Lady Madonna by The Beatles

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 32 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → A Section → B Section → Interlude → C Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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

• A – A/C♯ – D – D/F♯ (×2)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV⁶
• A – A/C♯ – D – D/E – F – G – A
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass E) – bVI – bVII – I

A Section 1

• A – A/C♯ – D – D/F♯ (×2)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV⁶
• A – A/C♯ – D – D/E – F – G
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass E) – bVI – bVII
• A – A/C♯ – D – D/F♯ (×2)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV⁶
• A – A/C♯ – D – D/E – F – G – A
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass E) – bVI – bVII – I

B Section 1

• Dm – Dm/C – Dm/B – Dm/A – G7 – G7/F – G7/E – G7/D – C – C/B – C/A – C/G – Am7 – Am7/B – Am7/C – Am7/E – Dm7 – Dm7/C – Dm7/B – Dm7/A – G7 – G7/F – G7/E – G7/D – C – Bm7 – E7sus4 – E7
  iv – iv (bass C) – iv (bass B) – iv⁶₄ – bVII7 – bVII⁴₂ – bVII7 (bass E) – bVII⁴₃ – bIII – bIII (bass B) – bIII (bass A) – bIII⁶₄ – i7 – i7 (bass B) – i⁶₅ – i⁴₃ – iv7 – iv⁴₂ – iv7 (bass B) – iv⁴₃ – bVII7 – bVII⁴₂ – bVII7 (bass E) – bVII⁴₃ – bIII – ii7 – V7sus4 – V7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

A Section 3

• A – A/C♯ – D – D/F♯ (×2)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV⁶
• A – A/C♯ – D – D/E – F – G
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass E) – bVI – bVII
• A – A/C♯ – D – D/F♯ (×2)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV⁶
• A – A/C♯ – D – D/E
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass E)

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

Interlude

• A – A/C♯ – D – D/F♯ (×2)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV⁶
• A – A/C♯ – D – D/E – F – G
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass E) – bVI – bVII

C Section

• A – G/B – Cm – G/B (×2)
  I – bVII⁶ – biii – bVII⁶
• A
  I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, Interlude, C Section
A/C♯	I⁶	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, Interlude
D	IV	In the key	Intro, A Section, Interlude
D/F♯	IV⁶	In the key	Intro, A Section, Interlude
D/E	IV (bass E)	In the key	Intro, A Section, Interlude
F	bVI	Borrowed from A minor	Intro, A Section, Interlude
G	bVII	Borrowed from A minor	Intro, A Section, Interlude
Dm	iv	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Dm/C	iv (bass C)	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Dm/B	iv (bass B)	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Dm/A	iv⁶₄	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
G7	bVII7	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
G7/F	bVII⁴₂	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
G7/E	bVII7 (bass E)	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
G7/D	bVII⁴₃	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
C	bIII	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
C/B	bIII (bass B)	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
C/A	bIII (bass A)	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
C/G	bIII⁶₄	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Am7	i7	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Am7/B	i7 (bass B)	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Am7/C	i⁶₅	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Am7/E	i⁴₃	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Dm7	iv7	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Dm7/C	iv⁴₂	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Dm7/B	iv7 (bass B)	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Dm7/A	iv⁴₃	Borrowed from A minor	B Section
Bm7	ii7	In the key	B Section
E7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	B Section
E7	V7	In the key	B Section
G/B	bVII⁶	Borrowed from A minor	C Section
Cm	biii	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section

Harmonic highlights

• F (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm (iv) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm/C (iv (bass C)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm/B (iv (bass B)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm/A (iv⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G7/F (bVII⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G7/E (bVII7 (bass E)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G7/D (bVII⁴₃) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• C (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• C/B (bIII (bass B)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• C/A (bIII (bass A)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• C/G (bIII⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Am7 (i7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Am7/B (i7 (bass B)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Am7/C (i⁶₅) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Am7/E (i⁴₃) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm7 (iv7) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm7/C (iv⁴₂) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm7/B (iv7 (bass B)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• Dm7/A (iv⁴₃) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.
• G/B (bVII⁶) is borrowed from the parallel key, A minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Lady Madonna (Beatles)” (credited “Lennon-McCartney”, style Medium Shuffle) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Lady Madonna” (credited “Lennon-McCartney (The Beatles)”, style Rock) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 81%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.