In Bloom by Nirvana

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 12 · Sections: 16

Form: Transition → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Chorus → Transition → Verse → Chorus ×2 → Transition → Verse → Chorus ×2 → Interlude → Transition → Outro

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.

Section by section

Transition 1

• B♭ – G – F – A♭ (×2)
  I – VI – V – bVII

Interlude 1

• B♭ – G♭ – E♭ – B – A (×2)
  I – bVI – IV – #I – VII

Verse 1

• B♭ – G♭ – E♭ – B – A (×3)
  I – bVI – IV – #I – VII
• B♭ – G♭ – E♭ – B – D
  I – bVI – IV – #I – III

Chorus 1

• B♭ – Gm (×4)
  I – vi
• Cmaj7 – E♭7 (×2)
  IImaj7 – IV7

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude 2

• Cmaj7 – E♭7 (×2)
  IImaj7 – IV7

Transition 4

Same chords as Transition 1.

Outro

• B♭
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• A♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.
• G♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, B♭ minor.

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 83% 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.