Ariana Grande - The Way - Chord

Key D major – B minor Chords Eb, Bbm, Abmaj7, C, C/E, Fm, Bb Easy key F#

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Capo 0

Bbm      Eb     Abmaj7
I love the way, you make me feel
  C      C/E  Fm
I love it,  I love it
  Bbm      Eb     Abmaj7
I love the way, you make me feel
  C      C/E  Fm
I love it,  I love it

     Bbm           Eb       Abmaj7
Say, I'm thinkin' 'bout her every second, every hour
      C          C/E
Do my singing in the shower
Fm
Picking petals off the flowers like
Bbm     Eb       Abmaj7
"Do she love me, do she love me not?" 
C         C/E       Fm
I ain't a player, I just crush a lot

Bbm         Eb         Abmaj7
You give me that kinda something
                C          C/E      Fm
Want it all the time, need it everyday
     Bbm             Eb  Abmaj7
On a scale of one to ten I'm at 100
          C         C/E        Fm
Never get enough, I can't stay away

       Bbm        Eb        Abmaj7
If you want it, I got it, I got it everyday
C         C/E   Fm
You can go on playing it for me
Bbm          Eb         Abmaj7
Stay by your side, I'll never leave you
      C           C/E           Fm
And I ain't going nowhere cause you're a keeper

             Eb     Bb           Eb
So don't you worry,     baby you got me

        Bbm      Eb      Abmaj7
I got a bad boy, I must admit it
           C            C/E          Fm
You got my heart, don't know how you did it
    Bbm          Eb         Abmaj7
And I don't care this is it babe
                            C        C/E     Fm
I don't want another way to feel you next to me

  Bbm      Eb   Abmaj7
I love the way 
  C        C/E   Fm
I love the way 
       Bbm      Eb    Abmaj7
Baby I love the way, 
      C        C/E      Fm
Ooh I love the way, 

Bbm       Eb       Abmaj7
Ooh, it's so crazy you get my heart jumping
C            C/E          Fm
When you put your lips on mine
    Bbm        Eb    Abmaj7
And honey this ain't a question
C          C/E           Fm
Boy I know just what you like

          Bbm        Eb        Abmaj7
So If you need it, I got it, I got it everyday
        C           C/E            Fm
Be your lover, your friend, you'll find it all there babe
Bbm          Eb         Abmaj7
Stay by your side, I'll never leave you
            C       C/E         Fm
And I ain't going nowhere cause you're a keeper

             Eb     Bb           Eb
So don't you worry,     baby you got me

        Bbm      Eb      Abmaj7
I got a bad boy, I must admit it
           C            C/E          Fm
You got my heart, don't know how you did it
    Bbm          Eb         Abmaj7
And I don't care this is it babe
                            C        C/E     Fm
I don't want another way to feel you next to me

  Bbm      Eb   Abmaj7
I love the way 
  C        C/E  Fm
I love the way 
       Bbm      Eb    Abmaj7
Baby I love the way, 
      C        C/E     Fm
Ooh I love the way, 

              Bbm     Eb    Abmaj7
Uh, I make it feel so fine, make it feel so fine
           C            C/E   Fm
I hope you hit me on my celly when I sneak in your mind
         Bbm         Eb          Abmaj7
You're a princess to the public, but a freak when it's time
          C         C/E
Said your bed be feeling lonely,
Fm
So you're sleeping in mine
     Bbm       Eb      Abmaj7
Come and watch a movie with me,
                      C                      C/E
"American Beauty" or "Bruce Almighty" that's groovy,
Fm
Just come and move closer to me
  Bbm               Eb
I got some feelings for you,
    Abmaj7
I'm not gonna get bored of
    C           C/E             Fm
But baby you're an adventure so let me come and explore you

             Eb     Bb           Eb
So don't you worry,     baby you got me

        Bbm      Eb      Abmaj7
I got a bad boy, I must admit it
           C            C/E          Fm
You got my heart, don't know how you did it
    Bbm          Eb         Abmaj7
And I don't care this is it babe
                            C        C/E     Fm
I don't want another way to feel you next to me

  Bbm      Eb   Abmaj7
I love the way 
  C        C/E  Fm
I love the way 
       Bbm      Eb    Abmaj7
Baby I love the way, 
      C        C/E   Fm
Ooh I love the way, 

