Helter Skelter by The Beatles

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Intro → 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 1

• E5 – E5/D – C♯m(no5) – C – G – E
  I5 – I5 (bass D) – vi(no5) – bVI – bIII – I

Verse 1

• E – G – A – E
  I – bIII – IV – I

Chorus 1

• A – E (×2)
  IV – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo

• A – E (×2)
  IV – I

Intro 2

• E – C♯m(no5)/E – C/E – G
  I – vi(no5) (bass E) – bVI⁶ – bIII

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• E – E9 – E
  I – I9 – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E5/D (I5 (bass D)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• C (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• G (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• C/E (bVI⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, E 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.
• 1 chord was 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.