Major view
D major
Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)
Characteristic notes
- 7 = C# (leading tone, pulls home)
- 4 = G (the note that leans on the 3rd)
Ariana Grande - The Way - Chord
Key D major – B minor Chords Eb, Bbm, Abmaj7, C, C/E, Fm, Bb Easy key F#
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Key: D | Bm
Capo: 0
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I love the way, you make me feel
C C/E Fm
I love it, I love it
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I love the way, you make me feel
C C/E Fm
I love it, I love it
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Say, I'm thinkin' 'bout her every second, every hour
C C/E
Do my singing in the shower
Fm
Picking petals off the flowers like
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
"Do she love me, do she love me not?"
C C/E Fm
I ain't a player, I just crush a lot
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
You give me that kinda something
C C/E Fm
Want it all the time, need it everyday
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
On a scale of one to ten I'm at 100
C C/E Fm
Never get enough, I can't stay away
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
If you want it, I got it, I got it everyday
C C/E Fm
You can go on playing it for me
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Stay by your side, I'll never leave you
C C/E Fm
And I ain't going nowhere cause you're a keeper
Eb Bb Eb
So don't you worry, baby you got me
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I got a bad boy, I must admit it
C C/E Fm
You got my heart, don't know how you did it
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
And I don't care this is it babe
C C/E Fm
I don't want another way to feel you next to me
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I love the way
C C/E Fm
I love the way
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Baby I love the way,
C C/E Fm
Ooh I love the way,
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Ooh, it's so crazy you get my heart jumping
C C/E Fm
When you put your lips on mine
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
And honey this ain't a question
C C/E Fm
Boy I know just what you like
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
So If you need it, I got it, I got it everyday
C C/E Fm
Be your lover, your friend, you'll find it all there babe
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Stay by your side, I'll never leave you
C C/E Fm
And I ain't going nowhere cause you're a keeper
Eb Bb Eb
So don't you worry, baby you got me
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I got a bad boy, I must admit it
C C/E Fm
You got my heart, don't know how you did it
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
And I don't care this is it babe
C C/E Fm
I don't want another way to feel you next to me
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I love the way
C C/E Fm
I love the way
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Baby I love the way,
C C/E Fm
Ooh I love the way,
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Uh, I make it feel so fine, make it feel so fine
C C/E Fm
I hope you hit me on my celly when I sneak in your mind
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
You're a princess to the public, but a freak when it's time
C C/E
Said your bed be feeling lonely,
Fm
So you're sleeping in mine
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Come and watch a movie with me,
C C/E
"American Beauty" or "Bruce Almighty" that's groovy,
Fm
Just come and move closer to me
Bbm Eb
I got some feelings for you,
Abmaj7
I'm not gonna get bored of
C C/E Fm
But baby you're an adventure so let me come and explore you
Eb Bb Eb
So don't you worry, baby you got me
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I got a bad boy, I must admit it
C C/E Fm
You got my heart, don't know how you did it
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
And I don't care this is it babe
C C/E Fm
I don't want another way to feel you next to me
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I love the way
C C/E Fm
I love the way
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Baby I love the way,
C C/E Fm
Ooh I love the way,
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I love the way
C C/E Fm
I love the way
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
Baby I love the way
C C/E Fm
Ooh I love the way
The way I love you
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
C C/E Fm
The way I love you
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
You, you, yeah
C C/E Fm
The way
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I love the way, you make me feel
C C/E Fm
I love it, I love it
Bbm Eb Abmaj7
I love the way, you make me feel
C C/E Fm
I love it
End of song Play again?
Ariana Grande - The Way Tabs
NotesX
Harmony analysis
Ariana Grande – The Way: key and chord analysis
The song opens on Bbm and ends on Fm. Its chords belong to both D major and Bm, so every chord below is read both ways.
Minor view
B minor
Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)
Characteristic notes
- b6 = G (the minor's melancholy)
- b7 = A (natural-minor colour)
Which side does the ear lean to?
Our reading: we can't honestly pick a side here — the song moves freely between D major and B minor. Try reading the chords both ways and see which feels more like home to you.
