Ask Me by Elvis Presley

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Interlude → Pre-Chorus → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). This page shows that transcription as-is: the analysis below is generated directly from it by code, not written by AI. Consecutive repeats of a chord are shown once, and the piano voicings are our playable arrangement of each chord symbol, not a note-for-note transcription.

Section by section

Intro

• A
  V

Verse

• D – D/C♯ – C – B7
  I – I (bass C♯) – bVII – VI7
• Em – Emmaj7/B – Em7 – A7 (×2)
  ii – iimaj⁴₃ – ii7 – V7
• D
  I

Pre-Chorus 1

• Bm – F♯m – D♯dim – Em – Gm7 – C7 – F – Em7 – A7
  vi – iii – #i° – ii – iv7 – bVII7 – bIII – ii7 – V7

Chorus 1

• D – D/C♯ – C – B7 – Em – Emmaj7/B – Em7 – A7
  I – I (bass C♯) – bVII – VI7 – ii – iimaj⁴₃ – ii7 – V7

Interlude

• D – D/C♯ – C – B7
  I – I (bass C♯) – bVII – VI7
• Em – Emmaj7/B – Em7 – A7 (×2)
  ii – iimaj⁴₃ – ii7 – V7
• D
  I

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

• D – D/C♯ – C – B7 – Em – Emmaj7/B – Em7 – A7 – D – Dmaj7 – Em7 – A7 – D – D/A – D
  I – I (bass C♯) – bVII – VI7 – ii – iimaj⁴₃ – ii7 – V7 – I – Imaj7 – ii7 – V7 – I – I⁶₄ – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• C (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Gm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• C7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• F (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• B7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to Em.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0658, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.