Woman by John Lennon

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 22 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → C 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

Intro

• E♭sus4 – E♭ – B♭sus4/E♭ – E♭ (×2)
  Isus4 – I – Vsus4 (bass E♭) – I

A Section 1

• E♭ – Fm7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – E♭ – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭sus4 – B♭ – A♭ – Fm7 – Gm – B♭sus4 – B♭ – E♭ – Fm7 – Gm7 – Fm7 – E♭ – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭sus4 – B♭ – A♭ – Fm7 – Gm – B♭sus4 – B♭
  I – ii7 – iii7 – ii7 – I – vi7 – ii7 – Vsus4 – V – IV – ii7 – iii – Vsus4 – V – I – ii7 – iii7 – ii7 – I – vi7 – ii7 – Vsus4 – V – IV – ii7 – iii – Vsus4 – V

B Section 1

• E♭maj9 – Cm7 – Fm7 – B♭6 (×2)
  Imaj9 – vi7 – ii7 – V6

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section

• E – F♯m7 – G♯m7 – F♯m7 – E – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – Bsus4 – B – A – F♯m7 – G♯m – Bsus4 – B
  #I – #ii7 – #iii7 – #ii7 – #I – #vi7 – #ii7 – #Vsus4 – #V – #IV – #ii7 – #iii – #Vsus4 – #V
• Emaj9 – C♯m7 – F♯m7 – B6 (×2)
  #Imaj9 – #vi7 – #ii7 – #V6

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
E♭sus4	Isus4	Home chord (tonic)	Intro
E♭	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section
B♭sus4/E♭	Vsus4 (bass E♭)	In the key	Intro
Fm7	ii7	In the key	A Section, B Section
Gm7	iii7	In the key	A Section
Cm7	vi7	In the key	A Section, B Section
B♭sus4	Vsus4	In the key	A Section
B♭	V	In the key	A Section
A♭	IV	In the key	A Section
Gm	iii	In the key	A Section
E♭maj9	Imaj9	Home chord (tonic)	B Section
B♭6	V6	In the key	B Section
E	#I	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F♯m7	#ii7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
G♯m7	#iii7	Borrowed from E♭ minor	C Section
C♯m7	#vi7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Bsus4	#Vsus4	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
B	#V	Borrowed from E♭ minor	C Section
A	#IV	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
G♯m	#iii	Borrowed from E♭ minor	C Section
Emaj9	#Imaj9	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
B6	#V6	Borrowed from E♭ minor	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• G♯m7 (#iii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• G♯m (#iii) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B6 (#V6) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Woman” (credited “Lennon John”, style Rock Ballad) 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 “Woman” (credited “Lennon John”, style Pop Rock) 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 84%).
• 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.