Eleanor Rigby by Ray Charles

Overview

Key: E minor · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). 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

• Em
  i

Verse 1

• Em – C7 (×2)
  i – bVI7
• Em
  i

Chorus 1

• Em7 – Em6 – Em (×2)
  i7 – i6 – i

Interlude 1

• C7 – Em – Am – Em
  bVI7 – i – iv – i

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude 3

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0933, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 8 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.