Layla by Derek and the Dominos

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 15 · Sections: 25

Form: Intro → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Interlude → Intro → Solo → Solo ×2 → Bridge → Intro → Solo ×3 → Bridge → Intro → Solo → Intro ×4 → Solo

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

• Verse 1 moves to E major.
• Chorus 2 moves to D minor.
• Verse 2 moves to E major.
• Chorus 3 moves to D minor.
• Verse 3 moves to E major.
• Interlude moves to D minor.
• Intro 2 moves to C major.

Section by section

Intro 1

• Dm – B♭ – C (×2)
  i – bVI – bVII
• Dm
  i

Chorus 1

• Dm – B♭ – C (×4)
  i – bVI – bVII

Verse 1

• C♯m – G♯m – C♯m – C – D – E
  vi – iii – vi – bVI – bVII – I
• F♯m – B – E – A (×2)
  ii – V – I – IV

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Interlude

• Dm – B♭ – C (×20)
  i – bVI – bVII

Intro 2

• C – C/E – F
  I – I⁶ – IV

Solo 1

• C – C/E – F – B♭7 – C
  I – I⁶ – IV – bVII7 – I

Solo 2

Same chords as Solo 1.

Solo 3

Same chords as Solo 1.

Bridge 1

• Am – Dm – G – C – Am – D – G
  vi – ii – V – I – vi – II – V

Intro 3

Same chords as Intro 2.

Solo 4

Same chords as Solo 1.

Solo 5

Same chords as Solo 1.

Solo 6

Same chords as Solo 1.

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Intro 4

Same chords as Intro 2.

Solo 7

Same chords as Solo 1.

Intro 5

Same chords as Intro 2.

Intro 6

Same chords as Intro 2.

Intro 7

Same chords as Intro 2.

Intro 8

Same chords as Intro 2.

Solo 8

Same chords as Solo 1.

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
Dm	i	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Chorus, Interlude
B♭	bVI	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Interlude
C	bVII	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Interlude
C♯m	vi (in E major)	In the key	Verse
G♯m	iii (in E major)	In the key	Verse
C	bVI (in E major)	Borrowed from E minor	Verse
D	bVII (in E major)	Borrowed from E minor	Verse
E	I (in E major)	Home chord (tonic)	Verse
F♯m	ii (in E major)	In the key	Verse
B	V (in E major)	In the key	Verse
A	IV (in E major)	In the key	Verse
C	I (in C major)	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Solo, Bridge
C/E	I⁶ (in C major)	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Solo
F	IV (in C major)	In the key	Intro, Solo
B♭7	bVII7 (in C major)	Borrowed from C minor	Solo
Am	vi (in C major)	In the key	Bridge
Dm	ii (in C major)	In the key	Bridge
G	V (in C major)	In the key	Bridge
D	II (in C major)	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• C (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• B♭7 (bVII7) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• D acts as V/V: it resolves to G.

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 98% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.