You're All I Need To Get By by Aretha Franklin

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 13 · Sections: 7

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

• A – B/A – Dm/A (×2)
  IV – V (bass A) – bvii⁶₄
• A – D♭ – D – E – A – B/A – Dm/A – A – D♭ – D – E
  IV – VI – bVII – I – IV – V (bass A) – bvii⁶₄ – IV – VI – bVII – I

A Section 1

• A – B/A – Dm/A – A
  IV – V (bass A) – bvii⁶₄ – IV

A Section 2

• A – B/A – Dm/A – A – A/D♭ – A/E – A – B – B/E♭ – Dm – Dm/B
  IV – V (bass A) – bvii⁶₄ – IV – IV⁶ – IV⁶₄ – IV – V – V⁶ – bvii – bvii (bass B)

C Section 1

• A/E – Dm/B (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – bvii (bass B)
• A/E – Dm (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – bvii
• B7 – A – B/A – Dm/A – A – D♭ – D – E
  V7 – IV – V (bass A) – bvii⁶₄ – IV – VI – bVII – I

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 2.

C Section 2

• A/E – Dm/B (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – bvii (bass B)
• A/E – Dm (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – bvii
• B7
  V7

Vamp

• E – A – B/A – Dm/A – A – D♭ – D (×2)
  I – IV – V (bass A) – bvii⁶₄ – IV – VI – bVII
• E
  I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A	IV	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section, Vamp
B/A	V (bass A)	In the key	Intro, A Section, C Section, Vamp
Dm/A	bvii⁶₄	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, A Section, C Section, Vamp
D♭	VI	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro, C Section, Vamp
D	bVII	Borrowed from E minor	Intro, C Section, Vamp
E	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, C Section, Vamp
A/D♭	IV⁶	In the key	A Section
A/E	IV⁶₄	In the key	A Section, C Section
B	V	In the key	A Section
B/E♭	V⁶	In the key	A Section
Dm	bvii	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, C Section
Dm/B	bvii (bass B)	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, C Section
B7	V7	In the key	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• D (bVII) 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 “You're All I Need To Get By” (credited “Franklin Aretha”, style RnB) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart.
• 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 “You're All I Need To Get By” (credited “Franklin Aretha”, style RnB) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Artist as credited on the chart. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 69%).
• 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.
• The chart's key setting didn't fit its chords (it was probably left at a default), so the key shown here was worked out from the chords.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• 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.