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Stevie Wonder’s 1972 classic hit “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” is a contagious musical celebration of life and love. In today’s Quick Tip, Play You Are the Sunshine of My Life, John Proulx demonstrates how to adopt this beloved classic for solo piano. You’ll learn:

• You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Song Facts
• You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Song Analysis
• You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Chords
• You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Piano Techniques

If you’re looking to add a song to your repertoire that everyone will love, then this lesson is for you!

You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Song Facts

“You Are the Sunshine of My Life” was released in October of 1972 as the opening track on Stevie Wonder’s fifteenth studio album, Talking Book. The joyful love anthem gained massive appeal on the listening charts in 1973, rising to #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Adult Contemporary chart, and peaking at #3 on the R&B chart.¹ “Sunshine” also earned Wonder the 1973 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and was nominated for Song for the Year.²

The single version of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” was released in 1973 as the second single from Talking Book. The first single was “Superstition,” which also reached #1. Interestingly, the single version of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” features a different mix than what appears on Talking Book. Specifically, the single version adds horns to the mix. In fact, you can compare both recordings below.

Behind the lyrics of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” is Stevie’s relationship with his first wife, Syreeta Wright. They had met in 1968 and married in 1970 when Stevie was 20 and Syreeta was 24. Wright, who was a gifted singer-songwriter in her own right, was initially hired as a receptionist at Motown in 1965. However, her voice quickly made room for her to record demos and background vocals. By 1968, she recorded her first single, “I Can’t Give Back the Love I Feel for You.”

Musically speaking, Stevie and Syreeta worked closely together. Syreeta co-wrote several songs with Stevie and also added background vocals for his songs, including “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” (1970) and “If You Really Love Me” (1971). Even though the chemistry between Stevie and Syreeta could influence a classic song like “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” sadly, it was not enough to hold their young marriage together beyond eighteen months. However, their partnership as musical collaborators continued for more than two decades.³

You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Song Analysis

Now that you’re familiar with some of the background behind of this timeless song, let’s take a closer look at its musical structure, including its key and form.

Song Key

Stevie Wonder’s original 1972 recording of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” is in the key B major (with a modulation up to C major near the end). On the other hand, The Real Book and other fake books have published the tune in C major. For today’s lesson, we’ll examine the tune in C major (with a modulation to D♭ major).

Song Form

“You Are The Sunshine Of My Life” uses a pop-song structure that includes three choruses and two verses, with no bridge. Therefore, the song form is ABABA. However, there is a climactic key change that modulates up a half step before the final chorus.

Chord Changes & Harmonic Function

After identifying a song’s structure and tonal center, the next step is to begin to analyze the chord progressions. In this step, we use Roman numerals to identify the relationship of each chord to the parent key. These Roman numerals represent the harmonic function of each chord. In other words, the Roman numeral analysis explains how each chord is behaving in the context of this song.

The following lead sheet contains the chord changes for “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” that John Proulx plays in today’s featured video. The harmonic analysis is also indicated with Roman numerals below each measure.

In the harmonic analysis shown above, all of the chords are identified in relation to the parent key. However, a curved arrow after a dominant chord (as in measure 8) indicates that this chord is functioning as a secondary dominant. In other words, the various A7alt chords in measure 8 are behaving as the “Ⅴ of Ⅱ” (pronounced “five of two”). Similarly, a straight arrow after a minor 7th chord (as in measure 7) or a half-diminished chord (as in measure 19) indicates that this chord is functioning as Ⅱ chord in a secondary Ⅱ→Ⅴ→Ⅰ progression. Thus, the progression Em9→A7alt→Dm7 in measures 7–9 sounds like a Ⅱ→Ⅴ→Ⅰ progression in D minor.

In music theory, we use the term tonicization to describe a temporary tonal shift like measures 7–9 that doesn’t result in a cadence in a new key. By contrast, we would use the term modulation to describe a more lengthy or permanent key change. For example, in this tune, the A♭9 chord in measure 29 sets up a permanent modulation to D♭ major.

You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Chords

One of the challenges of reading from a lead sheet like the one that we examined in the previous section is that you must know how to build all the chords that are represented by the chord symbols. In this section, we’ve provided a chord chart that contains all of the essential piano chords that you need to know to play “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” To simplify matters a bit, this chart is limited to triads, 7th chords, and a few slash chords. However, in the next section, we’ll show you how to play more advanced chord voicings that contain chord extensions and alterations.

Check out the following courses for a deep dive on essential jazz piano skills needed to play from a lead sheet:

🔎 Play Piano Lead Sheets with 7th Chords (Early Intermediate)

🔎 Play Piano Lead Sheets with Rootless Voicings (Late Intermediate)

You Are the Sunshine of My Life: Piano Techniques

In this section, we’ll take a closer look at how to play “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” on piano. Due to publisher’s restrictions, this section will focus primarily on accompaniment and improv techniques. All of the examples shown below come from the PDF lesson sheet for today’s lesson. In fact, you can download the PDF from the bottom of this page after logging in with your membership. PWJ members can also easily change the key of this material with one click using our Smart Sheet Music. If you’d like, you may also acquire a lead sheet containing the melody from our partners at MusicNotes.com.

Iconic Intro

First, let’s examine the iconic intro to “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” The unique sound of this introduction is owning to Steve Wonder’s innovative use of the whole tone scale—a 6-note scale that is formed entirely from whole steps. For example, the G whole tone scale contains the notes G–A–B–C♯–D♯–F. Notice that this scale contains a G7(♯5) chord with the notes G–B–D♯–F. Therefore, the whole tone scale is often paired with dominant 7th(♯5) chords.

