Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! by The Beatles

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 18 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Bridge

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). 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.

Key changes

• Verse 1 moves to C minor.
• Bridge 1 moves to D minor.
• Verse 3 moves to C minor.
• Bridge 2 moves to D minor.

Section by section

Intro

• B♭ – A – Dm – G
  bVI – V – i – IV

Verse 1

• Cm – Gaug – B♭ – Dm – G – Gaug – Cm – Gaug – B♭ – Dm – A – Dm – Dm7/C – Gm/B♭
  i – V+ – bVII – ii – V – V+ – i – V+ – bVII – ii – VI – ii – ii⁴₂ – v⁶
• A – Dm – Gm (×2)
  VI – ii – v
• A – Dm – G
  VI – ii – V

Verse 2

• Cm – Gaug – B♭ – Dm – G – Gaug – Cm – Gaug – B♭ – Dm – A – Dm – Dm7/C – Gm/B♭ – A – Dm – Gm – A
  i – V+ – bVII – ii – V – V+ – i – V+ – bVII – ii – VI – ii – ii⁴₂ – v⁶ – VI – ii – v – VI

Bridge 1

• Dm – Aaug/E♯ – C – Em – A – Aaug – Dm – Aaug/E♯ – C – Em – B – Em – Em/G – Am/C – B – Em – Em7/G – Am/C – B – Em – G
  i – V+⁶₄ – bVII – ii – V – V+ – i – V+⁶₄ – bVII – ii – VI – ii – ii⁶ – v⁶ – VI – ii – ii⁶₅ – v⁶ – VI – ii – IV

Verse 3

• Cm – Gaug – B♭ – Dm – G – Gaug – Cm – Gaug – B♭ – Dm – A – Dm – Dm7/C – Gm/B♭ – A – Dm – Gm/B♭ – A
  i – V+ – bVII – ii – V – V+ – i – V+ – bVII – ii – VI – ii – ii⁴₂ – v⁶ – VI – ii – v⁶ – VI

Bridge 2

• Dm – Gm/B♭ – A – Dm – Aaug – C – Em – A – Aaug – Dm – Aaug – C – Em – B – Em – Em/G
  i – iv⁶ – V – i – V+ – bVII – ii – V – V+ – i – V+ – bVII – ii – VI – ii – ii⁶
• Am/C – B – Em (×3)
  v⁶ – VI – ii
• Em7/D – Am/C – B – Em
  ii⁴₂ – v⁶ – VI – ii

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G (IV) is borrowed from the parallel key, D major.
• Dm (ii) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.
• Dm7/C (ii⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.
• Em (ii) is borrowed from the parallel key, D major.
• Em/G (ii⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, D major.
• Em7/G (ii⁶₅) is borrowed from the parallel key, D major.
• Em7/D (ii⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, D major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). Expert chord and structure annotation of the original recording (CC BY 4.0 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.