Drive My Car by The Beatles

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → 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
  I

Verse 1

• D – G (×3)
  I – IV
• Am7(no5)
  v7(no5)

Chorus 1

• Bm – G7 (×2)
  vi – IV7
• Bm – E7 – A – D – G – A
  vi – II7 – V – I – IV – V

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• Bm – G7 (×2)
  vi – IV7
• Bm – E7 – A – D – G – A7♯9
  vi – II7 – V – I – IV – V7#9

Solo

• D – G (×3)
  I – IV
• Am(no5)
  v(no5)

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Outro

• D – G – A7♯9 (×4)
  I – IV – V7#9

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Am7(no5) (v7(no5)) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• A7♯9 (V7#9) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• Am(no5) (v(no5)) is borrowed from the parallel key, D minor.
• E7 acts as V/V: it resolves to A.

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.
• 3 chords were 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.