Ariana Grande - Moonlight - Chord

Key D major – B minor Chords Bm, A, Dbm, Dm Easy key F

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 The Sun is setting, and you're right here by my side
 And the movie's playing, but we won't be watching tonight
 
       A                          Bm
 Every look, every touch makes me wanna give you my heart
      Dbm
 I be crushin' on you, baby
          Bm
 Stay the way you are, 'cause

 A             Bm
 I never knew, I never knew
           Dbm                    Bm
 You could have moonlight in your hands
                       A
 'Til the night I held you
   Bm          Dbm    Bm   A
 You're my moonlight, moo... oon.. light

A
 I kiss his fingertips
        Bm
 As I'm wishing he's all mine
Dbm
 He's giving me Elvis
           Bm              
 With some James Dean in his eyes

          A
 Puts his lips on my neck
         Bm
 Makes me want to give him my body
      Dbm
 I be fallin' for you, baby
       Bm              
 And I just can't stop, 'cause

 A             Bm
 I never knew, I never knew
           Dbm                    Bm
 You could have moonlight in your hands
                       A
 'Til the night I held you
   Bm          Dbm    Bm   A
 You're my moonlight, moo    oon  light

A          Bm
 Baby I be fallin'
               Dbm    Bm   A
 You're my moonlight, moo    oon light

         A
 He's so bossy
             Bm
 He makes me dance
       A
 Tryna sit in the back of his whip
                    Bm
 And just cancel my plans

            A
 Sweet like candy
                 Bm
 But he's such a man
          A
 He knows just what it does when he's holding me tight
        Bm        Dm         A
 And he calls me "Moonlight" too

End of song Play again?

Ariana Grande - Moonlight Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Ariana Grande – Moonlight: key and chord analysis

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

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)

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: to us the song feels closer to the B minor side because Bm is heard 20 times while D never appears. That is an interpretation, not a rule — the same chords are just as valid seen from D 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 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.

Seen from D major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	D	Tonic — home	D · F# · A	—
i	Dm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	D · F · A	1×
ii	Em	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	E · G · B	—
iii	F#m	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	F# · A · C#	—
V/vi	F#	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Bmsecondary dominant	F# · A# · C#	—
IV	G	Subdominant — moves away from home	G · B · D	—
V	A	Dominant — strongest pull home	A · C# · E	16×
vi	Bm	Relative minor — the melancholy side	B · D · F#	20×
vii°	C#dim	Leading-tone chord — tension	C# · E · G	—
vii	Dbm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Db · Fb · Ab	8×

Seen from B minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Bm	Tonic — home	B · D · F#	20×
ii°	C#dim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	C# · E · G	—
ii	Dbm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	Db · Fb · Ab	8×
III	D	Relative major — the bright side	D · F# · A	—
iii	Dm	Chromatic colour chordoutside the key	D · F · A	1×
iv	Em	Subdominant — moves away from home	E · G · B	—
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	—
VII	A	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	A · C# · E	16×

Analysis

The key pair is D major and its relative B minor (2 sharps). 4 different chords appear 45 times in total; 2 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. Dbm, Dm step outside the scale as colour chords.

Chord movement

A Bm DV → videceptive cadence BmVII → iAeolian arrival ×12

The move to watch is A → Bm, heard 12 times. From the Bm side it is VII → i (Aeolian arrival: rises a whole tone into home); from the D side it reads V → vi (deceptive cadence: expected D, lands on Bm). Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

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 Bm, land on B, D, F# — 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 Dbm, land on Db, Fb, Ab — 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 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

3 semitones up
2 semitones down · capo 2 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

The first chord is A; the ear learns where home is within a second. The backbone is Bm, A, Dbm, Dm — vi–V–vii–i from the D side, i–VII–ii–iii from the Bm side. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on A → Bm (V → vi in D, VII → i in Bm): Aeolian arrival — rises a whole tone into home. It closes on A, 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.