Wouldn't It Be Nice by The Beach Boys

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 20 · Sections: 8

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

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

• A6 – Bm7 – A6 – F/A – C
  III6 – #iv7 – III6 – I⁶ – V

A Section 1

• F – B♭ – B♭/A – Gm – C (×2)
  I – IV – IV (bass A) – ii – V

B Section 1

• Dm – E♭maj7 – Dm – Am – Gm – C
  vi – bVIImaj7 – vi – iii – ii – V

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section

• Dmaj7 – Gmaj7 – F♯m – Bm – F♯m/C♯ – Gmaj7 – F♯m
  VImaj7 – IImaj7 – #i – #iv – #i⁶₄ – IImaj7 – #i
• Bm – A (×2)
  #iv – III
• C
  V

D Section

• F – F/G – F – F/D – F/C – F/D – Dm – E♭maj7 – Dm – Am – B♭ – Am – Gm – C
  I – I (bass G) – I – I (bass D) – I⁶₄ – I (bass D) – vi – bVIImaj7 – vi – iii – IV – iii – ii – V

Vamp

• F
  I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A6	III6	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
Bm7	#iv7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
F/A	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	Intro
C	V	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section, D Section
F	I	Home chord (tonic)	A Section, D Section, Vamp
B♭	IV	In the key	A Section, D Section
B♭/A	IV (bass A)	In the key	A Section
Gm	ii	In the key	A Section, B Section, D Section
Dm	vi	In the key	B Section, D Section
E♭maj7	bVIImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section, D Section
Am	iii	In the key	B Section, D Section
Dmaj7	VImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Gmaj7	IImaj7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F♯m	#i	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
Bm	#iv	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F♯m/C♯	#i⁶₄	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
A	III	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section
F/G	I (bass G)	Home chord (tonic)	D Section
F/D	I (bass D)	Home chord (tonic)	D Section
F/C	I⁶₄	Home chord (tonic)	D Section

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Wouldn't It Be Nice” (credited “Asher Wilson Love Beach Boys”, style Rock Pop) 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 “Wouldn't It Be Nice (Beloff Arr.)” (credited “Brian Wilson, Tony Asher, Mike Love”, style Brightly) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 66%).
• 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.