Justin Timberlake - SexyBack - Chord

Key F major – D minor Chords A, A#, Ab Easy key C (capo 5)

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Capo 0

A  A#  A  A#  A  A  A  A#  A

A  A#  A  A#  A  A  A  A#  A
I'm bringin' sexy back (yeah)
Them other boys don't know how to act (yeah)
I think it's special, what's behind your back (yeah)
So turn around and I'll pick up the slack (yeah)
Dirty babe
You see these shackles, baby 
I'm your slave
I'll let you whip me if I misbehave
It's just that no one makes me feel this way

A  Ab  A  A#  A  Ab  A
Come here, girl (go 'head, be gone with it)
Come to the back (go 'head, be gone with it)
VIP (go 'head, be gone with it)
Drinks on me (go 'head, be gone with it)
You see what you're twerking with (go 'head, be gone with it)
Look at those hips (go 'head, be gone with it)
You make me smile (go 'head, be gone with it)
Go 'head, child (go 'head, be gone with it)
And get your sexy on (go 'head, be gone with it)
Get your…

End of song Play again?

Justin Timberlake - SexyBack Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Justin Timberlake – SexyBack: key and chord analysis

The song opens on A and ends on A. 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)
#7 = C# (harmonic-minor leading tone from the V chord)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the D minor side because the major V chord points straight at Dm. That is an interpretation, not a rule — the same chords are just as valid seen from F major, and switching between the two views is exactly where the practice value lies.

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	—
ii	Gm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	G · Bb · D	—
bIII	Ab	Borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	Ab · C · Eb	2×
iii	Am	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	A · C · E	—
III	A	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	A · C# · E	16×
IV	A#	Subdominant — moves away from home	A# · D · E#	7×
V	C	Dominant — strongest pull home	C · E · G	—
vi	Dm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	D · F · A	—
vii°	Edim	Leading-tone chord — tension	E · G · Bb	—

Seen from D minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Dm	Tonic — home	D · F · A	—
ii°	Edim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	E · G · Bb	—
III	F	Relative major — the bright side	F · A · C	—
iv	Gm	Subdominant — moves away from home	G · Bb · D	—
#IV	Ab	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Ab · C · Eb	2×
v	Am	Minor dominant — soft pull	A · C · E	—
V	A	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	A · C# · E	16×
VI	A#	Submediant — warm colour	A# · D · E#	7×
VII	C	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	C · E · G	—

Analysis

The key pair is F major and its relative D minor (1 flat). 3 different chords appear 25 times in total; 1 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. The major V of Dm brings the harmonic-minor leading tone, giving the minor side a sharper, more dramatic pull. Ab is 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

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 A, land on A, C#, E — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over A#, land on A#, D, E# — 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.
When A comes, swap the scale's C for C#: that single note is the harmonic-minor sound of the chord.
On Ab, follow the chord's notes (Ab · C · Eb) 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 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

5 semitones down · capo 5 keeps the original pitch
1 semitone down · capo 1 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

The opening A lays a solid floor for everything that follows. A, A#, Ab carry the song: III–IV–bIII relative to F, V–VI–#IV relative to Dm. A is the interesting twist: in F it is a chromatic chord (III), while in Dm it becomes the dominant (V) that makes the minor side sound so determined. The final chord is A; 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.