Bruno Mars - If I Knew - Chord

Key A major – F# minor Chords Eb, Bb, Ab, Abm, Cm, F, G, Eb7 … Easy key C#

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Capo 0

Eb           Bb
Oh Oh Oh I, I was a city boy
           Ab                              Abm
Riding to danger's where i'd always run, a boy who had his fun
                Eb
I wouldn't have done
Cm                  F
All the things that I've done
      Bb         Eb
If I knew, one day you would come
Ab         Abm        Eb
Now baby, now baby, now baby

Bb     Eb             Bb
Oh oh oh I, I know it breaks your heart
               Ab
To picture the only one you wanna love
   Abm
In someone else's arms
                     Eb
But I wouldn't have done
Cm                   F
All the things that I've done
      Bb         Eb
If I knew, one day you would come
Ab         Abm        Eb        Eb7
Now baby, now baby, now baby

Bridge:

Eb   Fm    G
Ohh baby please
                      Cm
Lets leave the past behind us, behind us
        G                        Cm
So that we can go where love will find us, yeah will find us
            F
I know most girls would leave me
       Ab              Bb
But I know that you believe me

     Eb                  Bb
Baby I, I wish we were seventeen
           Ab
So I could give you all the innocence
Abm
That you gave to me
                    Eb
No, I wouldn't have done
Cm               F
All the things that I've done
       Bb       Eb
If I knew one day you would come
Ab         Abm       Eb
If I knew one day you would come

End of song Play again?

Bruno Mars - If I Knew Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Bruno Mars – If I Knew: key and chord analysis

The song opens on Eb and ends on Eb. Its chords belong to both A major and F#m, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

A major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

F# minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = D (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = E (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 A major and F# 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 A or to F#m; 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 A major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	A	Tonic — home	A · C# · E	—
bII	Bb	Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord	Bb · D · F	8×
ii	Bm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F#	—
biii	Cm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	C · Eb · G	5×
iii	C#m	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	C# · E · G#	—
III	C#	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	C# · E# · G#	—
IV	D	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F# · A	—
#IV	Eb	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Eb · G · Bb	13×
#IV7	Eb7	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Eb · G · Bb · Db	1×
V	E	Dominant — strongest pull home	E · G# · B	—
bVI	F	Borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	F · A · C	4×
bvi	Fm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · Ab · C	1×
vi	F#m	Relative minor — the melancholy side	F# · A · C#	—
bVII	G	bVII — borrowed (Mixolydian / parallel minor)borrowed chord	G · B · D	2×
vii°	G#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	G# · B · D	—
VII	Ab	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Ab · C · Eb	7×
vii	Abm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Ab · Cb · Eb	6×

Seen from F# minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	F#m	Tonic — home	F# · A · C#	—
bII	G	Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord	G · B · D	2×
ii°	G#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	G# · B · D	—
II	Ab	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Ab · C · Eb	7×
ii	Abm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Ab · Cb · Eb	6×
III	A	Relative major — the bright side	A · C# · E	—
#III	Bb	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Bb · D · F	8×
iv	Bm	Subdominant — moves away from home	B · D · F#	—
#iv	Cm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	C · Eb · G	5×
v	C#m	Minor dominant — soft pull	C# · E · G#	—
V	C#	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	C# · E# · G#	—
VI	D	Submediant — warm colour	D · F# · A	—
#VI	Eb	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Eb · G · Bb	13×
#VI7	Eb7	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Eb · G · Bb · Db	1×
VII	E	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	E · G# · B	—
#VII	F	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · A · C	4×
#vii	Fm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	F · Ab · C	1×

Analysis

The key pair is A major and its relative F# minor (3 sharps). 9 different chords appear 47 times in total; 0 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. Bb, F, G 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

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

No capo — open A shapes
Capo 2 + G shapes
Capo 5 + E shapes

With F# minor shapes

Capo 2 + Em shapes
Capo 4 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

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

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is Eb; the ear learns where home is within a second. The chords that keep coming back are Eb, Bb, Ab, Abm; read them as #IV–bII–VII–vii in A or #VI–#III–II–ii in F#m. Bb briefly darkens the picture: neapolitan bii — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonic. It closes on Eb, letting the A 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.