 1DD2, A2D4, F♯4, A4—
4A Section 1GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
5A Section 3GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
6A Section 3AmA2, E3E4, A4, C5—
7A Section 3GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
8B Section 1C6C2, G2E4, G4, A4—
9B Section 1GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
10B Section 2C6C2, G2E4, G4, A4—
11B Section 2GG2, D3D4, G4, B4—
12B Section 2AmA2, E3E4, A4, C5—
13B Section 2DD2, A2F♯4, A4, D5—
14B Section 2EmE2, B2G4, B4, E5—
15A Section 8GG2, D3G4, B4, D5—
16A Section 8AmA2, E3A4, C5, E5—
17A Section 8DD2, A2F♯4, A4, D5—