Chords + Lyrics | I Wanna Dance With Somebody
Intro
||: Gb (bass + drums) :|| x6
Ah, yeah, woah!
| Gb | Gbadd9 | Gb | Gbadd9 |
Hey yeah, ha.
| Ebm | Ebmadd4 | B | Ab9 Db Gb | Gb | Gbadd9 Db |
Oh yeah. Ah-ha, yeah, I wanna dance.
Verse 1
| Db | Db | Ebm | Ebm |
Clock strikes upon the hour and the sun begins to fade.
| Db | Db | Ebm | Ebm |
Still enough time to figure out how to chase my blues away.
| B | Db | Gb | B |
I’ve done alright up to now, it’s the light of day that shows me how.
| Abm B | Db | B Bb B Db N.C |
And when the night falls, loneliness calls.
Chorus 1
| Gb | Gb | Gb | Gb |
Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody.
| Ebm | Ebm | B | Abm7 Db |
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me.
| Gb | Gb | Gb | Gb |
Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody.
| Ebm | Ebm | B | Abm7 Db | Gb | Gbadd9 Gb |
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me.
Verse 2
I’ve been in love and lost my senses, spinning through the town.
Sooner or later, the fever ends and I wind up feeling down.
I need a man who’ll take a chance on a love that burns hot enough to last.
So when the night falls, my lonely heart calls.
Chorus 2
Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody.
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me.
Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat.
| Ebm | Ebm | B | Abm7 Db |
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me.
Middle 8
| Ebm (Ebm7) | Ebm (Ebm7)| Db | Db Db6 |
(Somebody who, somebody who). Somebody who loves me yeah.
| Ebm (Ebm7) | Ebm (Ebm7)| Db | Db |
(Somebody who, somebody who). To hold me in his arms, Lord.
| Abm | Db | Gb/Bb | B |
I need a man who’ll take a chance, on a love that burns hot enough to last.
| Abm B | Db | B Bb B Db N.C |
So when the night falls, my lonely heart calls.
Chorus 3 (key change)
| Ab | Ab | Ab | Ab |
Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody.
| Fm | Fm | Db | Bbm7 Eb6 |
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me.
| Ab | Ab | Ab | Ab |
Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody.
| Fm | Fm | Db | Bbm7 Eb6 |
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody, with somebody who loves me.
Breakdown
||: Ab Ab6 | Ab | Ab Ab6 | Ab :||
Oh-oh, whoa! (Dance) come on baby, haha (dance).
Whoa! Yeah (dance), now give me this, haha, whoa oh oh oh (dance).
Chorus 4
Don’t you wanna dance (dance), with me baby? Don’t you wanna dance (dance), with me boy?
Hey, don’t you wanna dance (dance), with me baby? With somebody who loves me.
Don’t you wanna dance, say you wanna dance, don’t you wanna dance (dance)? Don’t you wanna dance, say you wanna dance, don’t you wanna dance (dance)?
Don’t you wanna dance, say you wanna dance, a-ha (dance), with somebody who loves me.
End
| Ab | Ab | Ab | Ab |
Oh oh oh (dance) oh oh oh (dance).
| Fm | Fm | Db | Bbm7 Eb6 | Ab (fade) |
Oh oh oh (dance Hey baby! (Dance).
I Wanna Dance With Somebody Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning I Wanna Dance With Somebody. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The song opens in Gb, which later modulates up a tone to Ab—great for Whitney Houston‘s voice, awkward for guitarists. Thankfully, the actual progression is quite straightforward.
Intro
||: Gb (bass only) :|| x6
| Gb | Gb | Gb | Gb |
| Ebm | Ebm | B | Ab9 Db Gb | Gb | Gbadd9 |
The bass line initially alternates root and sixth, which subtly foreshadows the harmony. When the chords enter, it’s a simple I – VI – IV progression, followed by IIx – V – I.
Verse
| Db | Db | Ebm | Ebm |
| B | Db | Gb | B |
| Abm B | Db | B Bb B Db N.C |
This section cycles through V – VI – IV – V – I and resolves with a chromatic IV – IIIx – IV – V run. Try transposing to G to see the logic more clearly—Roman numerals reveal how simple it really is.
Chorus
The chorus recyle the intro format, with slight rhythmic shifts and simpler II – V turnarounds.
To get TAB for how to play all these chords, keep scrolling down this guitar lesson.
Middle 8
The middle 8 has a clever rewrite of the verse’s Db – Ebm movement. It leads into a lift in harmony and intensity before taking off into the key change.
Key Change
Modulating to Ab sets up the final choruses with energy.
| Ab | Ab | Ab | Ab |
| Fm | Fm | Db | Bbm7 Eb6 |
Breakdown
The breakdown section locks in over a static Ab, giving space for Whitney’s vocals to shine—because let’s face it, she’s the star here, not the chords.
Here’s a chord chart.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Above is a one-page chord chart to go with the backing track and TAB. It’s compact for practicality, but if you’d prefer a larger layout, try expanding it in iReal Pro.
→ Download PDF chord chart – I Wanna Dance With Somebody
→ Download iReal Pro File – I Wanna Dance With Somebody
In iReal Pro, try shifting the key to G (then tune your guitar down a semitone). You’ll be amazed how much more accessible the changes feel.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody | TAB Preview
Let’s go through all the sections of I Wanna Dance With Somebody as if we were responsible for covering every part.
The intro is full of fun little keyboard part that work really well on guitar. Here’s the TAB.
First off, those little dots you see above the 8th notes mean they should be played short—more like 16th notes. I’ve notated them this way as it’s easier to read.
Once the chorus-style chords kick in, we use the closest possible shapes and play almost exactly what’s there. The bass line changes—not the fret numbers—are what give us the new chord names.
Can you spot how the chord names align with what’s written in the TAB?
Next, here’s the verse TAB.
I’ve gone for a minimalistic approach here, staying close to the original keyboard parts. Small changes—like playing strings 4 to 2 for the Ebm chord, then switching to strings 1 to 3 the second time around—add just enough variation to keep the part driving forward.
Here’s the next part, the chorus.
Once again, I’ve kept the movement minimal, mostly sticking to just two strings. The notes don’t change much either, since Gb and Ebm share two notes in their triads. We let the bass do the harmonic heavy lifting.
The rhythm stays consistent too, which helps maintain momentum. The last bar here mirrors what we played in the intro.
Here’s TAB for the middle 8, I love this section—it’s such a cool moment in the tune!
That move from a min7 to a straight minor chord in the first two bars is brilliant. The quarter-note triplet that follows really lets the rest of the band know you’ve done your homework, and the rhythm after that is lifted directly from the original track.
The last bar repeats something we’ve already played—which is surprising, because what comes next is a key change…
In this chorus, it’s not just the chords that have changed—the rhythm has been modified too. Most importantly, once the new groove is established, it stays consistent throughout.
This part eventually drops out for a breakdown section before returning and fading out.
That syncopated lick isn’t easy to get right—but if you practise along with the backing tracks, it’ll lock in soon enough.
Hopefully, working through all this TAB shows you just how much fun this song can be to play. The more detail you put in, the more rewarding it becomes.
I Wanna Dance With Somebody is a classic—an essential on almost every female-fronted party band’s setlist,
I Wanna Dance With Somebody Chords: Continue Learning
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