Maxwell's Silver Hammer by The Beatles

Overview

Key: D major · Chords used: 29 · Sections: 11

Form: Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Interlude

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). 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

Verse 1

• D – F♯m/C♯ – B – Em – Em/B – Em – Em/D – Em/C♯ – Em/B – A – A/C♯ – A/E – A – D – D/C♯ – D/B – A – A/B – A/C♯ – D – F♯m/C♯ – B – B/F♯ – B – Em – Em/B – Em – Em/D – Em/C♯ – Em/B – A
  I – iii⁶₄ – VI – ii – ii⁶₄ – ii – ii (bass D) – ii (bass C♯) – ii⁶₄ – V – V⁶ – V⁶₄ – V – I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – V – V (bass B) – V⁶ – I – iii⁶₄ – VI – VI⁶₄ – VI – ii – ii⁶₄ – ii – ii (bass D) – ii (bass C♯) – ii⁶₄ – V
• A/C♯ – A/E (×2)
  V⁶ – V⁶₄
• D – D/C♯ – D/B – A/C♯ – E7 – A – A/C♯ – A/B – A
  I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – V⁶ – II7 – V – V⁶ – V (bass B) – V

Chorus 1

• D – D/A – D – E7 – E7/B – E7 – A7 – A7/E – A7 – Em – A – D
  I – I⁶₄ – I – II7 – II⁴₃ – II7 – V7 – V⁴₃ – V7 – ii – V – I

Interlude 1

• D – F♯/C♯ – Bm – D7/A – G – G/A – G/B – G/C♯ – D
  I – III⁶₄ – vi – I⁴₃ – IV – IV (bass A) – IV⁶ – IV (bass C♯) – I

Verse 2

• D – F♯m/C♯ – B – B/F♯ – B – Em – Em/B – Em – Em/D – Em/C♯ – Em/B – A
  I – iii⁶₄ – VI – VI⁶₄ – VI – ii – ii⁶₄ – ii – ii (bass D) – ii (bass C♯) – ii⁶₄ – V
• A/C♯ – A/E (×2)
  V⁶ – V⁶₄
• D – D/C♯ – D/B – A – A/B – D – F♯m/C♯ – B – Em – Em/B – Em – Em/D – Em/C♯ – Em/B – A
  I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – V – V (bass B) – I – iii⁶₄ – VI – ii – ii⁶₄ – ii – ii (bass D) – ii (bass C♯) – ii⁶₄ – V
• A/C♯ – A/E (×2)
  V⁶ – V⁶₄
• D – D/C♯ – D/B – A – E7 – A – A/C♯ – A/B – A
  I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – V – II7 – V – V⁶ – V (bass B) – V

Chorus 2

• D – D/A – D – E7 – E7/B – E7 – A7 – A7/C♯ – A7/E – A7/C♯ – Em – Em/B – A
  I – I⁶₄ – I – II7 – II⁴₃ – II7 – V7 – V⁶₅ – V⁴₃ – V⁶₅ – ii – ii⁶₄ – V

Solo 1

• D – D/A – D – E7 – E7/B – E7 – A7 – A7/E – A7 – Em – A – D
  I – I⁶₄ – I – II7 – II⁴₃ – II7 – V7 – V⁴₃ – V7 – ii – V – I

Interlude 2

• D – F♯/C♯ – Bm – D7/A – G – G/D
  I – III⁶₄ – vi – I⁴₃ – IV – IV⁶₄

Verse 3

• D – F♯m/C♯ – B – B/F♯ – B – Em – Em/B – Em – Em/D – Em/C♯ – Em/B – A – A/C♯ – A/E – A/C♯ – A – D – D/C♯ – D/B – A – A/C♯ – A – D – F♯m/C♯ – B – Em – Em/B – Em – Em/D – Em/C♯ – Em/B – A – A/C♯ – A/E – A/C♯ – A – D – D/C♯ – D/B – A – E7 – A – A/G – A/E
  I – iii⁶₄ – VI – VI⁶₄ – VI – ii – ii⁶₄ – ii – ii (bass D) – ii (bass C♯) – ii⁶₄ – V – V⁶ – V⁶₄ – V⁶ – V – I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – V – V⁶ – V – I – iii⁶₄ – VI – ii – ii⁶₄ – ii – ii (bass D) – ii (bass C♯) – ii⁶₄ – V – V⁶ – V⁶₄ – V⁶ – V – I – I (bass C♯) – I (bass B) – V – II7 – V – V (bass G) – V⁶₄

Chorus 3

• D – D/A – D – E7 – A7 – A7/E – A7 – Em – Em/B – A
  I – I⁶₄ – I – II7 – V7 – V⁴₃ – V7 – ii – ii⁶₄ – V

Solo 2

• D – D/A – D – E7 – E7/B – E7 – A7 – Em – A – D
  I – I⁶₄ – I – II7 – II⁴₃ – II7 – V7 – ii – V – I

Interlude 3

• D – F♯/C♯ – Bm – D7/A – G – D
  I – III⁶₄ – vi – I⁴₃ – IV – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• B acts as V/ii: it resolves to Em.
• E7 acts as V/V: it resolves to A.
• F♯/C♯ acts as V/vi: it resolves to Bm.
• D7/A acts as V/IV: it resolves to G.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). Expert chord and structure annotation of the original recording (CC BY 4.0 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.