If you harmonize the G whole tone scale in 3rds, add some rhythmic syncopation and dial up a Fender Rhodes patch, all of a sudden you get a familiar sound:

Chorus

Next, let’s examine how to play the chords and a piano accompaniment groove for the chorus of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” Even though “Sunshine” is generally regarded as a “pop” song, stylistically, the feel is quite similar to a bossa nova groove—especially the bass line. Therefore, that’s the approach we’ll use here. Here is an example of a groove that you could play behind a vocalist:

Notice that we’ve analyzed the G/F chord in measure 6 differently here than we did earlier. You might be tempted to think of this chord as some type of Ⅴ chord. However, another way to think of this chord is as F6/9(#11), which would categorize it as a Ⅳ chord. Although F6/9(#11) is a complicated chord symbol, it makes more sense to view the chord in measure 6 as a Ⅳ chord in light of the overall chord progression, which then becomes Ⅰ→Ⅳ→Ⅲ→Ⅵ→Ⅱ→Ⅴ→Ⅰ. Here at PWJ, we call this the extended turnaround progression.

The extended turnaround progression is a common progression that appears is dozens of popular tunes including “O Christmas Tree,” “They Can’t Take That Away From Me,” “Teach Me Tonight,” and “The More I See You.” In this progression, the Ⅳ chord is usually a dominant 7th chord, but it also works with a major 7th or major 6/9 sound. In fact, during the solo section, John Proulx switches to a dominant 7(#11) sound for this chord.

🔎 Check out Extended Turnaround Improv (Int, Adv) for a deep dive on this essential jazz chord progression.

Verse

Next, let’s examine how to play a piano accompaniment groove for the verse section of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” We’ll use the same quasi bossa groove here that we did for the chorus section. Check it out:

One of the harmonic surprises in the verse section is the Amaj9 chord in measure 21. If we consider measures 19–21, we have the chord progression Bø7→E7(♭9)→A▵9. These chords form a Ⅱ→Ⅴ→Ⅰ progression, albeit with a unique twist. Here, Stevie is mixing chords from A minor and A major. For example, the Bø7 and E7(♭9) come from A minor. However, the resolution chord, A▵9, comes from A major. In music theory, we call this modal interchange.

Incidentally, perhaps you’re wondering where these hip right-hand voicings are coming from? Actually, most of these voicings are standard rootless voicings. In fact, you can master all of your rootless voicings in the following learning track:

🔎 Late Intermediate Piano Foundations – Level 6 Learning Track

Key Change

The final chorus of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” features a climactic key change. This is facilitated by taking the G9(sus4) in measure 27 and raising it up a half step to A♭(sus4) in measure 29. Here is the final chorus in D♭ major:

Let’s take a closer look at the chords in measure 33. Here we have B♭13(♭9) followed by B♭7♯9♭13) followed by B♭7(♭9♯11). These are all different ways to play B♭7 with an altered dominant sound. However, notice that for each altered dominant voicing, the right hand plays a simple major triad shape—first G major, then G♭ major and finally E major. These are examples of what we call upper structure triads in jazz theory. Upper structure triads allow jazz pianists to achieve advanced chord sounds by combining simpler shapes in each hand.

🔎 Check out Coloring Dominant Chords with Upper Structures (Adv) to learn five essential upper structure triads for jazz piano.
🔎 Check out Modulation Essentials – How to Modulate a Song (Beg/Int, Adv) to learn 4 common modulation techniques.

Improvisation

Suppose you are performing “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” live and want to take a piano solo like John does in today’s featured Quick Tip video. In this section, we’ll cover some hip jazz scales you can use to get some exciting melodic sounds.

When it comes to choosing improv scales, there are two main considerations to keep in mind: (1) chord quality and (2) harmonic context. First and foremost, the chord quality itself will limit the range of compatible scale choices that are available. Secondly, the harmonic context often makes certain improv scales more suitable than others. For example, when a dominant 7th chord resolves to a major chord, the Dominant Diminished Scale is a popular choice. However, when a dominant 7th chord resolves to a minor chord, then the Phrygian Dominant Scale is the “go to” sound. If you have a dominant 7th chord that is a Ⅱ7, ♭Ⅶ7 or Ⅳ7, then the Lydian Dominant Scale typically the preferred sound.

The following example shows the “go to” improve scale for each chord of the A section of “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” One way to get your ears and fingers prepared to improvise is to play each scale in time from the root to the 7th.

Improv Scales

After playing through this exercise as written, try playing the same exercise with the scales descending from the 7th to the root. Then, try alternating each bar between ascending and descending scales.

Now, let’s listen to a sample solo that uses these improv scales:

Sample Solo

Note: John also references two alternative scales that you can use in measure 4 for a slightly different sound:

• A Dominant Diminished Scale: A–B♭–C–C♯–D♯–E–F♯–G
• A Altered Scale: A–B♭–C–C♯–D♯–F–G

Conclusion

Congratulations, you’ve completed today’s lesson on Play You Are the Sunshine of My Life. With the tips and tricks that you’ve picked up in today’s lesson, you’ll be ready to jam on this tune in no time.

If you enjoyed today’s lesson, then you’ll love the following PWJ resources:

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¹ Hogan, Ed. “You Are the Sunshine of My Life Review.” AllMusic.Com, Netaktion, LLC.

² “Artist: Stevie Wonder.” Grammy.com, Recording Academy.

³ Breihan, Tom. “The Number Ones: Stevie Wonder’s ‘You Are the Sunshine of My Life.’” Stereogum.com, Stereogum Media, 28 Mar. 2019.

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