How Blue Can You Get by B.B. King
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 17 steps · 4 unique chords · 1960s
D7
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: D major · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 4
Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Bridge
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
- D7 – G7 – D7 – A7
I7 – IV7 – I7 – V7
Verse 1
- D7 – G7 (×2)
I7 – IV7 - D7 – A7 – G7 – D7 – A7
I7 – V7 – IV7 – I7 – V7
Verse 2
Same chords as Verse 1.
Bridge
- D7 – A7 – G7 (×2)
I7 – V7 – IV7 - D7 – A7 – D9
I7 – V7 – I9
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| D7 | I7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Intro, Verse, Bridge |
| G7 | IV7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Intro, Verse, Bridge |
| A7 | V7 | In the key | Intro, Verse, Bridge |
| D9 | I9 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Bridge |
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0510, 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.
Sources & Accuracy
Every chord on this page comes from the expert transcription listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.
- the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011)Expert transcription
Annotated from the original recording by trained musicians for a published research dataset.
Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0510, CC0), via ChoCo.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | D7 | D2, A2 | C4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 2 | Intro | G7 | G2, D3 | D4, F4, B4 | — |
| 3 | Intro | D7 | D2, A2 | C4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 4 | Intro | A7 | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, G4 | — |
| 5 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | D7 | D2, A2 | C4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 6 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | G7 | G2, D3 | D4, F4, B4 | — |
| 7 | Verse 1, part 2 | D7 | D2, A2 | C4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 8 | Verse 1, part 2 | A7 | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, G4 | — |
| 9 | Verse 1, part 2 | G7 | G2, D3 | B3, D4, F4 | — |
| 10 | Verse 1, part 2 | D7 | D2, A2 | A3, C4, F♯4 | — |
| 11 | Verse 1, part 2 | A7 | A2, E3 | G3, C♯4, E4 | — |
| 12 | Bridge, part 1 (×2) | D7 | D2, A2 | A3, C4, F♯4 | — |
| 13 | Bridge, part 1 (×2) | A7 | A2, E3 | G3, C♯4, E4 | — |
| 14 | Bridge, part 1 (×2) | G7 | G2, D3 | B3, D4, F4 | — |
| 15 | Bridge, part 2 | D7 | D2, A2 | A3, C4, F♯4 | — |
| 16 | Bridge, part 2 | A7 | A2, E3 | G3, C♯4, E4 | — |
| 17 | Bridge, part 2 | D9 | D2, A2 | F♯3, A3, C4, E4 | — |