Breakdown by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Overview

Key: A minor · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → A Section → B Section → C Section → B Section → Outro

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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 1

• Am – G (×4)
  i – bVII

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

A Section 1

• Am – G (×7)
  i – bVII
• F – G/F – Fmaj7 – G/F
  bVI – bVII (bass F) – bVImaj7 – bVII (bass F)

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

• Am – G – F – G (×3)
  i – bVII – bVI – bVII
• Am – G
  i – bVII
• F – G/F – Fmaj7 – G/F (×2)
  bVI – bVII (bass F) – bVImaj7 – bVII (bass F)

C Section

• Am – G (×11)
  i – bVII
• F – G/F
  bVI – bVII (bass F)

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

Outro

• Am – G (×8)
  i – bVII

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Am	i	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section, Outro
G	bVII	In the key	Intro, A Section, B Section, C Section, Outro
F	bVI	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section
G/F	bVII (bass F)	In the key	A Section, B Section, C Section
Fmaj7	bVImaj7	In the key	A Section, B Section

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Breakdown” (credited “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Tom Petty)”, style Rock) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Breakdown” (credited “Petty Tom”, style Medium Swing) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 100%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.