Stevie Wonder - You Are The Sunshine Of My Life - Chord

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to B or to G#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.

Analysis

The key pair is B major and its relative G# minor (5 sharps). 19 different chords appear 81 times in total; 8 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. The major V of G#m brings the harmonic-minor leading tone, giving the minor side a sharper, more dramatic pull; seen from B, the same Eb7 is V7/vi, a secondary dominant heading for G#m. Abmaj7, Dbmaj7, Db7 act as secondary dominants, briefly pointing at another chord of the key. G7, C, Em7 are borrowed from the parallel minor, adding a darker shade to the major side.

Chord movement

1. Gb7 → Bmaj7 BV7 → Imaj7authentic cadence G#mVII7 → IIImaj7 ×9
2. Dbm7 → Gb7 Bii7 → V7ii → V G#miv7 → VII7 ×8
3. E6 → Bmaj7 BIV6 → Imaj7plagal cadence G#mVI6 → IIImaj7 ×4
4. G7 → C BbVI7 → bIIsecondary resolution G#m#VII7 → #III ×4
5. Eb7 → Abmaj7 BV7/vi → V/iisecondary resolution G#mV7 → V/iv ×2
6. Db7 → Gb7 BV7/V → V7secondary resolution G#mIV7 → VII7 ×2

The move to watch is Gb7 → Bmaj7, heard 9 times. From the B side it reads V7 → Imaj7 (authentic cadence: the strongest arrival home); from the G#m side it is VII7 → IIImaj7. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Capo and easier keys

The song's harmonic story

The opening Bmaj7 lays a solid floor for everything that follows. The chords that keep coming back are Bmaj7, Gb7, E6, Dbm7; read them as Imaj7–V7–IV6–ii7 in B or IIImaj7–VII7–VI6–iv7 in G#m. Eb7 is the interesting twist: in B it is a chromatic chord (V7/vi), while in G#m it becomes the dominant (V7) that makes the minor side sound so determined. Keep an ear on Gb7 → Bmaj7 (V7 → Imaj7 in B, VII7 → IIImaj7 in G#m): authentic cadence — the strongest arrival home. The final chord is G7; the ear comes to rest in B.

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.