I Love by Tom T. Hall
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 25 steps · 6 unique chords · 1970s
E
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: E major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 7
Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus
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
- E
I
Verse 1
- E – A – E – A – E – B7 (×2)
I – IV – I – IV – I – V7 - E
I
Chorus 1
- A – B7 – E
IV – V7 – I
Verse 2
Same chords as Verse 1.
Chorus 2
- A – B7 – E – C7
IV – V7 – I – bVI7
Verse 3
- F – B♭ – F – B♭ – F – C7 (×2)
bII – bV – bII – bV – bII – bVI7 - F
bII
Chorus 3
- B♭ – C7 – F
bV – bVI7 – bII
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| E | I | Home chord (tonic) | Intro, Verse, Chorus |
| A | IV | In the key | Verse, Chorus |
| B7 | V7 | In the key | Verse, Chorus |
| C7 | bVI7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Chorus, Verse |
| F | bII | Outside the key (chromatic) | Verse, Chorus |
| B♭ | bV | Outside the key (chromatic) | Verse, Chorus |
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0606, 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 0606, CC0), via ChoCo.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 2 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 3 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 4 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 5 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 6 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 7 | Verse 1, part 1 (×2) | B7 | B1, F♯2 | A3, D♯4, F♯4 | — |
| 8 | Verse 1, part 2 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 9 | Chorus 1 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 10 | Chorus 1 | B7 | B1, F♯2 | D♯4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 11 | Chorus 1 | E | E2, B2 | E4, G♯4, B4 | — |
| 12 | Chorus 2 | A | A2, E3 | E4, A4, C♯5 | — |
| 13 | Chorus 2 | B7 | B1, F♯2 | F♯4, A4, D♯5 | — |
| 14 | Chorus 2 | E | E2, B2 | G♯4, B4, E5 | — |
| 15 | Chorus 2 | C7 | C2, G2 | G4, B♭4, E5 | — |
| 16 | Verse 3, part 1 (×2) | F | F2, C3 | F4, A4, C5 | — |
| 17 | Verse 3, part 1 (×2) | B♭ | B♭2, F3 | F4, B♭4, D5 | — |
| 18 | Verse 3, part 1 (×2) | F | F2, C3 | F4, A4, C5 | — |
| 19 | Verse 3, part 1 (×2) | B♭ | B♭2, F3 | F4, B♭4, D5 | — |
| 20 | Verse 3, part 1 (×2) | F | F2, C3 | F4, A4, C5 | — |
| 21 | Verse 3, part 1 (×2) | C7 | C2, G2 | E4, G4, B♭4 | — |
| 22 | Verse 3, part 2 | F | F2, C3 | F4, A4, C5 | — |
| 23 | Chorus 3 | B♭ | B♭2, F3 | F4, B♭4, D5 | — |
| 24 | Chorus 3 | C7 | C2, G2 | G4, B♭4, E5 | — |
| 25 | Chorus 3 | F | F2, C3 | F4, A4, C5 | — |