Chord degrees: major and relative minor
Show the degrees above the chords — relative to D or to Bm; 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.
| Degree | Chord | Role | Notes | In song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | D | Tonic — home | D · F# · A | — |
| bII | Eb | Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord | Eb · G · Bb | 40× |
| ii | Em | Supertonic — prepares the dominant | E · G · B | — |
| biii | Fm | Chromatic colour chordoutside the key | F · Ab · C | 34× |
| iii | F#m | Mediant — a tonic-family shade | F# · A · C# | — |
| III | F# | Chromatic colour chordoutside the key | F# · A# · C# | — |
| IV | G | Subdominant — moves away from home | G · B · D | — |
| #IVmaj7 | Abmaj7 | Chromatic colour chordoutside the key | Ab · C · Eb · G | 34× |
| V | A | Dominant — strongest pull home | A · C# · E | — |
| bvi | Bbm | Chromatic colour chordoutside the key | Bb · Db · F | 34× |
| bVI | Bb | Borrowed from the parallel minorborrowed chord | Bb · D · F | 3× |
| vi | Bm | Relative minor — the melancholy side | B · D · F# | — |
| bVII | C | bVII — borrowed (Mixolydian / parallel minor)borrowed chord | C · E · G | 34× |
| bVII | C/E | bVII — borrowed (Mixolydian / parallel minor)borrowed chord | C · E · G | 34× |
| vii° | C#dim | Leading-tone chord — tension | C# · E · G | — |
| Degree | Chord | Role | Notes | In song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | Bm | Tonic — home | B · D · F# | — |
| bII | C | Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord | C · E · G | 34× |
| bII | C/E | Neapolitan bII — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonicborrowed chord | C · E · G | 34× |
| ii° | C#dim | Supertonic — prepares the dominant | C# · E · G | — |
| III | D | Relative major — the bright side | D · F# · A | — |
| #III | Eb | Chromatic colour chordoutside the key | Eb · G · Bb | 40× |
| iv | Em | Subdominant — moves away from home | E · G · B | — |
| #iv | Fm | Chromatic colour chordoutside the key | F · Ab · C | 34× |
| v | F#m | Minor dominant — soft pull | F# · A · C# | — |
| V | F# | Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor | F# · A# · C# | — |
| VI | G | Submediant — warm colour | G · B · D | — |
| #VImaj7 | Abmaj7 | Chromatic colour chordoutside the key | Ab · C · Eb · G | 34× |
| VII | A | Subtonic — steps back to the tonic | A · C# · E | — |
| #vii | Bbm | Chromatic colour chordoutside the key | Bb · Db · F | 34× |
| #VII | Bb | Chromatic colour chordoutside the key | Bb · D · F | 3× |
Analysis
The key pair is D major and its relative B minor (2 sharps). 7 different chords appear 213 times in total; 0 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. Eb, C, C/E, Bb are borrowed from the parallel minor, adding a darker shade to the major side.
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
- D major pentatonic and B minor pentatonic are the same five notes (D – E – F# – A – B): start from D for a brighter phrase, from B for a bluesier one.
- Over Eb, land on Eb, G, Bb — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
- Over Bbm, land on Bb, Db, F — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
- Over Abmaj7, land on Ab, C, Eb — the chord's own tones always sound right on strong beats.
- On Eb, follow the chord's notes (Eb · G · Bb) 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 D major shapes
- No capo — open D shapes
- Capo 2 + C shapes
- Capo 5 + A shapes
With B minor shapes
- Capo 2 + Am shapes
- Capo 7 + Em shapes
Easiest keys on guitar
- 4 semitones up
- 3 semitones down · capo 3 keeps the original pitch
The song's harmonic story
Starting on Bbm, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. Eb, Bbm, Abmaj7, C carry the song: bII–bvi–#IVmaj7–bVII relative to D, #III–#vii–#VImaj7–bII relative to Bm. Eb briefly darkens the picture: neapolitan bii — a dark, dramatic colour a half step above the tonic. It closes on Fm, letting the D 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.
Ariana Grande - The Way Chords on Guitar, Ukulele and Piano
Hover over or tap a chord in the lyrics for its shapes, its degree in both keys and a listen button. Here you have every chord of the song side by side.
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