Wendy by The Beach Boys

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 10

Form: Interlude → Verse → Verse → Verse → Verse → Solo → Verse → Verse → Interlude → 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

Interlude 1

• F – Gm
  I – ii

Verse 1

• F – Gm
  I – ii
• F – B♭ (×2)
  I – IV
• E♭ – A
  bVII – III

Verse 2

• Dm – Gm – Dm – B♭ – F – Gm – C – F – Gm
  vi – ii – vi – IV – I – ii – V – I – ii

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 4

• Dm – Gm – Dm – B♭ – F – Gm – C – F – E♭
  vi – ii – vi – IV – I – ii – V – I – bVII

Solo

• Dm – Gm – Dm – B♭ – F – Dm – Gm – C
  vi – ii – vi – IV – I – vi – ii – V

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 6

• Dm – Gm – Dm – B♭ – F – Gm – C – F
  vi – ii – vi – IV – I – ii – V – I

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Outro

• F – Gm – F – B♭ (×3)
  I – ii – I – IV

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0479, 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.