Dear Prudence by The Beatles

Overview

Key: D Mixolydian · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 7

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Verse → 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.

Section by section

Intro

• D – C/D – G/D – A/D – C/D – D/A – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭
  I – bVII (bass D) – IV⁶₄ – V (bass D) – bVII (bass D) – I⁶₄ – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅

Verse 1

• D/A – D7 – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/D (×4)
  I⁶₄ – I7 – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁴₃
• D/A – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭ – D/A – D/C – C – G – D – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭
  I⁶₄ – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅ – I⁶₄ – I (bass C) – bVII – IV – I – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅

Verse 2

• D/A – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭ (×4)
  I⁶₄ – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅
• D – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭ – D – C – G – D
  I – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅ – I – bVII – IV – I

Bridge

• D – F – G♯ – G – D – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭
  I – bIII – #IV – IV – I – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅

Verse 3

• D/A – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭ (×4)
  I⁶₄ – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅
• D – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭ – D – C – G – D – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭
  I – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅ – I – bVII – IV – I – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅

Verse 4

• D – D/C – Gmaj7/B – Gmmaj7/B♭ (×5)
  I – I (bass C) – IVmaj⁶₅ – ivmaj⁶₅
• D – C – G – D
  I – bVII – IV – I

Outro

• D – Dsus4 – D – C/D – G/D – A/D – C/D
  I – Isus4 – I – bVII (bass D) – IV⁶₄ – V (bass D) – bVII (bass D)

Chord vocabulary

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).
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 1 chord was simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.