The Top 5 Stevie Wonder Chord Progressions

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LESSON SUMMARY
When it comes to harmonic ingenuity, we can all learn a lot from 25-time Grammy Award winning songwriter Stevie Wonder. In today's Quick Tip, The Top 5 Stevie Wonder Chord Progressions, Jonny May explores the harmonic inner workings of 5 beloved Stevie Wonder hits. Not only will you learn how to play 5 iconic Stevie Wonder progressions on piano, you'll also learn what makes them so unique.
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:55 - 1. Isn't She Lovely
04:32 - 2. My Cherie Amour
07:58 - 3. I Wish
10:38 - 4. You are the Sunshine of my Life
13:00 - 5. Ribbon in the Sky
15:58 - Conclusion
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Happy practicing!
Jonny May

[@PianoWithJonny]

00:00 - Intro 00:55 - 1. Isn't She Lovely 04:32 - 2. My Cherie Amour 07:58 - 3. I Wish 10:38 - 4. You are the Sunshine of my Life 13:00 - 5. Ribbon in the Sky 15:58 - Conclusion

[@yotrakz]

Feelin your pedagogy. It’s quick, interesting and encourages exploration. Nice!

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thank you so much!

[@thesingingaccountant1]

I agree

[@handsomeblackman255]

My dad has a natural God gifted talent to play piano. Never had a lesson. His older sister (my aunt) took the lessons. He said he would watch her and followed her hands. I asked him if this guy's instruction made sense to him and he said "not really", and proceeded to play all these songs exactly the same. 😁

[@PianoWithJonny]

That's amazing!

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Crazy what ability some people are born with - almost like x-men

[@MrZedhow]

Great lesson and insight into the amazing jazz voicing’s Stevie Wonder uses. And beautifully explained. The consistent sus 4 voicing’s are fascinating.

[@JohnFemijkeyz]

Thank you for this

[@g.p616]

Great stuff.. Thanks!

[@peterboth4975]

Very inspiring lesson! My favorite progression is Joy Inside My Tears.

[@yotrakz]

Agreed, especially at the chorus with that synth bass. patch

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thank you!

[@JohnChandlerEdmonton]

The second chord in Sunshine of my life is f# major with e in the bass.

[@jeffjohnson7381]

Great lesson jonny so glad to see something from Stevie Wonder…❤🎹🎶

[@Daozhille]

Amazing lesson, thanks

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thanks for watching!

[@lauraobligado-arteenaccion8567]

great lesson as allways, thank you so much

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thanks for watching!

[@johnletitia]

Thank you! Made my day today! great stuff

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thank you!

[@remco2777]

Really interesting analysis, thank you

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thanks for watching!

[@amigodejesus4743]

Show !!! Muito bom !!!

[@RodSugden]

Awesome lesson, thank you, Jonny. These chord progressions from Stevie are inspiringly delicious.

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thanks, agree!

[@TeachtheLoveofMusic]

Cheers Johnny!! Great vid thx!

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thanks for watching!

[@alessandrosantana3161]

Lovely that chords! I love to follow your tips. God bless you aways, brother😎👏🎹🇧🇷!

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thank you!

[@electricmoonmusic]

I think you are the best at teaching and love your playing!!!! Sooo good! Love the song Ribbon in the sky.

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thanks so much!

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Totally agree!!!

[@JeffRyan_88keys]

I'm glad you made a video about Stevie Wonder music. I've always done Isn't She Lovely in C minor. I know it's originally in C# min. It's a great song and progression.

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Don't blame you - it's such a great song I agree

[@kurtzilcolonnello]

Thank you, it was astoneshing

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thank you!

[@windward2818]

The piano chord progression style one the Isn't She Lovely is on one (e.g. James Brown) with a shuffle in 4/4 time with standard alternating bass drum and snare. Four on the floor is 4/4 time with the bass drum on every beat, which is sitting directly on the floor, hence, four on the floor, like in the song "Ride like the Wind" by Christopher Cross. Four on the floor is a drum rhythm reference and note piano.

[@Wendolynn_Jane]

Thank you. Best! :)

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thank you!

[@jetpaq]

No one ever mentions that Chicago, popularized that verse progression, in "Saturday in the park"! But 4 years earlier, and with some sweet horns!! I think Stevie was inspired...?!!🤔

[@michellemonet4358]

Yes!

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Blimey I did not know this!

[@curiouscurious6558]

NICE JOB. Jonny, Although on I wish you need to show everyone the bass line, and the actually little riff Stevie does, sound so much better , Thank you for all you do

[@TheMotiveDJ]

My personal suggestion is changing the second chord in You Are The Sunshine to an F# major over an E bass. Listen to how much more accurate that sounds.

[@nwh3rd]

That's exactly what it is

[@Knowyourintent]

Love the glasses

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thank you!

[@sagaciousp5267]

I’m sensing a lot of negative vibe in the comments here and I think you did a great job covering a lot of ground with SW’s musical style. I think everybody’s got to play through this material slowly and eventually you’ll get his groove. Stevie never plays his songs exactly the same every time, but you’ll never hear him not feeling it.

[@PianoWithJonny]

Yes for sure, thanks for watching!

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Agree - this was a great lesson let's see some positivity

[@kyledo544]

Why is it that the sheet music you are playing is inverse to the chords displayed? I'm not complaining you are the best teacher on youtube for blues and jazz and everything in between but I'm getting ready to go back to school and I really want to know why some notes are flat but some notes are sharp. Is there a real reason?

[@theodorekorbos2804]

Mr.jonny Sir Prince does something similar to that uses of the 9th a Sus 2

[@cmajornine5767]

Great insight on Stevie, What book are you studying from?

