I Cried a Tear by LaVern Baker

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 5

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Solo → Verse

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

• E7
  V7

Verse 1

• A – Amaj7 – A6 – A – E7 – A – Asus4 – A – A7 – D
  I – Imaj7 – I6 – I – V7 – I – Isus4 – I – I7 – IV
• A – E7 (×2)
  I – V7

Verse 2

• A – Amaj7 – A6 – A – E7 – A – Asus4 – A – A7 – D – A – E7 – A – A/E
  I – Imaj7 – I6 – I – V7 – I – Isus4 – I – I7 – IV – I – V7 – I – I⁶₄

Solo

• A – Amaj7 – A6 – A – E7 – A – Asus4 – A – A7 – D
  I – Imaj7 – I6 – I – V7 – I – Isus4 – I – I7 – IV
• A – E7 (×2)
  I – V7

Verse 3

• A – Amaj7 – A6 – A – E7 – A – Asus4 – A – A7 – D
  I – Imaj7 – I6 – I – V7 – I – Isus4 – I – I7 – IV
• A – E7 (×2)
  I – V7
• A
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• A7 acts as V/IV: it resolves to D.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0822, 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.