CHORD LIBRARY

Play along Stand By Me, chord by chord.

Chords of: Stand By Me by: Ben E. King. (Em, A, Amaj7, F#m) are the main chords of the song. The chords are displayed instantly in real-time with a YouTube player, four synced views, instrument diagrams, loop practice and a built-in vocal-remover mixer.

About the chords of “Stand By Me”

“Stand By Me” by Ben E. King is in E Minor and runs at about 118 BPM, giving it an upbeat, driving pulse. Our analysis found 22 different chords across 80 chord changes; the ones that carry the song are Em, A, Amaj7, F#m.

A is the chord you will hold longest — roughly 29% of the 2:59 the chords were tracked for. The song opens with Bm7 → A7 → F#m7b5 → D6 → Emaj7 → A → F#m7 → Dmaj7. Play the timeline above to hear each change land in real time.

Difficulty: advanced — 7 main chords with 5 extended, altered or slash voicings. Guitarists can play it as written — E Minor sits in open-chord territory, no capo needed.

Chord frequency

ChordTime heldShare
A0:5229%
F#m0:2212%
Amaj70:2212%
E0:169%
D0:137%
F#m70:137%
Emaj70:084%
A70:063%

Chord progression, in order

Em – Bm7 – A7 – Emaj7 – A7 – F#m7b5 – D6 – Emaj7 – A7 – Emaj7 – A7 – Eaug – A – E7/G# – F#m7 – Dmaj7 – E – Amaj7 – F# – F#m7 – D – Bm – Emaj7 – Amaj7 – A – Abmaj7 – F#m – E – F#m – D – E – A – C#m – F#m7 – Dmaj7 – Emaj7 – A – C7/E – F#m – Em – F#m – D6 – E – Amaj7 – F#m – Emaj7 – F#m7 – D – …