Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 54 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Solo → Part → Part → Outro

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

• Solo moves to E♭ major.
• Part 1 moves to A major.
• Part 2 moves to E♭ major.

Section by section

Intro

• B♭6 – C7 (×2)
  I6 – II7
• F7 – Cm7 – F7 – B♭ – Cm7 – B♭ – Gm – B♭7 – E♭ – Cm – F7
  V7 – ii7 – V7 – I – ii7 – I – vi – I7 – IV – ii – V7
• B/D♯ – B♭/D – A/C♯ – B♭/D (×2)
  #I⁶ – I⁶ – VII⁶ – I⁶
• E♭ – B♭/D – C♯dim – F/C – F
  IV – I⁶ – #ii° – V⁶₄ – V

Verse 1

• B♭ – Gm – Cm – F – B♭ – Gm – Cm7 – Baug – E♭/B♭ – F/A – Fm/A♭ – E♭ – B♭/D – Cm – Fm – Fm/E – Fm/E♭ – Fm/D – B♭ – E♭ – B♭/D – Cm – A♭m – E♭ – A♭ – E♭ – E♭dim – Fm7
  I – vi – ii – V – I – vi – ii7 – #I+ – IV⁶₄ – V⁶ – v⁶ – IV – I⁶ – ii – v – v (bass E) – v (bass E♭) – v (bass D) – I – IV – I⁶ – ii – bvii – IV – bVII – IV – iv° – v7

Verse 2

• B♭ – Gm – Cm – F – B♭ – Gm – Cm7 – Baug – E♭/B♭ – F/A – Fm/A – E♭ – B♭/D – Cm – Fm – Fm/E – Fm/E♭ – Fm/D – B♭
  I – vi – ii – V – I – vi – ii7 – #I+ – IV⁶₄ – V⁶ – v (bass A) – IV – I⁶ – ii – v – v (bass E) – v (bass E♭) – v (bass D) – I

Solo

• E♭ – B♭/D – Cm – Fm – Fm/E – Fm/E♭ – Fm/D – B♭7 – E♭ – Gm/D – Cm – Fm – Fm/E – Fm/E♭ – Fm/D – D♭ – D♭/C – B♭m
  I – V⁶ – vi – ii – ii (bass E) – ii (bass E♭) – ii (bass D) – V7 – I – iii⁶₄ – vi – ii – ii (bass E) – ii (bass E♭) – ii (bass D) – bVII – bVII (bass C) – v

Part 1

• A – D/A – A – Adim (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – i°
• A – D/A (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• A – Adim – A – D/A – A – D♭/A♭ – A♭ – C/G – E – A
  I – i° – I – IV⁶₄ – I – bIV⁶₄ – bI – bIII⁶₄ – V – I
• B/D♯ – B♭/D – A/C♯ – B♭/D (×2)
  II⁶ – bII⁶ – I⁶ – bII⁶
• A♭/E♭ – E♭ – E♭dim – E♭ (×2)
  bI⁶₄ – bV – bv° – bV
• A♭ – E♭/G – F – B♭ – A♭ – E♭/G – F♯dim – Fm7
  bI – bV⁶ – bVI – bII – bI – bV⁶ – vi° – bvi7
• B – B♭ – A – B♭ (×2)
  II – bII – I – bII
• E♭ – B♭ (×3)
  bV – bII
• G♭7 – B5 – A – D – D♭ – G♭
  VI7 – II5 – I – IV – bIV – VI
• B♭ – E♭ (×2)
  bII – bV
• A♭ – D – Gm – B♭
  bI – IV – bvii – bII

Part 2

• E♭ – F7 – B♭7 – E♭/B♭ – B♭ – E♭ – B♭ – D♭ – B♭7 – E♭/B♭ – B♭ – E♭ – A♭
  I – II7 – V7 – I⁶₄ – V – I – V – bVII – V7 – I⁶₄ – V – I – IV
• Fm – B♭ (×2)
  ii – V
• Fm7 – B♭ (×2)
  ii7 – V
• E♭ – F7 – F♯ – A♭ – B – A♭ – B♭
  I – II7 – #II – IV – #V – IV – V

Outro

• E♭ – B♭/D – Cm – G/B – Cm – G7/B – Cm – B♭7 – E♭ – D – Gm – A♭ – E♭
  I – V⁶ – vi – III⁶ – vi – III⁶₅ – vi – V7 – I – VII – iii – IV – I
• Cm – Gm (×2)
  vi – iii
• Cm – A♭m – B♭11 – E♭ – A♭/E♭ – E♭ – E♭dim – B♭/D – B♭m/D♭ – C7 – C7♭9 – C7 – F – B♭ – F/A – A♭dim – Gm7 – F
  vi – iv – V11 – I – IV⁶₄ – I – i° – V⁶ – v⁶ – VI7 – VI7b9 – VI7 – II – V – II⁶ – iv° – iii7 – II

