Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 17

Form: Intro → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Tag → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Tag → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Tag → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → 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

Intro

• C – F/C (×4)
  I – IV⁶₄

Verse 1

• C – Dm – Em – F – G (×2)
  I – ii – iii – IV – V

Pre-Chorus 1

• F – G (×2)
  IV – V
• F – Em – Dm – C (×2)
  IV – iii – ii – I
• Dm – F – G
  ii – IV – V

Chorus 1

• C – F – G (×5)
  I – IV – V

Tag 1

• C – F – G
  I – IV – V

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

• C – F – G (×6)
  I – IV – V

Tag 2

Same chords as Tag 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 3

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Tag 3

Same chords as Tag 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 4

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Outro

• C – F – G
  I – IV – V

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Tag, Outro
F/C	IV⁶₄	In the key	Intro
Dm	ii	In the key	Verse, Pre-Chorus
Em	iii	In the key	Verse, Pre-Chorus
F	IV	In the key	Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Tag, Outro
G	V	In the key	Verse, Pre-Chorus, Chorus, Tag, Outro

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 100% 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.