Polythene Pam by The Beatles

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 8 · Sections: 6

Form: Intro → Verse → Intro → Verse → Intro → Outro

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

Intro 1

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

Verse 1

• D – A – E (×2)
  bVII – IV – I
• G – B
  bIII – V
• C – D – E (×2)
  bVI – bVII – I

Intro 2

Same chords as Intro 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Intro 3

Same chords as Intro 1.

Outro

• D – A – E (×8)
  bVII – IV – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D/E (bVII (bass E)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• G (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• C (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.

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.