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
B♭6	I6	Home chord (tonic)	Intro
C7	II7	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Intro
F7	V7	In the key	Intro
Cm7	ii7	In the key	Intro, Verse
B♭	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse
Gm	vi	In the key	Intro, Verse
B♭7	I7	Secondary dominant (V/IV)	Intro
E♭	IV	In the key	Intro, Verse
Cm	ii	In the key	Intro, Verse
B/D♯	#I⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
B♭/D	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse
A/C♯	VII⁶	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
C♯dim	#ii°	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
F/C	V⁶₄	In the key	Intro
F	V	In the key	Intro, Verse
Baug	#I+	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
E♭/B♭	IV⁶₄	In the key	Verse
F/A	V⁶	In the key	Verse
Fm/A♭	v⁶	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Verse
Fm	v	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Verse
Fm/E	v (bass E)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
Fm/E♭	v (bass E♭)	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Verse
Fm/D	v (bass D)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
A♭m	bvii	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
A♭	bVII	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Verse
E♭dim	iv°	Outside the key (chromatic)	Verse
Fm7	v7	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Verse
Fm/A	v (bass A)	Borrowed from B♭ minor	Verse
E♭	I (in E♭ major)	Home chord (tonic)	Solo, Part, Outro
B♭/D	V⁶ (in E♭ major)	In the key	Solo, Outro
Cm	vi (in E♭ major)	In the key	Solo, Outro
Fm	ii (in E♭ major)	In the key	Solo, Part
Fm/E	ii (bass E) (in E♭ major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
Fm/E♭	ii (bass E♭) (in E♭ major)	In the key	Solo
Fm/D	ii (bass D) (in E♭ major)	In the key	Solo
B♭7	V7 (in E♭ major)	In the key	Solo, Part, Outro
Gm/D	iii⁶₄ (in E♭ major)	In the key	Solo
D♭	bVII (in E♭ major)	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Solo, Part
D♭/C	bVII (bass C) (in E♭ major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Solo
B♭m	v (in E♭ major)	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Solo
A	I (in A major)	Home chord (tonic)	Part
D/A	IV⁶₄ (in A major)	In the key	Part
Adim	i° (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
D♭/A♭	bIV⁶₄ (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
A♭	bI (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
C/G	bIII⁶₄ (in A major)	Borrowed from A minor	Part
E	V (in A major)	In the key	Part
B/D♯	II⁶ (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
B♭/D	bII⁶ (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
A/C♯	I⁶ (in A major)	Home chord (tonic)	Part
A♭/E♭	bI⁶₄ (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
E♭	bV (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
E♭dim	bv° (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
E♭/G	bV⁶ (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
F	bVI (in A major)	Borrowed from A minor	Part
B♭	bII (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
F♯dim	vi° (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
Fm7	bvi7 (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
B	II (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
G♭7	VI7 (in A major)	Secondary dominant (V/II)	Part
B5	II5 (in A major)	In the key	Part
D	IV (in A major)	In the key	Part
D♭	bIV (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
G♭	VI (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
Gm	bvii (in A major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Part
F7	II7 (in E♭ major)	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Part
E♭/B♭	I⁶₄ (in E♭ major)	Home chord (tonic)	Part
B♭	V (in E♭ major)	In the key	Part, Outro
A♭	IV (in E♭ major)	In the key	Part, Outro
Fm7	ii7 (in E♭ major)	In the key	Part
F♯	#II (in E♭ major)	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Part
B	#V (in E♭ major)	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Part
G/B	III⁶ (in E♭ major)	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Outro
G7/B	III⁶₅ (in E♭ major)	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Outro
D	VII (in E♭ major)	Secondary dominant (V/iii)	Outro
Gm	iii (in E♭ major)	In the key	Outro
A♭m	iv (in E♭ major)	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Outro
B♭11	V11 (in E♭ major)	In the key	Outro
A♭/E♭	IV⁶₄ (in E♭ major)	In the key	Outro
E♭dim	i° (in E♭ major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
B♭m/D♭	v⁶ (in E♭ major)	Borrowed from E♭ minor	Outro
C7	VI7 (in E♭ major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
C7♭9	VI7b9 (in E♭ major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
F	II (in E♭ major)	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Outro
F/A	II⁶ (in E♭ major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
A♭dim	iv° (in E♭ major)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
Gm7	iii7 (in E♭ major)	In the key	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• Fm/A♭ (v⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• Fm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• Fm/E♭ (v (bass E♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• A♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• Fm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• Fm/A (v (bass A)) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• D♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭m (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C/G (bIII⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• F (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• F♯ (#II) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• A♭m (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B♭m/D♭ (v⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• C7 acts as V/V: it resolves to F7.
• B♭7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to E♭.
• G♭7 acts as V/II: it resolves to B5.
• F7 acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭7.
• G/B acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm.
• G7/B acts as V/vi: it resolves to Cm.
• D acts as V/iii: it resolves to Gm.
• F acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭.

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).
• Cross-check: 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. Independently transcribed; it matches this page's chords closely (similarity 66%).
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.