Rihanna - Rude Boy - Chord

Key C major – A minor Chords Dm, G, F, C, Am, Em Easy key G (capo 5)

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Capo 0

Am           Em
Come here, rude boy boy

Can you get it up
F           Dm
Come here, rude boy boy

Is you big enough
Am
Take it, take it
Em
Baby, baby
F
Take it, take it
Dm
Love me, love me

Tonight I'm a let you be the captain
Tonight I'm a let you do your thing, yeah
Tonight I'm a let you be a rider
Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up babe

Tonight I'm a let it be fire
Tonight I'm a let you take me higher
Tonight baby, we can get it on
Yeah, we can get it on yeah

Do you like it boy
I wa wa want
What you wa wa want
Give it to me, baby
Like boom boom boom
What I wa wa want
Is what you wa wa want
Na na ah

Tonight I'm a give it to you harder
Tonight I'm a turn your body out
Relax, let me do it how I wanna
If you got it, I need it and I'm a put it down

Buckle up, I'm a give it to you stronger
Hands up, we can go a little longer
Tonight I'm a get a little crazy
Get a little crazy, baby

Do you like it boy
I wa wa want
What you wa wa want
Give it to me, baby
Like boom boom boom
What I wa wa want
Is what you wa wa want
Na na ah

Dm         C          G
I like the way you touch me there
                  Dm
I like the way you pull my hair
Dm            C
Baby, if I don't feel it
       G
I ain't faking, no no

Dm           C               G
I like when you tell me kiss it here
                      F
I like when you tell me move it there
So giddy up

Time to get it up
G
You say you a rude boy
Show me what you got now
Come here right now
Take it, take it
Baby, baby
Take it, take it
Love me, love me

End of song Play again?

Rihanna - Rude Boy Tabs

NotesX

Harmony analysis

Rihanna – Rude Boy: key and chord analysis

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

Major view

C major

Brightness rank 2/7 (bright)

Characteristic notes

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

Minor view

A minor

Brightness rank 5/7 (leaning dark)

Characteristic notes

b6 = F (the minor's melancholy)
b7 = G (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 C major and A minor because it opens on Am and C is heard 3 times against 2 for Am. 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 C or to Am; 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 C major
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
I	C	Tonic — home	C · E · G	3×
ii	Dm	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	D · F · A	6×
iii	Em	Mediant — a tonic-family shade	E · G · B	2×
V/vi	E	Secondary dominant V/vi — leads to Amsecondary dominant	E · G# · B	—
IV	F	Subdominant — moves away from home	F · A · C	3×
V	G	Dominant — strongest pull home	G · B · D	4×
vi	Am	Relative minor — the melancholy side	A · C · E	2×
vii°	Bdim	Leading-tone chord — tension	B · D · F	—

Seen from A minor
Degree	Chord	Role	Notes	In song
i	Am	Tonic — home	A · C · E	2×
ii°	Bdim	Supertonic — prepares the dominant	B · D · F	—
III	C	Relative major — the bright side	C · E · G	3×
iv	Dm	Subdominant — moves away from home	D · F · A	6×
v	Em	Minor dominant — soft pull	E · G · B	2×
V	E	Dominant — borrowed from harmonic minor, pulls hard to the tonicharmonic minor	E · G# · B	—
VI	F	Submediant — warm colour	F · A · C	3×
VII	G	Subtonic — steps back to the tonic	G · B · D	4×

Analysis

The key pair is C major and its relative A minor (no sharps or flats). 6 different chords appear 20 times in total; 6 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

Dm Am Cii → vi Amiv → iminor plagal ×1
F G CIV → VIV → V AmVI → VIIVI → VII ×1

The move to watch is Dm → Am, heard once. From the C side it reads ii → vi; from the Am side it is iv → i (minor plagal: deep and melancholic). Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Improvisation tips

C major pentatonic and A minor pentatonic are the same five notes (C – D – E – G – A): start from C for a brighter phrase, from A for a bluesier one.
Over Dm, land on D, F, A — 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 F, land on F, A, C — 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 C major shapes

No capo — open C shapes
Capo 3 + A shapes
Capo 5 + G shapes

With A minor shapes

No capo — open Am shapes
Capo 5 + Em shapes
Capo 7 + Dm shapes

Easiest keys on guitar

5 semitones down · capo 5 keeps the original pitch

The song's harmonic story

The opening Am lays a solid floor for everything that follows. The chords that keep coming back are Dm, G, F, C; read them as ii–V–IV–I in C or iv–VII–VI–III in Am. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on Dm → Am (ii → vi in C, iv → i in Am): minor plagal — deep and melancholic. The final chord is G; the ear comes to rest in C.

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.