Happy | TAB
The chorus chord progression of Happy can only be one thing: the IV – III – VIx. The reason I say this is because there’s only one place among the diatonic chords where we find a major chord with a minor chord a semitone below.
Here’s the progression for the chorus:
||: Dbmaj7 Cm7 | Cm7 | Cm7 C7sus4 F | F F7 :||
The extensions are decorative and could be played using a clave rhythm. You could vary the chord shapes; here’s just one way of doing it in TAB.
Compare this chord progression to that of B.B. King’s The Thrill Is Gone, a song in Bm. Happy is in Fm. The fact that the chorus lands on an F major, not an F minor, is a temporary change.
The verse progression is based around an Fm blues scale. Harmonise the riff and it becomes:
| Fm Ab Bb Ab | C Bb Ab Fm Ab Bb |
Followed by:
| Fm Ab Bb Ab | C Bb Fm Ab |
After playing Happy at least a hundred times with various bands, I can safely say that the car crash moment usually happens because most musicians don’t realise the riff changes every other time. I include myself in that category, by the way!
Here’s some TAB showing how Happy’s verse could be played. I guess the real question is: what do you do if everyone else isn’t changing it every other time?
Happy Backing Tracks + TAB | Related Pages
Happy | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn to play Happy by Pharrell Williams using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| F5 N.C | N.C | Fm Ab Bb Ab | C Bb Ab Fm Ab Bb |
It might seem crazy what I am ’bout to say…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
