Taylor Swift - Fearless - Chord

Key F major – D minor Chords A, D, Em, G, C9 Difficulty already in its easiest key

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Capo 0

D  A  Em  G
D  A  Em  G

D
 There's something 'bout the way
A                                Em
 The street looks when it's just rained
                         G
 There's a glow off the pavement
                    D
 You walk me to the car
                      A                      Em
 And you know I wanna ask you to dance right there
                        G
 In the middle of the parking lot

 D   A
 Yeah
 Em   G
 Oh Yeah

D
 We're drivin' down the road
A                Em
 I wonder if you know
                    G
 I'm trying so hard not to get caught up now
D
 But you're just so cool
 A                           Em
 Run your hands through your hair
                  G        A
 Absent mindedly making me want you

D                     A                   Em
 And I don't know how it gets better than this
                               G           A
 You take my hand and drag me head first, fearless
D                     A                Em
 And I don't know why but with you I'd dance
                   G           A
 In a storm in my best dress, fearless

D                   A                  Em
 So baby drive slow till we run out of road
                   G
 In this one horse town
                    D                       A
 I wanna stay right here in this passenger seat
                      Em
 You put your eyes on me
                    G             A
 In this moment now capture it remember it

D                     A                   Em
 And I don't know how it gets better than this
                               G           A
 You take my hand and drag me head first, fearless
D                     A                Em
 And I don't know why but with you I'd dance
                   G           A
 In a storm in my best dress, fearless

C9                         D
 Yeah you stood there with me in the doorway
    Em               D       G        A
 My hands shake, I'm not usually this way
     C9                         D
 But you pull me in and I'm a little more brave
        Em                 D               G
 It's a first kiss, it's flawless, really something
A
 It's fearless

D  A  Em    G
      Ohh, yeah

D                     A                   Em
 And I don't know how it gets better than this
                               G           A
 You take my hand and drag me head first, fearless
D                     A                Em
 And I don't know why but with you I'd dance
                   G           A
 In a storm in my best dress, fearless

D                     A                   Em
 And I don't know how it gets better than this
                               G           A
 You take my hand and drag me head first, fearless
D                     A                Em
 And I don't know why but with you I'd dance
                   G           A
 In a storm in my best dress, fearless
D  A  Em    G
      Ohh, yeah

End of song Play again?

Taylor Swift - Fearless Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Taylor Swift – Fearless: key and chord analysis

The song opens on D and ends on G. 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	—
V/V	G	Secondary dominant V/V — leads to Csecondary dominant	G · B · D	21×
iii	Am	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	A · C · E	—
V/vi	A	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Dmsecondary dominant	A · C# · E	31×
IV	Bb	Subdominant — moves away from home	Bb · D · F	—
V7	C9	Dominant — strongest pull home	C · E · G · Bb · D	2×
vi	Dm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	D · F · A	—
V/ii	D	Secondary dominant V/ii — leads to Gmsecondary dominant	D · F# · A	23×
vii°	Edim	Leading-tone chord — tension	E · G · Bb	—
vii	Em	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G · B	21×

Seen from D minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Dm	Tonic — home	D · F · A	—
V/iv	D	Secondary dominant V/iv — leads to Gmsecondary dominant	D · F# · A	23×
ii°	Edim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	E · G · Bb	—
ii	Em	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	E · G · B	21×
III	F	Relative major — the bright side	F · A · C	—
iv	Gm	Subdominant — moves away from home	G · Bb · D	—
IV	G	Major IV — Dorian / melodic-minor colourmodal colour	G · B · D	21×
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	31×
VI	Bb	Submediant — warm colour	Bb · D · F	—
VII7	C9	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	C · E · G · Bb · D	2×

Analysis

The key pair is F major and its relative D minor (1 flat). 5 different chords appear 98 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; seen from F, the same A is V/vi, a secondary dominant heading for Dm. D, G act as secondary dominants, briefly pointing at another chord of the key.

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 D, land on D, F#, A — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
Over Em, land on E, G, B — 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.

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

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

The song's harmonic story

Starting on D, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. The chords that keep coming back are A, D, Em, G; read them as V/vi–V/ii–vii–V/V in F or V–V/iv–ii–IV in Dm. A is the interesting twist: in F it is a chromatic chord (V/vi), while in Dm it becomes the dominant (V) that makes the minor side sound so determined. Ending on G, the song seals F 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.