Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 12 · Sections: 26

Form: Intro → Transition → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Interlude → Pre-Chorus → Chorus ×3 → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

• Adim – Am (×4)
  vi° – vi
• Dm7 – F/C – G
  ii7 – IV⁶₄ – V

Transition 1

• C – Am7 (×2)
  I – vi7

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 1

• C – Am7 (×2)
  I – vi7
• F – G – C/E – G
  IV – V – I⁶ – V

Pre-Chorus 1

• C – F – G – Am – F – G – E7/G♯ – Am – G
  I – IV – V – vi – IV – V – III⁶₅ – vi – V

Chorus 1

• F – Am – F – C/E – G/D
  IV – vi – IV – I⁶ – V⁶₄

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 4

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 3

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 5

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 4

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge

• F – C/E – Am9 – F – C/E – G/D
  IV – I⁶ – vi9 – IV – I⁶ – V⁶₄
• C – Am7 (×2)
  I – vi7
• F – G – C/E – G – C
  IV – V – I⁶ – V – I
• F – G – Am (×2)
  IV – V – vi
• F – G
  IV – V

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 1.

Interlude

• G
  V

Pre-Chorus 5

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 7

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• F – C/E
  IV – I⁶
• Am – F (×2)
  vi – IV
• G – C
  V – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Adim	vi°	Outside the key (chromatic)	Intro
Am	vi	In the key	Intro, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Bridge, Outro
Dm7	ii7	In the key	Intro
F/C	IV⁶₄	In the key	Intro
G	V	In the key	Intro, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Bridge, Interlude, Outro
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Transition, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Bridge, Outro
Am7	vi7	In the key	Transition, Verse, Bridge
F	IV	In the key	Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Bridge, Outro
C/E	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Outro
E7/G♯	III⁶₅	Secondary dominant (V/vi)	Pre-Chorus
G/D	V⁶₄	In the key	Chorus, Bridge
Am9	vi9	In the key	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• E7/G♯ acts as V/vi: it resolves to Am.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 93% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.