Adele - I'll Be Waiting - Chord

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

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Capo 0

A  G  C  D

A          G      D             G
Hold me closer one more time 
A                       G               D      G
Say that you love me in your last goodbye 
A               G      D         G
Please forgive me for my sins 
A                        G
Yes  I swam dirty waters 
                       D      G
But you pushed me in 

                E
But we had time against us 
      D
And miles between us 
     A
The heavens cried 
             E
I know I left you speechless 
            G                   D
But now the sky has cleared and it's blue 
       A                  G
And I see my future in you 

E                   D                           A                       G
I'll be waiting for you when you're ready to love me again 
E
I put my hands up 
D       A
I'll do everything different 
         G
I'll be better to you 
E                    D                         A                         G
I'll be waiting for you when you're ready to love me again 
E
I put my hands up 
D        A
I'll be somebody different 
          G            E
I'll be better to you

End of song Play again?

Adele - I'll Be Waiting Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Adele – I'll Be Waiting: key and chord analysis

The song opens on A and ends on E. Its chords belong to both A major and F#m, so every chord below is read both ways.

Major view

A major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

F# minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

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

Which side does the ear lean to?

Our reading: to us the song feels closer to the A major side because it opens on A and A is heard 11 times while F#m never appears. That is an interpretation, not a rule — hearing the same chords from F# minor is just as valid and teaches you something different.

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to A or to F#m; 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 A major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	A	Tonic — home	A · C# · E	11×
ii	Bm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F#	—
bIII	C	Borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord	C · E · G	1×
iii	C#m	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	C# · E · G#	—
III	C#	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	C# · E# · G#	—
IV	D	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F# · A	11×
V	E	Dominant — strongest pull home	E · G# · B	7×
vi	F#m	Relative minor — the melancholy side	F# · A · C#	—
bVII	G	bVII — borrowed (Mixolydian / parallel minor)borrowed chord	G · B · D	15×
vii°	G#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	G# · B · D	—

Seen from F# minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	F#m	Tonic — home	F# · A · C#	—
bII	G	Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord	G · B · D	15×
ii°	G#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	G# · B · D	—
III	A	Relative major — the bright side	A · C# · E	11×
iv	Bm	Subdominant — moves away from home	B · D · F#	—
#IV	C	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	C · E · G	1×
v	C#m	Minor dominant — soft pull	C# · E · G#	—
V	C#	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	C# · E# · G#	—
VI	D	Submediant — warm colour	D · F# · A	11×
VII	E	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	E · G# · B	7×

Analysis

The key pair is A major and its relative F# minor (3 sharps). 5 different chords appear 45 times in total; 3 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. G, C are borrowed from the parallel minor, adding a darker shade to the major side.

Chord movement

D A AIV → Iplagal cadence F#mVI → III ×7
G A AbVII → IbVII → I F#mbII → III ×3

The move to watch is D → A, heard 7 times. From the A side it reads IV → I (plagal cadence: the soft 'amen' ending); from the F#m side it is VI → III. Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

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

No capo — open A shapes
Capo 2 + G shapes
Capo 5 + E shapes

With F# minor shapes

Capo 2 + Em shapes
Capo 4 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

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

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is A; the ear learns where home is within a second. The backbone is G, A, D, E — bVII–I–IV–V from the A side, bII–III–VI–VII from the F#m side. G briefly darkens the picture: bvii — borrowed (mixolydian / parallel minor). Keep an ear on D → A (IV → I in A, VI → III in F#m): plagal cadence — the soft 'amen' ending. It closes on E, letting the A side have the last word.

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.