Skip to song content
Chordier homepage
14,015 TRANSITIONS ANALYZED#1 at 23%: Which Transition?The 100 most repeated chord transitions extracted from thousands of songs. Even the first 10 will transform your guitar practice routine.

Percy Sledge - When A Man Loves A Woman Chords

DATA-DRIVENWhich Chord Comes Next?Learn the most likely chord transitions on guitar and start playing songs with confidence.
ChordsC, Em, Am, C7, F, G7, G, E7, D7
Strumming↓-↓↑-↓↑-↓↑

Before you play, tune your guitar and use the tools below to set up your view and flow.

CEmAmC7FG7CG7
WhenaCmanlovesaEmwoman,
Amcan’tkeephismindonC7nothingelse
FHe’lltradetheG7world,fortheCgoodthinghe’sfoundG7
IfsheisCbadhecan’tEmseeit,AmhecandonoC7wrong
FTurnhisbackonhisG7bestfriend,ifheCputherdownG7
WhenaCmanlovesaEmwoman,AmspendhisverylastC7dime
FTryin’toG7holdontoCwhatheneedsG7
He’dgiveupCallofhisEmcomfort,AmsleepoutintheC7rain
FIfshesaidG7that’sthewayitCoughttobeC7
FWell,thisGmanlovesaCwomanC7
FIgaveyouGeverythingIChadC7
FTryin’toG7holdontoCyourE7preciousAmlove
D7Baby,pleasedon’ttreatmeGbadG
WhenaCmanlovesaEmwoman,AmdowndeepinhisC7soul
FShecanG7bringhimsuchCmiseryG7
IfsheCplayshimforaEmfool,Amhe’sthelastC7onetoknow
FLovin’G7eyes,can’teverCseeC7
FWell,thisGmanlovesaCwomanC7
FIgaveyouGeverythingIChadC7
FTryin’toG7holdontoCyourE7preciousAmlove
D7Baby,pleasedon’ttreatmeGbadG
WhenaCmanlovesaEmwoman,AmshecandonoC7wrong
FHecanneverG7ownsomeCothergirlG7
YeswhenaCmanlovesaEmwoman,AmIknowexactlyhowC7hefeels
‘CauseFbaby,baby,G7baby,you’remyCworldG7
CEmAmC7FG7CG7
SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookDiscover the most-used three-chord combinations in songs and build real command on guitar.
14,015 TRANSITIONS ANALYZED#1 at 23%: Which Transition?Master guitar today with the most repeated high-impact chord transitions.
ArtistPercy Sledge
AlbumWhen a Man Loves a Woman
GenresSoul
Year1966
KeyC
DifficultyAdvanced

How to play When A Man Loves A Woman on Guitar (Step-by-step)

Percy Sledge - When A Man Loves A Woman on guitar requires 9 chords and 13 core chord transitions. You can find the full step-by-step guide below. Before you start, tune your instrument. The song uses the ↓-↓↑-↓↑-↓↑ pattern; practice it muted first, or simplify to downstrokes while you learn the changes.

When A Man Loves A Woman uses these transitions most often: G7 → C (19), C7 → F (16), and F → G7 (12). These transitions may feel a little challenging at first, but with steady practice you can play this song quickly.When you are ready, begin with C - Em chord transition.

1. C → Em chord transition

Guitar C chord diagram Fingering: x-3-2-0-1-0Guitar C chord diagram
Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram

Here's how to move from C to Em:

  1. While playing C, lift your index finger from B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on A string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from A string fret 3 to D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 10 times.

C to Em

2. Em → Am chord transition

Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram
Guitar Am chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-2-1-0Guitar Am chord diagram

Switching from Em to Am:

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on D string fret 2.
  2. Slide your ring finger from D string fret 2 to G string fret 2.
  3. Place index finger on B string fret 1.

This transition appears in the verse, played 10 times.

Em to Am

3. Am → C7 chord transition

Guitar Am chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-2-1-0Guitar Am chord diagram
Guitar C7 chord diagram Fingering: x-3-2-3-1-0Guitar C7 chord diagram

Here's how to move from Am to C7:

  1. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  2. Keep middle finger on D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from G string fret 2 and place it on A string fret 3.
  4. Place pinky on G string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 10 times.

Am to C7

4. C7 → F chord transition

Guitar C7 chord diagram Fingering: x-3-2-3-1-0Guitar C7 chord diagram
Guitar F chord diagram Fingering: 1-3-3-2-1-1 Barre at fret 1.Guitar F chord diagram

To move from C7 to F:

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on E string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from D string fret 2 to G string fret 2.
  3. Keep ring finger on A string fret 3.
  4. Lift your pinky from G string fret 3 and place it on D string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 16 times.

C7 to F

5. F → G7 chord transition

Switching from F to G7:

  1. While playing F, lift your pinky from D string fret 3.
  2. Lift your index finger from E string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 2.
  3. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  4. Lift your ring finger from A string fret 3 and place it on E string fret 1.

This transition appears in the verse, played 12 times.

6. G7 → C chord transition

Switching from G7 to C:

  1. Lift your index finger from A string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 3 to D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from E string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 19 times.

7. C → C7 chord transition

To move from C to C7:

  1. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  2. Keep middle finger on D string fret 2.
  3. Keep ring finger on A string fret 3.
  4. Place pinky on G string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 6 times.

8. F → G chord transition

To move from F to G:

  1. While playing F, lift your pinky from D string fret 3.
  2. Lift your index finger from E string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 2.
  3. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  4. Lift your ring finger from A string fret 3 and place it on E string fret 3.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 4 times.

9. G → C chord transition

To move from G to C:

  1. Lift your index finger from A string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 3 to D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from E string fret 3 and place it on A string fret 3.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 6 times.

10. C → E7 chord transition

Here's how to move from C to E7:

  1. While playing C, lift your ring finger from A string fret 3.
  2. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on G string fret 1.
  3. Slide your middle finger from D string fret 2 to A string fret 2.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 2 times.

11. E7 → Am chord transition

Switching from E7 to Am:

  1. Lift your index finger from G string fret 1 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from A string fret 2 to D string fret 2.
  3. Place ring finger on G string fret 2.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 2 times.

12. Am → D7 chord transition

To move from Am to D7:

  1. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on G string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 2.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 2 times.

13. D7 → G chord transition

Here's how to move from D7 to G:

  1. Lift your index finger from B string fret 1 and place it on A string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from G string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  3. Slide your ring finger on E string from fret 2 to fret 3.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 2 times.

When A Man Loves A Woman chord transition analysis

A short, data-driven summary of the chord flow in When A Man Loves A Woman.

  • When A Man Loves A Woman includes 109 chord transitions, 13 of them unique.
  • These transitions represent 0.03% of all chord transitions in Chordier.
  • When A Man Loves A Woman contains 3 of the top 10 transitions across Chordier.
  • These transition patterns show how When A Man Loves A Woman connects to the rest of Chordier. Mastering them helps you move to similar songs faster.
    After C, the most likely next chords across Chordier are G (35%), F (16%), and D (11%).
    • C → Em: 8%
    • C → G7: 2%
    After G7, the most likely next chords across Chordier are C (69%), C7 (5%), and F (5%).
    • G7 → C: 69%
SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookThe 200 most popular three-chord chains from real songs. See which songs use each chain and expand your repertoire with patterns that actually matter.