I’ll Be There chords by The Jackson 5

Video blocked due to privacy settings

[rcb-consent type=”change” tag=”link” text=”Change privacy settings”]

I’ll Be There | Chords + Lyrics

Intro

Verse 1

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
You and I must make a pact, we must bring salvation back.
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F C/E Dm | Dm/C Bb Am Am/G |
Where there is love, I’ll be there (I’ll be there).

Verse 2

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
I’ll reach out my hand to you, I’ll have faith in all you do.
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F | F |
Just call my name and I’ll be there (I’ll be there, and oh).

Bridge 1

| Ab | Eb |
I’ll be there to comfort you.
| Bb | F |
Build my world of dreams around you, I’m so glad that I found you.
| Ab | Eb |
I’ll be there with a love that’s strong,
| Bb | F | F | F |
I’ll be your strength, I’ll keep holding on (holding on…).

Verse 3

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
Let me fill your heart with joy and laughter, togetherness, girl, is all I’m after.
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F C/E Dm | Dm/C Bb Am Am/G |
Whenever you need me, I’ll be there (I’ll be there).

Verse 4

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
I’ll be there to protect you, (yeah baby). With an unselfish love that respects you.
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F | F C11 |
Just call my name, and I’ll be there (I’ll be there, and oh).

Bridge 2

Verse 5

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
If you should ever find someone new, I know he better be good to you.
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F C/E Dm | Dm/C Bb Am Am/G |
‘Cause if he doesn’t, I’ll be there (I’ll be there). Don’t you know, baby, yeah, yeah.

Chorus 1

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
I’ll be there, I’ll be there.
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F C/E Dm | Dm/C Bb Am Am/G |
Just call my name, (and I’ll be there) and I’ll be there. Just look over your shoulders, honey, oh!

Chorus 2

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
I’ll be there, I’ll be there.
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F C/E Dm | Dm/C Bb Am Am/G |
Whenever you need me (I’ll be there) I’ll be there. Don’t you know, baby, yeah, yeah.

Chorus 3

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
(La la..) I’ll be there. I’ll be there.
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F C/E Dm | Dm/C Bb Am Am/G |
Just call my name (I’ll be there), and I’ll be there. Oh, oh, oh, oh!

Chorus 4

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am | to fade
(La la..) I’ll be there. I’ll be there.

I’ll Be There Chords: Learn the progressions

As an early single from The Jackson 5, I’ll Be There was the 4th big hit from the group, looking at how young Michael is at the time, this is truly remarkable.

Berry Gordy, the man behind Motown actually wrote and even produced I’ll Be There. Famously, he insisted that Michael singing “…Just look over your shoulders…” had to be kept in rather than edited to shoulder as this showed how young he was.

Let’s study the chords, which are mostly from the key of F, in order to understand how this legendary tune was put together.

The intro contains a common modal interchange, confusing us as to what key we are in as it goes I – bVIIx – IV – I, it kind of feels like V – IV – I in Bb. Like this, with extensions:

It’s the sus4 on the Eb that tells us it’s an F Mixolydian modal interchange, not a key change as chord IV can’t be a sus4, it must be a #11 (Lydian).

Verses 1, 3, 5, and all choruses then go like this:

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F C/E Dm | Dm/C Bb Am Am/G |

Using Roman Numerals that’s:

| I | V/3 | VI VI/b7 | III |
| IV | V | I V/3 VI | VI/b7 IV III III/b7 |

The slash chords make it sound more complicated than it is, all of I’ll Be There’s verse chords are diatonic to F major (Ionian).

Verse 2 is the same but without the descending chords in the last two bars:

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F | F |

Verse 4 adds a C11 at the end:

| F | C/E | Dm Dm/C | Am |
| Bbmaj7 | C11 | F | F C11 |

The bridge changes the key to Ab, making the F a VIx chord. After repeating, we stay on F, then just start the verse on F, now as chord I. The more I listen, the more genius I feel this is.

||: Ab | Eb | Bb | F :|| F | F |

On a final note, I’ll Be There is an unusual arrangement in that the verse and chorus chords are the same, and the verse melody is constantly hinting at the chorus, but the actual chorus doesn’t arrive until 2:45 and then repeats to fade around 3:43.

I’ll Be There Chords | Related Pages

Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics

When you can play I'll Be There's chords, try these five tunes from the songbook.

Berry Gordy tunes

Berry Gordy had a hand in I’ll Be There.

Berry Gordy is the man behind the hit factory that was Motown. The idea behind the label came from working in a car factory.

Housing the label, the studio, and a house band all in the same building proved to be a masterstroke as Berry set out to discover the greatest superstars of our time.

Berry Gordy on the web

Michael Jackson tunes

The King of Pop became world-famous before he was even a teenager as he signed to Motown with his brothers as The Jackson 5.

After many hits, Michael Jackson embarked on a crazy solo career that would see him become as big as Elvis and The Beatles.

Michael Jackson on the web

About me | Dan Lundholm

Dan Lundholm wrote this guitar lesson on I’ll Be There's chords.

This was a guitar lesson about I’ll Be There chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.

Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.