You Make Me Feel Like Dancing by Leo Sayer

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 11 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Instrumental → Pre-Chorus → Chorus

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.

Key changes

• Chorus 1 moves to G♭ major.
• Verse 2 moves to E major.
• Chorus 2 moves to G♭ major.

Section by section

Intro

• E – C♯m7 – F♯m9 – B13 (×3)
  I – vi7 – ii9 – V13

Verse 1

• E – C♯m7 – F♯m9 – B13 (×4)
  I – vi7 – ii9 – V13

Pre-Chorus 1

• D – E
  bVII – I

Chorus 1

• G♭ – E♭m7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 (×3)
  I – vi7 – ii7 – V7
• F♯m7 – B9sus4
  #vii7 – #III9sus4

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

• G♭ – E♭m7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 (×3)
  I – vi7 – ii7 – V7
• F♯m7 – B9sus4 (×2)
  #vii7 – #III9sus4

Instrumental

• E – C♯m7 – F♯m9 – B13 (×3)
  #VI – v7 – #vii9 – #III13

Pre-Chorus 3

• D – E
  #V – #VI

Chorus 3

• G♭ – E♭m7 – A♭m7 – D♭7 (×6)
  I – vi7 – ii7 – V7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• F♯m7 (#vii7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ minor.
• B9sus4 (#III9sus4) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ minor.
• D (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, G♭ minor.
• B13 acts as V/#VI: it resolves to E.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0986, 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.