Kozmic Blues by Janis Joplin

Overview

Key: A minor · Chords used: 14 · Sections: 16

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus ×2 → Chorus → Chorus ×2 → 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

• Amadd9 – Amadd9/G – Amadd9/F♯ – Am/F (×2)
  iadd9 – iadd9 (bass G) – iadd9 (bass F♯) – i (bass F)

Verse 1

• Am – Dm – Am – Am/G – Am/F♯ – Am/F
  i – iv – i – i (bass G) – i (bass F♯) – i (bass F)

Pre-Chorus 1

• F – G (×2)
  bVI – bVII
• Am – E7
  i – V7

Interlude 1

• Am – Am/G – Am/F♯ – Am/F
  i – i (bass G) – i (bass F♯) – i (bass F)

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 1

• A – Bm – D (×2)
  I – ii – IV

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 3

• F – G (×2)
  bVI – bVII
• Am
  i

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

• A – Bm – D (×2)
  I – ii – IV
• A
  I

Chorus 5

Same chords as Chorus 4.

Chorus 6

Same chords as Chorus 4.

Chorus 7

• A – Bm – D (×3)
  I – ii – IV
• A
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• A (I) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.
• Bm (ii) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.
• D (IV) is borrowed from the parallel key, A major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0397, 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.