Galveston by Glen Campbell

Overview

Key: F major · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 8

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Transition → Instrumental → Instrumental

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

• F – B♭ – C
  I – IV – V

Verse 1

• F – B♭ – C – F – F7 – B♭ – B♭/A – Gm – C7 – F – B♭ – B♭/A – Gm – C7 – Dm – B♭ – C11 – F – B♭ – C
  I – IV – V – I – I7 – IV – IV (bass A) – ii – V7 – I – IV – IV (bass A) – ii – V7 – vi – IV – V11 – I – IV – V

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Bridge

• A♭ – B♭ (×2)
  bIII – IV
• Cm – A♭ – Fm – Dm7♭5 – E♭ – B♭ – Fm – B♭ – C
  v – bIII – i – viø7 – bVII – IV – i – IV – V

Verse 3

• F – B♭ – C – F – F7 – B♭ – B♭/A – Gm – C7 – F – B♭ – B♭/A – Gm – C7 – Dm – Dm/C – B♭ – B♭/A – Gm – D – C6
  I – IV – V – I – I7 – IV – IV (bass A) – ii – V7 – I – IV – IV (bass A) – ii – V7 – vi – vi (bass C) – IV – IV (bass A) – ii – VI – V6

Transition

• F
  I

Instrumental 1

• F – B♭ – C – F – F7 – B♭ – B♭/A – Gm – C7 – F – B♭ – B♭/A – Gm – C7 – Dm – B♭ – C11 – F – B♭ – C
  I – IV – V – I – I7 – IV – IV (bass A) – ii – V7 – I – IV – IV (bass A) – ii – V7 – vi – IV – V11 – I – IV – V

Instrumental 2

• F – B♭ – C – F – F7
  I – IV – V – I – I7

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• A♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Cm (v) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• Fm (i) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• E♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, F minor.
• F7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to B♭.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0224, CC0), via ChoCo.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.