Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis Presley
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 10 steps · 3 unique chords · 1950s
A
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: A major · Chords used: 3 · Sections: 2
Form: Intro → 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
- A – D – A – E – A
I – IV – I – V – I
Outro
- A – D – A – E (×6)
I – IV – I – V - A
I
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | I | Home chord (tonic) | Intro, Outro |
| D | IV | In the key | Intro, Outro |
| E | V | In the key | Intro, Outro |
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.
Sources & Accuracy
Every chord on this page comes from the expert transcription listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.
- the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de ClercqExpert transcription
Annotated from the original recording by trained musicians for a published research dataset.
Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
- the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David TemperleyExpert transcription
Annotated from the original recording by trained musicians for a published research dataset.
Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 100% of the song.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 2 | Intro | D | D2, A2 | D4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 3 | Intro | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 4 | Intro | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 5 | Intro | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 6 | Outro, part 1 (×6) | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 7 | Outro, part 1 (×6) | D | D2, A2 | D4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 8 | Outro, part 1 (×6) | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 9 | Outro, part 1 (×6) | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 10 | Outro, part 2 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |