I Want to Tell You by The Beatles

Overview

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

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). 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

• Dsus4/A – D/A – A (×3)
  IVsus4 (bass A) – IV⁶₄ – I
• Dsus4/A – D/A
  IVsus4 (bass A) – IV⁶₄

Verse 1

• A – B – E – A – Dsus4/A – D/A
  I – II – V – I – IVsus4 (bass A) – IV⁶₄

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Bridge 1

• Bm – Bdim – A – B – Bm – Bdim – A – Asus4
  ii – ii° – I – II – ii – ii° – I – Isus4

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Outro

• A – Dsus4/A – D/A (×4)
  I – IVsus4 (bass A) – IV⁶₄
• A
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• Dsus4/A (IVsus4 (bass A)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Bdim (ii°) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• B acts as V/V: it resolves to E.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). Expert chord and structure annotation of the original recording (CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo).
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 4 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.