PianoChords.studio

High and Dry by Radiohead

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 21 steps · 4 unique chords

Community chart. These chords come from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums, not from a transcription checked against the recording. Charts are sometimes written in a different key or simplified, and no second chart of this song agreed closely enough to mark this page verified. Trust your ears.
Intro 1Step 1 of 21

G♯

LeftG♯2, D♯3RightB♯3, D♯4, G♯4
B♯3G♯2D♯3D♯4G♯4
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Intro → A Section → Interlude → A Section → Interlude → A Section → Interlude → A Section → Interlude → C Section → Bridge → C Section → Bridge

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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

  • G♯ – F♯m – E
    III – ii – I

Intro 2

  • G♯ – F♯m – E – F♯m – A – E
    III – ii – I – ii – IV – I

A Section 1

  • F♯m – A – E
    ii – IV – I

Interlude 1

  • E – F♯m – A – E
    I – ii – IV – I

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

Interlude 3

Same chords as Interlude 1.

A Section 4

Same chords as A Section 1.

Interlude 4

  • E
    I

C Section 1

  • F♯m – A – E
    ii – IV – I

Bridge 1

  • E
    I

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
G♯IIIOutside the key (chromatic)Intro
F♯miiIn the keyIntro, A Section, Interlude, C Section
EIHome chord (tonic)Intro, A Section, Interlude, C Section, Bridge
AIVIn the keyIntro, A Section, Interlude, C Section

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “High And Dry” (credited “Radiohead”, style Rock Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
  • Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
  • Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
  • About the song: Wikipedia.
  • Not verified: other charts of this song differ in places from this one, so this page isn't marked verified.
  • Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.

Sources & Accuracy

Every chord on this page comes from the community chart listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.

  • Chords from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums (archived in the ChoCo research dataset); may be in a different key from the recording, and not checked against it.

    Community chord chart “High And Dry” (credited “Radiohead”, style Rock Ballad) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1Intro 1G♯G♯2, D♯3B♯3, D♯4, G♯4—
2Intro 1F♯mF♯2, C♯3C♯4, F♯4, A4—
3Intro 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
4Intro 2G♯G♯2, D♯3B♯3, D♯4, G♯4—
5Intro 2F♯mF♯2, C♯3C♯4, F♯4, A4—
6Intro 2EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
7Intro 2F♯mF♯2, C♯3C♯4, F♯4, A4—
8Intro 2AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
9Intro 2EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
10A Section 1F♯mF♯2, C♯3C♯4, F♯4, A4—
11A Section 1AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
12A Section 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
13Interlude 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
14Interlude 1F♯mF♯2, C♯3C♯4, F♯4, A4—
15Interlude 1AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
16Interlude 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
17Interlude 4EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
18C Section 1F♯mF♯2, C♯3C♯4, F♯4, A4—
19C Section 1AA2, E3C♯4, E4, A4—
20C Section 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—
21Bridge 1EE2, B2B3, E4, G♯4—