  Bbm      Eb    Abmaj7
I love the way
  C        C/E   Fm
I love the way
       Bbm      Eb    Abmaj7
Baby I love the way
      C        C/E  Fm
Ooh I love the way

The way I love you

Bbm   Eb   Abmaj7

C     C/E  Fm
              The way I love you
Bbm   Eb   Abmaj7
           You, you, yeah
C      C/E    Fm
   The way

  Bbm      Eb     Abmaj7
I love the way, you make me feel
  C      C/E   Fm
I love it,   I love it
  Bbm      Eb     Abmaj7
I love the way, you make me feel
  C        C/E   Fm
I love it

End of song Play again?

Ariana Grande - The Way Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Ariana Grande – The Way: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Bbm and ends on Fm. Its chords belong to both D major and Bm, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

D major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

7 = C# (leading tone, pulls home)
4 = G (the note that leans on the 3rd)

Minor view

B minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = G (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = A (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: we can't honestly pick a side here — the song moves freely between D major and B minor. Try reading the chords both ways and see which feels more like home to you.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to D or to Bm; 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 D major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	D	Tonic — home	D · F# · A	—
bII	Eb	Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord	Eb · G · Bb	40×
ii	Em	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	E · G · B	—
biii	Fm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · Ab · C	34×
iii	F#m	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	F# · A · C#	—
III	F#	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F# · A# · C#	—
IV	G	Subdominant — moves away from home	G · B · D	—
#IVmaj7	Abmaj7	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Ab · C · Eb · G	34×
V	A	Dominant — strongest pull home	A · C# · E	—
bvi	Bbm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Bb · Db · F	34×
bVI	Bb	Borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	Bb · D · F	3×
vi	Bm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	B · D · F#	—
bVII	C	bVII — borrowed (Mixolydian / parallel minor)borrowed chord	C · E · G	34×
bVII	C/E	bVII — borrowed (Mixolydian / parallel minor)borrowed chord	C · E · G	34×
vii°	C#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	C# · E · G	—

Seen from B minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Bm	Tonic — home	B · D · F#	—
bII	C	Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord	C · E · G	34×
bII	C/E	Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord	C · E · G	34×
ii°	C#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	C# · E · G	—
III	D	Relative major — the bright side	D · F# · A	—
#III	Eb	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Eb · G · Bb	40×
iv	Em	Subdominant — moves away from home	E · G · B	—
#iv	Fm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · Ab · C	34×
v	F#m	Minor dominant — soft pull	F# · A · C#	—
V	F#	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	F# · A# · C#	—
VI	G	Submediant — warm colour	G · B · D	—
#VImaj7	Abmaj7	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Ab · C · Eb · G	34×
VII	A	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	A · C# · E	—
#vii	Bbm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Bb · Db · F	34×
#VII	Bb	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Bb · D · F	3×

Analysis

The key pair is D major and its relative B minor (2 sharps). 7 different chords appear 213 times in total; 0 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. Eb, C, C/E, Bb are borrowed from the parallel minor, adding a darker shade to the major side.

Chord movement

There's no textbook cadence here; the chords circle around each other in a loop, so the song feels more like a groove than a series of arrivals.

Improvisation tips

D major pentatonic and B minor pentatonic are the same five notes (D – E – F# – A – B): start from D for a brighter phrase, from B for a bluesier one.
Over Eb, land on Eb, G, Bb — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Bbm, land on Bb, Db, F — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Abmaj7, land on Ab, C, Eb — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
On Eb, follow the chord's notes (Eb · G · Bb) rather than the key's scale — it's a borrowed colour.

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 D major shapes

No capo — open D shapes
Capo 2 + C shapes
Capo 5 + A shapes

With B minor shapes

Capo 2 + Am shapes
Capo 7 + Em shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

4 semitones up
3 semitones down · capo 3 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

Starting on Bbm, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. Eb, Bbm, Abmaj7, C carry the song: bII–bvi–#IVmaj7–bVII relative to D, #III–#vii–#VImaj7–bII relative to Bm. Eb briefly darkens the picture: neapolitan bii — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonic. It closes on Fm, letting the D side have the last word.

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.