Billie Jean by Michael Jackson

Overview

Key: G minor · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Chorus → Solo → Chorus → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

• Gm
  i

Verse 1

• Gm – Cm (×3)
  i – iv
• Gm
  i

Pre-Chorus 1

• E♭ – Gm (×3)
  bVI – i
• E♭ – D
  bVI – V

Chorus 1

• Gm – Cm (×2)
  i – iv
• Gm
  i

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

• Gm – Cm – Gm
  i – iv – i

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo

• Gm – Cm – Gm
  i – iv – i

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• Gm
  i

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Gm	i	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Solo, Outro
Cm	iv	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Solo
E♭	bVI	In the key	Pre-Chorus
D	V	In the key	Pre-Chorus

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 100% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.