I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Chorus

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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.

Key changes

• Bridge 1 moves to C major.
• Verse 3 moves to G major.
• Bridge 2 moves to C major.
• Verse 4 moves to G major.

Section by section

Intro

• C – D (×3)
  IV – V

Verse 1

• G – D – Em – B (×2)
  I – V – vi – III

Chorus 1

• C – D – G – Em – C – D – G
  IV – V – I – vi – IV – V – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge 1

• Dm – G – C – Am – Dm – G
  ii – V – I – vi – ii – V
• C – D (×3)
  I – II

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 4

• C – D – G – Em – C – D – B – C – D – C – G
  IV – V – I – vi – IV – V – III – IV – V – IV – I

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 88% of the song.
• Not verified: the two RS 200 analysts differ in places (see their agreement above).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.