Bird Dog by The Everly Brothers

Overview

Key: B major · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Verse → Transition → Verse → Transition → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Transition → Chorus → Transition

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

• B – E – A – F♯7 (×2)
  I – IV – bVII – V7

Verse 1

• B – E – B – F♯ – E7
  I – IV – I – V – IV7

Transition 1

• B – E – A – F♯7
  I – IV – bVII – V7

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Chorus 1

• E7 – B – F♯ – E7 – B – B7 – E7 – B – F♯7 – E7
  IV7 – I – V – IV7 – I – I7 – IV7 – I – V7 – IV7

Transition 3

• B – E – A – F♯7 (×2)
  I – IV – bVII – V7

Verse 3

• B – E – B – F♯7 – E7
  I – IV – I – V7 – IV7

Transition 4

Same chords as Transition 1.

Chorus 2

• E7 – B – F♯7 – E7 – B – B7 – E7 – B – F♯7 – E7
  IV7 – I – V7 – IV7 – I – I7 – IV7 – I – V7 – IV7

Transition 5

• B – E – A – F♯7 (×3)
  I – IV – bVII – V7
• B – E – A
  I – IV – bVII

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• A (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, B minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0322, 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.