Shawn Mendes - It'll Be Okay - Chord

Key G major – E minor Chords C, G, D Difficulty already in its easiest key

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Capo 0

C             G                       D
Are we gonna make it?  Is this gonna hurt?
C                    G                      D
Oh, we can try to sedate it but that never works, yeah

    C                 G                     D
I start to imagine a world where we don't collide
        C                      G                    D
It's making me sick but we'll heal and the sun will rise

                         C                   G
If you tell me you're leaving, I'll make it easy
         D   
It'll be okay
                         C                       G
If we can't stop the bleeding, we don't have to fix it
                 D   
We don't have to stay
                         C
I will love you either way
       G                  D
Ooh oh, it'll be o-, be okay
 
Ooh oh

C                    G                     D
Oh, the future we dreamed of is fading to black
 
Oh ohh, Oh ohh
 
C                              G
And no, thеre's nothing more painful
               D   
Nothing more painful, oh-woah (Oh-woah)

    C                 G                       D
I start to imagine a world where we don't collide
        C                      G                    D
It's making me sick but we'll heal and the sun will rise

                        C                   G
If you tell me you're leaving, I'll make it easy
          D   
It'll be okay (It'll be okay)
                           C                         G
And if we can't stop the bleeding, we don't have to fix it
                 D   
We don't have to stay (Don't have to stay)
                         C
I will love you either way
       G                  D
Ooh oh, it'll be o-, be okay
 
Ooh oh

                        C
I will love you either way
                 G
It might be so sweet
                   D
It might be so bitter
                        C
I will love you either way
                G
It might be so sweet
                   D
It might be so bitter (Ooh ooh)

C                          G                    D   
Oh, if the future we've dreamed of is fading to black
                        C  Cadd9  C  G  Gadd11  G  D   
I will love you either way

End of song Play again?

Shawn Mendes - It'll Be Okay Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Shawn Mendes – It'll Be Okay: key and chord analysis

The song opens on C and ends on D. Its chords belong to both G major and Em, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

G major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

E minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = C (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = D (natural-minor colour)

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the G major side because G is heard 17 times while Em never appears. That is an interpretation, not a rule — hearing the same chords from E minor is just as valid and teaches you something different.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to G or to Em; 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 G major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	G	Tonic — home	G · B · D	17×
ii	Am	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	A · C · E	—
iii	Bm	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	B · D · F#	—
III	B	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	B · D# · F#	—
IV	C	Subdominant — moves away from home	C · E · G	17×
V	D	Dominant — strongest pull home	D · F# · A	17×
vi	Em	Relative minor — the melancholy side	E · G · B	—
vii°	F#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	F# · A · C	—

Seen from E minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Em	Tonic — home	E · G · B	—
ii°	F#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	F# · A · C	—
III	G	Relative major — the bright side	G · B · D	17×
iv	Am	Subdominant — moves away from home	A · C · E	—
v	Bm	Minor dominant — soft pull	B · D · F#	—
V	B	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	B · D# · F#	—
VI	C	Submediant — warm colour	C · E · G	17×
VII	D	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	D · F# · A	17×

Analysis

The key pair is G major and its relative E minor (1 sharp). 3 different chords appear 51 times in total; 3 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. Everything stays inside one scale, which is why the song is easy to follow by ear.

Chord movement

C G GIV → Iplagal cadence EmVI → III ×17

The move to watch is C → G, heard 17 times. From the G side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending); from the Em side it is VI → III. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

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

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 G major shapes

No capo — open G shapes
Capo 3 + E shapes
Capo 5 + D shapes

With E minor shapes

No capo — open Em shapes
Capo 2 + Dm shapes
Capo 7 + Am shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

The song is already written in its easiest key for guitar.

The song's harmonic story

The opening C lays a solid floor for everything that follows. C, G, D carry the song: IV–I–V relative to G, VI–III–VII relative to Em. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on C → G (IV → I in G, VI → III in Em): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. Ending on D, the song seals G as home.

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.