What's Going On by Marvin Gaye

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 13

Form: Intro → Verse → Tag → Verse → Tag → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Tag → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Bridge

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

• Emaj7
  Imaj7

Verse 1

• Emaj7 – C♯m7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vi7

Tag 1

• F♯m7 – A/B – B7
  ii7 – IV (bass B) – V7

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Tag 2

Same chords as Tag 1.

Pre-Chorus 1

• F♯m7 – A/B (×3)
  ii7 – IV (bass B)

Chorus 1

• Emaj7 – C♯m7 (×2)
  Imaj7 – vi7

Bridge 1

• Am7 – A/B
  iv7 – IV (bass B)

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Tag 3

Same chords as Tag 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Emaj7	Imaj7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Chorus
C♯m7	vi7	In the key	Verse, Chorus
F♯m7	ii7	In the key	Tag, Pre-Chorus
A/B	IV (bass B)	In the key	Tag, Pre-Chorus, Bridge
B7	V7	In the key	Tag
Am7	iv7	Borrowed from E minor	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• Am7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 100% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.