Empire State Of Mind | Chords + Lyrics (capo 2)
Intro (0:00)
||: E | E | Amaj7 | Amaj7 :||
Oh, New York. Oh, New York.
Verse 1 (0:27)
||: E | E | Amaj7 | Amaj7 :||
Grew up in a town that is famous as a place of movie scenes.
Noise is always loud, there are sirens all around and the streets are mean.
If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere, that’s what they say.
Seeing my face in lights or my name in marquees found down on Broadway.
| G# | G# |
Even if it ain’t all it seems, I got a pocketful of dreams, baby, I’m from,
Chorus 1 (1:16)
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | E | B |
New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in,
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | E | B | Amaj7 | Amaj7 |
New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, hear it for New York, New York, New York.
Verse 2 (1:45)
||: E | E | Amaj7 | Amaj7 :||
On the avenue, there ain’t ever a curfew, ladies work so hard.
Such a melting pot, on the corner selling rock, preachers pray to God.
Hail a gypsy cab, takes me down from Harlem to the Brooklyn bridge.
Someone sleeps tonight with a hunger far more than an empty fridge.
| G# | G# |
I’m gonna make it by any means, I got a pocketful of dreams, baby, I’m from,
Chorus 2 (2:34)
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | E | B |
New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in,
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | E | B | Amaj7 | Amaj7 |
New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, hear it for New York, New York, New York.
Middle 8 (3:03)
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 |
One hand in the air for the big city. Street lights, big dreams, all looking pretty.
| Bno3 | C#m | G# | G# |
No place in the world that can compare, put your lighters in the air, everybody say: Yeah, yeah! Yeah, yeah!
Chorus 3 (3:19)
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | E | B |
In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in New York.
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | E | B | Amaj7 | Amaj7 | E |
These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, hear it for New York.
Empire State Of Mind’s chords and progressions (capo 2)
These are the chords for Empire State Of Mind, with a capo on fret two, think of this as if in the key of E.
The verse/bridge use chord I, IV and IIIx (G#).
| E | E | Amaj7 | Amaj7 | x4 | G# | G# |
The chorus starts on chord IV, goes back to chord I and finishes on chord V.
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | E | B | x2 | Amaj7 | Amaj7 |
The m8 section introduces chord VI (a C#m), like this:
| Amaj7 | Amaj7 | Bno3 | C#m | G# | G# |
There is also an outro chorus and end section that contain some more chords.
A few of Empire State Of Mind’s chords have been extended, let’s look at them one by one.
Amaj7 – This chord is created by adding a maj7th interval to an A major triad.
Bno3 – This chord only has roots and 5ths inside it, it is neither major nor minor.
Aadd9 – This chord is created by adding a 9th interval (a B) to a normal A major triad.
Badd11 – This chord is created by adding an 11th interval (an E) to a normal B major triad.
Even though it is advisable ti use a capo to avoid huge barre chords, here’s Empire State Of Mind again, now without a capo, perhaps you play the song with a band and forgot your capo at home!
Empire State Of Mind chords + Lyrics (no capo)
Intro
||: F# | F# | Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 :||
Oh, New York. Oh, New York.
Verse 1
||: F# | F# | Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 :||
Grew up in a town that is famous as a place of movie scenes.
Noise is always loud, there are sirens all around and the streets are mean.
If I can make it here, I can make it anywhere, that’s what they say.
Seeing my face in lights or my name in marquees found down on Broadway.
| A# | A# |
Even if it ain’t all it seems, I got a pocketful of dreams, baby, I’m from,
Chorus 1
| Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 | F# | C# |
New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in,
| Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 | F# | C# | Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 |
New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, hear it for New York, New York, New York.
Verse 2
||: F# | F# | Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 :||
On the avenue, there ain’t ever a curfew, ladies work so hard.
Such a melting pot, on the corner selling rock, preachers pray to God.
Hail a gypsy cab, takes me down from Harlem to the Brooklyn bridge.
Someone sleeps tonight with a hunger far more than an empty fridge.
| A# | A# |
I’m gonna make it by any means, I got a pocketful of dreams, baby, I’m from,
Chorus 2
| Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 | F# | C# |
New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in,
| Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 | F# | C# | Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 |
New York, these streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, hear it for New York, New York, New York.
Middle 8
| Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 |
One hand in the air for the big city. Street lights, big dreams, all looking pretty.
| C#no3 | D#m | A# | A# |
No place in the world that can compare, put your lighters in the air, everybody say, yeah, yeah! Yeah, yeah!
Chorus 3
| Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 | F# | C# |
In New York, Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there’s nothing you can’t do, now you’re in New York.
| Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 | F# | C# | Bmaj7 | Bmaj7 | F# |
These streets will make you feel brand new, big lights will inspire you, hear it for New York.
Playing a piano song on the guitar
Empire State Of Mind is a single by Alicia Keys that she co-wrote with Jay-Z.
Originally performed on the piano in the key of F#, we have adapted this to work on the guitar by adding a capo to fret two and thinking of it as in the key of E.
It’s a great lesson to take a song, originally performed on a different instrument and build your own arrangement. To do this you must understand key signatures, chords, roman numerals, and how scales are used.
Empire State Of Mind chords | Related pages
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Alicia Keys
Alicia had instant success with her debut album Songs In Am, mainly down to its single Fallin’.
Following this, she has firmly established herself with hits such as If I Ain’t Got You, This Girl Is On Fire, and Empire State Of Mind.
Alicia Keys on the web
