Tell It Like It Is by The Neville Brothers

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription 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

• Baug
  V+

Chorus 1

• F♯m7 – B7 (×2)
  ii7 – V7
• E6 – B13 – E6 – C♯7♭9/E♯
  I6 – V13 – I6 – VI7b9 (bass E♯)
• F♯m7 – B7 (×2)
  ii7 – V7
• E6 – B13 – Emaj7
  I6 – V13 – Imaj7

Verse 1

• G♯m – C♯m (×2)
  iii – vi
• G♯m – A – B
  iii – IV – V

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 2

• G♯m – C♯m (×2)
  iii – vi
• G♯m – A – B7 – B
  iii – IV – V7 – V

Chorus 3

• F♯m7 – B7 – F♯m7 – B7 – E6 – B13 – E6 – C♯7♭9/E♯ (×4)
  ii7 – V7 – ii7 – V7 – I6 – V13 – I6 – VI7b9 (bass E♯)

Outro

• F♯m7 – B7 (×2)
  ii7 – V7
• E6 – B13 – E6 – C♯7♭9/E♯ – F♯m7 – B7 – Emaj7
  I6 – V13 – I6 – VI7b9 (bass E♯) – ii7 – V7 – Imaj7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Baug (V+) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• C♯7♭9/E♯ acts as V/ii: it resolves to F♯m7.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0691, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.