[@cmajornine5767]

What book are you getting the chords from?

[@gaylordswaby1112]

At 9:44, you do a quick riff on the Ebmin-Abmaj. You go down and then back up. I've got the down but can't figure out the timing on the way back up. Could you possibly provide the sheet music (so we can see the timing) to just that riff, plz?

[@PianoWithJonny]

It's improv, but you can slow the video down! Also here's the whole lesson: pianowithjonny.com/piano-lessons/the-top-5-stevie-wonder-chord-progressions/

[@tancovery]

The last song can also be: 1 minor, 2 minor and 5sus?

[@user-iv6kd9ob1r]

Nice video. I've heard in 1st progression some Joe Dassen sounds. It sounds like "Salut..."😂

[@PianoWithJonny]

Interesting!

[@RJ-pu6nc]

you need to do complete songs or at least more sections of the songs

[@petershen1984]

My Cherie Amour --- Sure, the bass notes go 2-5-1 , but the unique chords built on top of it is amazing 6:07

[@thesingingaccountant1]

It's like taking the familiar and building on it I guess

[@cibonthesaint8903]

Aren’t those the same four cords of the Beatles “she’s leaving home“?

[@Tyler-ko8dp]

9:40 - what exactly is based on the Eb dorian scale? The 1 chord? or the progression itself?

[@PianoWithJonny]

You can read the in-depth analysis here: pianowithjonny.com/piano-lessons/the-top-5-stevie-wonder-chord-progressions/

[@mdelaubergine8930]

"Isn't She Lovely" is just a circle of 5ths progression with extra notes for color. How did you miss "Summer Soft?" The progression is really unique.

[@gobulann]

make a piano tutorial to accompany people singing

[@PianoWithJonny]

You may enjoy this video: pianowithjonny.com/piano-lessons/5-tips-on-piano-accompaniment-for-singers/

[@aleksandraslemenas5397]

👍👍👍

[@mirllewist3086]

In Isn’t She Lovely, could that third chord also be viewed as an A major triad over B? I guess it fills the role of the B - a dominant, driving us home to the Emaj7. But to my simple mind it also looks a lot like a IV with the dominant in the bass. Can it be called either way, or is one more correct? Thanks!

[@PianoWithJonny]

The Chord Formula is explained in depth here: pianowithjonny.com/piano-lessons/the-top-5-stevie-wonder-chord-progressions/

[@mirllewist3086]

Great - thank yiu

[@charlesmccormick2625]

Stevie wonder: way under loved! 2) savant extra-ordinary 3) 4 wives 4) not the Quincy Jones type networking guru 5) awesome talent

[@thesingingaccountant1]

Sounds like his wives were in 3/4 :)

[@zyzzyvacation]

Another great Stevie song, "Until You Come Back to Me," has an almost identical chord progression to "My Cherie Amour" for the first few bars only, and Stevie wrote both songs at ages 14 and 15 respectively 🫡

[@PianoWithJonny]

That's so cool!

[@tzodearf2596]

Nothing from Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants?

[@rgstekl]

where is the link to 50% membership discount?

[@PianoWithJonny]

Please email our support team!

[@Solid_Brass]

Another great lesson, your channel is really an opulent source, thanks!

[@PianoWithJonny]

Thank you so much!

[@steveciricillo4518]

Jonny, great stuff as always but I think it's easy for novices like me to get confused when you talk about a C#m chord but the screen display of the piano keyboard lists the C# key as a Db instead. Any way to adjust for that? Thanks!

[@KarlRKaiser]

Sorry, but your interpretation of my Sherri Amor is not correct. Because there are so many flats and sharps, they write the first chord as.D flat , but if you write this piece in c# instead of d flat then all the chords will make sense and you will realize that the second chord is just the fourth degree, subdominant.

[@Oliver_Lingard]

Yeah, it's in Cb major and it's a II, V, I

[@FirstnameLastname-rc8yd]

😒 no…

[@kzeich]

​@@Oliver_Lingardthat's what I was thinking but if that's the case the II chord quality is major 7 and therefore not in key

[@marcusboone6045]

Did y'all even watch the entire video??? He says that it's a IV9 sus chord 🤔. Whether you interpret the scale as C#/Db, it's still the 4th degree in the scale 😅 He then explains that on the IV, he is playing a dominant 7 (E natural) and a B natural which is the 4th degree relative to F# key and is NOT playing the 3rd.

[@FirstnameLastname-rc8yd]

@@marcusboone6045 thats why i just went and typed no… lol. Sometimes its best to just let it make sense on its own.

[@italoimbriaci994]

No superstition?

[@infn8loopmusic]

Beginner lesson here methinks

[@Manuel-ie3lj]

What a shame! You have a good content, but You are just sailing stuff after a short comments, plus the KZbin ads that comes up. 😢

[@whatilearnttoday5295]

Lost me at the talking-head intro, stayed just long enough for the advert. I'm out.

[@Theolonius-ov1ij]

Ho visto solo i primi 2 accordi e sono entrambi sbagliati. Mi spiace Prof. Nel primo manca la 9 che diventa 13 nel secondo. Suppongo che siano errati in tutti i brani che hai analizzato, se usi gli stessi concetti. 👋👋

[@howtodoitdude1662]

He’s using sheet music which are usually wrong.

[@Theolonius-ov1ij]

​@@howtodoitdude1662in effetti molti spartiti sono sbagliati, il modo migliore è drizzare le orecchie e farlo da soli.❤

[@Theolonius-ov1ij]

​@@howtodoitdude1662ho visto il tuo canale, fai il carpentiere... Cosa ne puoi capire di armonia?...con tutto il rispetto ma hai mai sentito parlare dell'effetto Dunning- Kruger?🍌