Like a Rock by Bob Seger

Overview

Key: A♭ major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 13

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Solo → Interlude → Verse ×2 → Chorus ×2 → Outro

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

• A♭ – D♭/A♭ (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• A♭
  I

Verse 1

• A♭ – D♭/A♭ – G♭/A♭
  I – IV⁶₄ – bVII (bass A♭)
• D♭/A♭ – A♭ (×2)
  IV⁶₄ – I

Verse 2

• A♭ – D♭ – G♭sus2 – D♭ – A♭ – D♭/A♭ – A♭
  I – IV – bVIIsus2 – IV – I – IV⁶₄ – I

Verse 3

• A♭ – D♭ – G♭ – D♭ – A♭ – D♭/A♭ – A♭
  I – IV – bVII – IV – I – IV⁶₄ – I

Chorus 1

• A♭ – D♭ – G♭ – D♭ – A♭ – D♭/A♭ – A♭
  I – IV – bVII – IV – I – IV⁶₄ – I

Bridge

• Fm – A♭ – D♭ – B♭m – E♭
  vi – I – IV – ii – V

Solo

• A♭ – D♭ – G♭ – D♭ – A♭ – D♭/A♭ (×2)
  I – IV – bVII – IV – I – IV⁶₄
• A♭
  I

Interlude

• A♭ – D♭/A♭ (×2)
  I – IV⁶₄
• A♭
  I

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 3.

Verse 5

Same chords as Verse 3.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• A♭ – D♭ – G♭ – D♭ – A♭ – D♭/A♭ (×3)
  I – IV – bVII – IV – I – IV⁶₄
• A♭
  I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G♭/A♭ (bVII (bass A♭)) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• G♭sus2 (bVIIsus2) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.
• G♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, A♭ minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0941, 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.