Piece of My Heart | Chords + Lyrics (Janis Joplin)
Intro
| F#m | A B |
| C#m | B | D | B |
| B | B7 |
Well, come on, come on, come on, come on.
Verse 1
| E A | B A |
Didn’t I make you feel like you
| E A | B A |
were the only man? Well, yeah!
| E A | B |
And didn’t I give you nearly everything that a woman possibly can? Honey, you know I did.
Bridge 1
| C#m | B |
(Oh) And each time I tell myself that I, well I think I’ve had enough.
| D | B |
(Oh) But what I’m gonna show you, baby, that a woman can be tough.
| B | B7 |
I want you to come on, come on, come on, come on and.
Chorus 1
| E A | B |
Take it! Take another little piece of my heart now, baby (oh, oh).
| E A | B |
(Break it) Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (oh, oh).
| E A | B Bb |
(Have a) Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.
| A | A E/G# F#m E | E A | B A |
You know you got it, if it makes you feel good. Lord, yes indeed.
Verse 2
| E A | B A |
You’re out on the streets looking good and baby deep down in your heart.
| E A | B A |
I guess you know that it ain’t right. Never, never, never, never, never.
| E A | B |
Never hear me when I cry at night. Babe, and I cry all the time.
Bridge 2
| C#m | B |
(Oh) But each time I tell myself that I, well I can’t stand the pain
| D | B |
(Oh) But when you hold me in your arms, I’ll sing it once again.
| B | B7 |
I’ll say come on, come on, come on, come on, yeah.
Chorus 2
| E A | B |
Take it! Take another little piece of my heart now, baby (oh, oh).
| E A | B |
(Break it) Break another little bit of my heart now, darling, yeah (oh, oh).
| E A | B Bb |
(Have a) Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.
| A | A E/G# F#m E |
Well you know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good.
Solo
||: F#m | A B :|| x4
| C#m | B | D | B |
| B | B7 |
I need you to come on, come on, come on, come on, and.
Chorus 3
| E A | B |
Take it! Take another little piece of my heart now, baby (oh, oh).
| E A | B |
(Break it) Break another little bit of my heart, now darling, yeah, c’mon now (oh, oh).
| E A | B Bb |
(Have a) Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.
| A | 2/4 N.C | 4/4
You know you got it whoah! Take it.
Chorus 4
| E A | B |
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby (oh, oh).
| E A | B |
(Break it) Break another little bit of my Heart, now darling, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah (oh, oh).
| E A | B Bb |
(Have a) Have another little piece of my heart now, baby, hey.
| A | A E/G# F#m E |
You know you got it, child if it makes you feel good.
Outro
| F#m | A B | F#m |
Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart | Chords + Lyrics (Dusty Springfield)
Intro
||: D G | A G :||
Verse 1
| D G | A G | D G | A G |
Didn’t I make you feel, like you were the only man?
| D G | A Bbdim7 |
Didn’t I give you everything a woman possibly can?
Bridge 1
| Bm | A |
(Oh) But with all the love I give you, it’s never enough.
| C | A |
(Ah, oh) Now I’m gonna show you baby, that a woman can be tough.
| A | A |
So (come on, come on, come on, come on, and).
Chorus 1
| D G | A |
(Take it) Take another little piece of my heart, now baby.
| D G | A |
(Break it) Break another little bit of my heart, now honey.
| D G | A Ab |
(Have a) Have another little piece of my heart now, baby.
| G | G D/F# Em D |
You know you’ve got it if it makes you feel good.
Verse 2
| D G | A G | D G | A G |
Yeah out on the street (you know) and you know deep down in your heart that ain’t right.
| D G | A Bbdim7 |
And I know you never, never hear me when I cry at night (woah).
Bridge 2
| Bm | A |
(Ah, oh) I tell myself that I can’t stand the pain.
| C | A |
(Ah, oh) But when you hold me in your arms, I say it again.
| A | A |
So (come on come on, come on, come on and).
Chorus 3
| D G | A |
(Take it) Take another little piece of my heart, now baby.
| D G | A |
(Break it) Break another little bit of my heart, now honey. You’d better.
| D G | A Ab |
(Have a) Have another little piece of my heart, now baby.
| G | G D/F# Em D |
You know you’ve got it if it makes you feel good. You’d better.
