Let’s Get It On | Chords + Lyrics
Verse 1
||: Eb Eb/G | Eb/Ab Abmaj7 Bb9 | Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 :||
I’ve been really tryin’, baby. Tryin’ to hold back this feeling for so long.
And if you feel like I feel, baby. Then, c’mon, oh, c’mon, whoa.
Chorus 1
||: Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 | Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Bb7 :||
Let’s get it on. Ah, baby, let’s get it on. Let’s love, baby
Let’s get it on, sugar. Let’s get it on, woo-hoo.
Verse 2
||: Eb Eb/G | Eb/Ab Abmaj7 Bb9 | Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 :||
We’re all sensitive people, with so much to give. Understand me, sugar (ooh ooh)
Since we’ve got to be here, let’s live. I love you.
Verse 3
||: Eb Eb/G | Eb/Ab Abmaj7 Bb9 | Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 :||
There’s nothing wrong with me, loving you, baby no no.
And giving yourself to me can never be wrong, if the love is true, oh baby.
Bridge 1
||: Ab7 | Ab7 | Eb Eb6 Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 (A7) :||
Ooh, don’t you know how sweet and wonderful life can be ooh (let me love you).
I’m asking you baby to get it on with me ooh ooh (let me love you).
I ain’t gonna worry (let me love you) I ain’t gonna push, won’t push you baby (let me love you).
| Ab7 | F7 | Bb7 | Bb7 |
So c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, baby. Stop beatin’ ’round the bush, hey.
Chorus 2
||: Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 | Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Bb7 :||
Let’s get it on (ooh ooh). Let’s get it on (ooh ooh). You know what I’m talkin’ ’bout
C’mon, baby, hey, hey. Let your love come out. If you believe in love.
Let’s get it on, ooh. Let’s get it on, baby. This minute, oh yeah.
Let’s get it on. Please, please get it on.
Bridge 2
||: Ab7 | Ab7 | Eb Eb6 Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 (A7) :||
I know and you know what I’ve been dreaming of, don’t you baby? (ah, ah, ah, ah).
My whole body makes that feelin’ of love, I’m happy (my body wants ya, my body wants ya).
I ain’t gonna worry, no I ain’t gonna push (ah) I won’t push you baby, woo (ah ah).
| Ab7 | F7 | Bb7 | Bb7 |
C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, darlin’. Stop beatin’ ’round the bush.
Outro Chorus
||: Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 | Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Bb7 :||
Oh, gonna get it on (ooh, ooh). Threatenin’ you, baby (ooh, ooh).
I wanna get it on (ooh, ooh). You don’t have to worry that it’s wrong (ooh, ooh).
If the spirit moves ya (ooh, ooh). Let me groove ya good (ooh, ooh)
Let your love come down (ooh, ooh). Oh, get it on.
C’mon, baby (ooh, ooh). Do you know the meaning? (ooh, ooh)
I’ve been sanctified (ooh, ooh), hey hey.
Girl, you give me good feeling (ooh, ooh) (so good).
So good, somethin’ like sanctified (ooh, ooh). Oh dear I, baby (ooh, ooh)
Nothing wrong with love (ooh, ooh). If you want to love me just let yourself go (ooh, ooh)
Oh baby, let’s get it on (ooh, ooh).
Let’s Get It On Chords: Learn the progressions
The more you play in Soul/Motown bands, and the deeper you dig into these incredible compositions, the more you discover and learn about chords.
And funnily enough, the more difficult it is to define what the chords and progressions for a song like Marvin Gaye‘s Let’s Get It On actually are.
If you do a quick Google search, you’ll probably end up with this:
||: Eb Gm | Ab Bb :||
I can say for certain that this is not correct. That would be the beginner kids’ version, which for a song with this kind of lyrical content and musical style feels wrong on so many levels!
Instead, there are loads of lovely extensions, disguised as chord licks, and rarely played the same twice.
But transcribing and defining exactly what’s going on for every bar is as wrong as reading blues solos, that’s not the way it’s done, this style of music is not played and memorized like rock music, it’s more like jazz; constantly changing.
What you see above are three different chord progressions that once memorized, will get you into playing in an improvised way.
Here are Let’s Stay Together’s verse chords, you could play this exactly the same over and over and it would work.
||: Eb Eb/G | Eb/Ab Abmaj7 Bb9 | Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 :||
As you can see, it’s not a Gm, or Gm7, it’s an Eb/G, this could also be described as a Gm6. Play along with the recording and try both Eb/G and Gm (kid’s version) and you’ll hear what a difference this makes.
The second time around, I’ve put in a Gm7, this creates variation.
In the next bar, I’ve got an Eb/Ab – Abmaj7, this quick variation works really well, leading to a Bb9.
As this repeats in bar 4, I’ve swapped them over and then finished on a Bb11.
Play this on repeat and you’ll start to hear that these subtle movements are a million miles away from Eb – Gm – Ab – Bb.
Here’s what I’ve put down for the Let’s Stay Together’s chorus chords.
||: Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 | Eb Gm7 | Abmaj7 Bb7 :||
The first two bars are the same as the last two bars of the verse. The last two are simpler, which creates a nice relief!
Finally, the bridge chords.
||: Ab7 | Ab7 | Eb Eb6 Gm7 | Abmaj7 Eb/Ab Bb11 (A7) :||
I’ve introduced an Eb – Eb6 here, you could after learning all these chord progressions start putting that in during the verse and chorus as well.
The final A7 is a leading chord back to Ab7, a tritone substitution.
Before we go back to the chorus again, there’s one more progression of the bridge. I’ve kept these chords simple as I feel it builds better this way and makes the verse/chorus chords feel more adventurous.
| Ab7 | F7 | Bb7 | Bb7 |
Start with learning how to play Let’s Get It On using the chords as I’ve written them above with lyrics. Once you feel comfortable, introduce small variations.
What those variations will be won’t be clear until you first have gone through this process.
Let’s Get It On Chords | Related Pages
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Marvin Gaye tunes
Marvin Gaye helped shape the Motown sound as a drummer, session singer, writer, lead singer, and producer in the 60s and 70s.
Marvin’s hits include I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, Can I Get A Witness, and politically fueled What’s Going On.
Marvin Gaye on the web
Motown & Soul
Motown & Soul is the best place to start if you want to get better at playing the electric guitar. The harmony is simple and there is room for improvisation.
Learn tunes by The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, and many more.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Let’s Get It On chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
