Chords + Lyrics | A Natural Woman
Intro
| 6/8 N.C F/C Bb/C F/C |
Verse 1
||: C | G/B | Bb | F C/E Dm :||
Looking out on the morning rain, I used to feel so uninspired.
And when I knew I had to face another day. Lord, it made me feel so tired.
Bridge 1
| Dm7 Em7 | Dm7 Em7 |
Before the day I met you, life was so unkind.
| Dm7 Em7 | Dm7 G11 |
But you’re the key to my peace of mind, ’cause you make me feel.
Chorus 1
| C F /A | C F /A |
You make me feel. You make me
| (C A G E D C) | Gsus4/D F C/E Dm |
feel like a natural woman (woman).
Verse 2
When my soul was in the lost and found, you came along to claim it.
I didn’t know just what was wrong with me. ’Til your kiss helped me name it.
Bridge 2
Now I’m no longer doubtful, of what I’m living for.
And if I make you happy I don’t need to do more, ’cause you make me feel.
Chorus 2
You make me feel. You make me
feel like a natural woman (woman).
Middle 8
| C | Gm9 |
Oh, baby, what you’ve done to me (what you’ve done to me).
| C | Gm9 |
You make me feel so good inside (good inside).
| Fmaj7 | Cm7 |
And I just want to be (want to be).
| Fmaj7 C/E | Dm7 G11 |
Close to you, you make me feel so alive.
Chorus 3
You make me feel. You make me feel.
You make me feel like a natural woman (woman).
Chorus 4
You make me feel. You make me feel.
You make me feel like a natural woman (woman).
| C F /A | C F /A |
You make me feel. You make me feel.
A Natural Woman Chords: Explore Chromatic Progressions and Slash Chords
In the key of C, we move chromatically down from the I chord, using the 3rd of the V chord, to the bVIIx. C–G/B–Bb.
This is followed by chord IV, and then a similar chromatic idea using the 3rd of chord I, down to chord II. F–C/E–Dm.
These two movements are the core of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman‘s chords. Here’s the basic verse chord progression:
| C (I) | G/B (V/3) | Bb (bVIIx) | F (IV) C/E (I/3) Dm (II) |
If played on just one acoustic guitar, try incorporating open strings to create more voice-leading. I’ve got some TAB detailing this, here’s a link: (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
If you play (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman‘s chords on the electric guitar in a band, simple stabs using the chords of the basic progression are probably a better idea.
Bridge
The bridge moves between chords II – III, Dm7–Em7, and finishes off on a G11, like this:
| Dm7 (II) Em7 (III) | Dm7 Em7 |
| Dm7 Em7 | Dm7 G11 (V) |
There’s TAB for the bridge and all other sections as well (follow the link above).
Chorus
The chorus has more slash chords. Start with chords I – IV, and then chord IV with the 3rd in the bass. C–F–F/A. Since the last A is late, I find it better to write F /A than F/A, like this:
| C (I) F (IV) /A | C F /A |
This is followed by more descending bass line work. Although as we go down to a C, if you play this on one guitar, we have to start so high it doesn’t feel like a bass line.
I could have written this as chord extensions, but it felt a bit pretentious, so I just put the notes in brackets, like this:
| (C A G E D C) | Gsus4/D F C/E Dm |
As there is a case to be made for writing this as intervals instead, I did that for the chord chart below. The final bar had to be done as chords and could potentially have been explained as having a G in the bass throughout, as the bass player would play only a G.
Middle 8
Finally, (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman‘s middle 8 uses the extremely rare Vm chord. C–Gm9 is so unusual it makes us sit up and pay attention. This is then moved to Fmaj7–Cm7; this is the same idea in a new key.
The final line of the middle 8 brings us a modified version of an earlier chord progression as we go Fmaj7–C/E–Dm7–G11. Here’s the complete chord progression for the middle 8.
| C (I) | Gm9 (Vm) | C | Gm9 | (key of C)
| Fmaj7 (I) | Cm7 (Vm) | (key of F)
| Fmaj7 (IV) C/E (I/3) | Dm7 (II) G11 (V) | (key of C)
If you are an aspiring songwriter, you should study all chord progressions in (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.
As a guitarist, you should play it both on the acoustic alone and electric in a band, as the two require almost opposite treatment, you’ll learn so much from doing this.
Once you have been through this deep dive into (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman‘s chords, a simple chord chart is all you need to remind you how to play this epic tune. Here’s one I made for you.
A Natural Woman Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: A Natural Woman chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro. Here’s a link to that file: A Natural Woman chord chart iReal Pro. You can change the key using this and the iRealPro app.
(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman TAB | Course Preview
In the course, you get TAB for all sections, adapted to work on a single acoustic guitar. The arrangement is based on Aretha’s original piano part—here’s a preview in the form of the intro.
Try this to see how I build these kinds of arrangements: first, work out what the original instrument plays, then strip back anything that doesn’t sit well on guitar—while still keeping the heart of the song intact.
A Natural Woman Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: A Natural Woman (Aretha Franklin) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