Chorus 4
| D G | A |
(Take it) Take another little bit of my heart, now baby.
| D G | A |
(Break it) Break another little bit of my heart honey, now baby. You’d better.
| D G | A |
(Have a) Have another little piece of my heart, now baby. You’d better.
| D G | A |
(Take it) Take another little bit of my heart now baby.
Piece of My Heart Chords: Learn the progressions
Above, you’ve seen chords and lyrics for Piece of My Heart by Janis Joplin (1968), as well as Take Another Little Piece Of My Heart by Dusty Springfield (1968). Both versions are common on the working band’s setlist.
I’ve left the actual original version out, it’s only included in Dusty’s playlist. The original version was released in 1967 by Erma Franklin, Aretha Franklin‘s older sister.
This version was (apparently) written by Jerry Ragovoy and Bert Berns. I say apparently as Bert is known for stealing songs. Most famously, he took Brown Eyed Girl from Van Morrison.
Hilariously enough, Bert first asked Van Morrison to record Piece of My Heart, before he got Erma to do it!
Anyway, let’s focus on what the chords are for Janis and Dusty’s versions as these are the two versions you’ll be asked to play in a band.
The two versions are not just in different keys but vary in the arrangement so do make sure the band has agreed on which version you’re going to play!
One more detail before we start. In order to be in tune with the Janis Joplin version, you need to tune up to 444Hz, Dusty is at standard 440Hz. Use my free online guitar tuner to get to either.
Let’s start with the intro(s). Here are Janis Joplin‘s chords for Piece of My Heart’s intro, we’re in the key of E.
| F#m | A B |
| C#m | B | D | B |
| B | B7 |
These chords come back later in the solo, this is a II – IV – V (later repeated). The second line is VI – V – bVIIx – V. The D chord is the bVIIx.
Finally, we play chord V as Janis starts singing “…come on…”
In Dusty’s version, we just play the verse chords twice, like this in the key of D:
||: D G | A G :||
The G is rhythmically played differently the second time, but the chords are the same twice.
Next, the verse chords. Here’s Janis’s I – IV – V – IV:
||: E A | B A :||
| E A | B |
Dusty on the other hand seems to want a dim7 chord at the end, like this:
||: D G | A G :||
| D G | A Bbdim7 |
This takes us to the bridge chords which for Janis are VI – V – bVIIx – V:
| C#m | B | D | B | B | B7 |
Dusty’s bridge is almost identical, just a tone lower due to the overall key signature. There’s no dom7 chord at the end, that’s all.
| Bm | A | C | A | A | A |
The chorus is where things get a bit more complex. Here are Janis’s chords:
| E A | B | E A | B |
| E A | B Bb |
| A | A E/G# F#m E |
After chorus 1, she plays two bars of verse chords, after chorus 2 she doesn’t and instead goes to a solo. At the end of chorus 3, she doesn’t go to the turnaround, instead, it’s a 2/4 bar. The last chorus is followed by the outro.
For Dusty, we play the first three choruses in the same way, every time. The final chorus loops the same three chords to fade.
| D G | A | D G | A |
| D G | A Ab |
| G | G D/F# Em D |
This brings us to the solo, which only Janis has. It’s the same as the intro, apart from that the opening line is repeated four times, like this:
||: F#m | A B :|| x4
| C#m | B | D | B |
| B | B7 |
The outro is the same as the intro, finished on an F#m.
As you can see, there’s plenty of room for getting Piece Of My Heart’s chords wrong if half the band has listened to Janis and the other half to Dusty!
The super pro-working guitarist learns both and adjusts to whatever band they’re gigging with.
Piece of My Heart Chords | Related Pages
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Janis Joplin tunes
Janis Joplin’s short career of just 4 years started in 1967 with the band Big Brother & The Holding Company.
Her best tunes include Move Over, Piece Of My Heart, Summertime, Mercedes Benz, To Love Somebody, and Me and Bobby McGee.
Janis Joplin on the web
Dusty Springfield tunes
Dusty Springfield is the ’60s and ’70s singer from London U.K. who was a big part of bringing American R&B and soul to the U.K.
Her most famous songs include Son Of A Preacher Man, Spooky, You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me, and I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself.
Dusty Springfield on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Piece of My Heart’s 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.
