Adele - Easy On Me - Chord

Key F major – D minor Chords F, Bb, Dm7, C, Am, Gm Easy key G

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Capo 0

            F               Dm7
There ain't no gold in this river
               Am                    Bb
That I've been washing my hands in forever
             F                Dm7
I know there is hope in these waters
            C
But I can't bring myself to swim
     Bb
When I am drowning in the silence

Baby, let me in
 
   F   Dm7   C
Go eeeeasy   on me, baby
F        Gm
I was still a child
 F      Bb
Didn’t get the chance to
F   Dm7      C
Feeeel the world around me
  F        Bb
I had no time to choose
F      Bb
What I chose to do
      F         Dm7  Am  F  Bb
So go easy on me

             F
There aren't no room
    Dm7
For things to change
            C
When we are both so deeply
         Bb
Stuck in our ways
    F
You can't deny
        Dm7
How hard I tried
          C
I changed who I was
           Bb
To put you both first

But now I give up
 
   F   Dm7   C
Go eeeeasy   on me, baby
F        Gm
I was still a child
 F      Bb
Didn’t get the chance to
F   Dm7      C
Feeeel the world around me
  F        Bb
I had no time to choose
F      Bb
What I chose to do
      F         Dm7  Am  F  Bb
So go easy on me

F                Dm7
I had good intentions
            C 
And the highest hopes
                  Bb
But I knows it now

It probably doesn't even show
 
   F   Dm7   C
Go eeeeasy   on me, baby
F        Gm
I was still a child
 F      Bb
Didn’t get the chance to
F   Dm7      C
Feeeel the world around me
  F        Bb
I had no time to choose
F      Bb
What I chose to do
      F         Dm7  Am  F  Bb
So go easy on me

End of song Play again?

Adele - Easy On Me Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Adele – Easy On Me: key and chord analysis

The song opens on F and ends on Bb. Its chords belong to both F major and Dm, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

F major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

7 = E (leading tone, pulls home)
4 = Bb (the note that leans on the 3rd)

Minor view

D minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = Bb (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = C (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the F major side because it opens on F and F is heard 29 times against 14 for Dm. That is an interpretation, not a rule — hearing the same chords from D minor is just as valid and teaches you something different.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to F or to Dm; comparing both readings is a practice of its own.

Every chord of the key, listed 1 to 7 separately for each key. Chords played in the song show how often they appear; chords from outside the scale sit next to their own degree.

Seen from F major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	F	Tonic — home	F · A · C	29×
ii	Gm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	G · Bb · D	3×
iii	Am	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	A · C · E	4×
V/vi	A	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Dmsecondary dominant	A · C# · E	—
IV	Bb	Subdominant — moves away from home	Bb · D · F	17×
V	C	Dominant — strongest pull home	C · E · G	10×
vi7	Dm7	Relative minor — the melancholy side	D · F · A · C	14×
vii°	Edim	Leading-tone chord — tension	E · G · Bb	—

Seen from D minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i7	Dm7	Tonic — home	D · F · A · C	14×
ii°	Edim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	E · G · Bb	—
III	F	Relative major — the bright side	F · A · C	29×
iv	Gm	Subdominant — moves away from home	G · Bb · D	3×
v	Am	Minor dominant — soft pull	A · C · E	4×
V	A	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	A · C# · E	—
VI	Bb	Submediant — warm colour	Bb · D · F	17×
VII	C	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	C · E · G	10×

Analysis

The key pair is F major and its relative D minor (1 flat). 6 different chords appear 77 times in total; 6 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. Everything stays inside one scale, which is why the song is easy to follow by ear.

Chord movement

Bb F FIV → Iplagal cadence DmVI → III ×16
C F FV → Iauthentic cadence DmVII → III ×6

The move to watch is Bb → F, heard 16 times. From the F side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending); from the Dm side it is VI → III. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

F major pentatonic and D minor pentatonic are the same five notes (F – G – A – C – D): start from F for a brighter phrase, from D for a bluesier one.
Over F, land on F, A, C — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Bb, land on Bb, D, F — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Dm7, land on D, F, A — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.

The song on the circle of fifths

Played in the song — chord of the key
Played — the minor's harmonic V or a secondary dominant
Played — borrowed or outside chord
Home region: IV–I–V and ii–vi–iii

Empty slices are chords the song doesn't use.

Capo and easier keys

With F major shapes

Capo 1 + E shapes
Capo 3 + D shapes
Capo 5 + C shapes

With D minor shapes

No capo — open Dm shapes
Capo 5 + Am shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

2 semitones up
5 semitones down · capo 5 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

The opening F lays a solid floor for everything that follows. F, Bb, Dm7, C carry the song: I–IV–vi7–V relative to F, III–VI–i7–VII relative to Dm. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on Bb → F (IV → I in F, VI → III in Dm): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. The final chord is Bb; the ear comes to rest in F.

This analysis is generated from the song's chords by akorculuk's harmony engine using consistent rules. When you change key, the degrees stay the same; only the chord names change.