Hammer to Fall by Queen

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 12

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Break → Verse → Chorus → Break → Bridge → Solo → 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

• A – D/A (×3)
  I – IV⁶₄
• E/A
  V (bass A)
• A – D/A (×3)
  I – IV⁶₄
• Eadd11 – A
  Vadd11 – I

Verse 1

• A – D/A – A – D/A – A – D/A – E/A – Eadd11 (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – V (bass A) – Vadd11
• A
  I

Chorus 1

• A – E/A – D/A – A – D (×2)
  I – V (bass A) – IV⁶₄ – I – IV
• A
  I

Break 1

• A – D/A (×3)
  I – IV⁶₄
• E/A – Eadd11 – A
  V (bass A) – Vadd11 – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Break 2

Same chords as Break 1.

Bridge

• E – F♯m7 – E/G♯ – A – D – A – G – D/F♯ – G – D – E – F♯m – E/G♯ – A – D – E – E7/G♯ – Aadd9 – E7/D
  V – vi7 – V⁶ – I – IV – I – bVII – IV⁶ – bVII – IV – V – vi – V⁶ – I – IV – V – V⁶₅ – Iadd9 – V⁴₂

Solo

• A – E/A – D/A – A – D (×2)
  I – V (bass A) – IV⁶₄ – I – IV
• A – D (×2)
  I – IV

Verse 3

• A – D/A – A – D/A – A – D/A – E/A (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – V (bass A)
• A
  I

Chorus 3

• A – E/A – D/A – A – D (×2)
  I – V (bass A) – IV⁶₄ – I – IV

Outro

• A – D/A (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• E/A
  V (bass A)
• A – D/A (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• A – D/G
  I – IV (bass G)
• E/A – A – D/A – A – D/A – A – D/A (×3)
  V (bass A) – I – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄ – I – IV⁶₄
• A
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.

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.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.