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6.11.9 "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" Chords: E♭ Minor?
The chords to 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine', recorded in the key of E♭ minor, can be interpreted as belonging to either of two keys.
The chord map below (Figure 99) shows the two possible interpretations. Marvin Gaye's orginal recording is in E♭ minor, but to play it easily on guitar, put the capo on the third fret and play the chords with C minor shapes, as though it's in the key of C minor.
Now for the two interpretations:
- The song is in they key of C major (E♭ major on the recording), but uses the tonic of the parallel minor key (Cm) as a variant chord. All three of the other chords are normal for the C major key, except that the chord F is replaced with F7, a common variant.
- The song is in the key of C minor (E♭ minor on the recording), but uses a seventh variant containing a major third (F7) in place of the default minor subdominant chord (Fm, which has a minor third). In this interpretation, the progression also uses a chromatic chord (Am).