Press by Paul McCartney

Overview

Key: C major · Chords used: 9 · Sections: 17

Form: Intro → Intro → Verse → Transition → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Bridge → Bridge → Solo → Verse → Transition → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Interlude → Solo → Outro → 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 1

• C
  I

Intro 2

• C – Em7 – Am – F – Dm – C
  I – iii7 – vi – IV – ii – I

Verse 1

• C – Em7 – Am – F – C
  I – iii7 – vi – IV – I

Transition 1

• Em – F – Dm – G
  iii – IV – ii – V

Pre-Chorus 1

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

Chorus 1

• C – Em7 – Am – F – Dm – C
  I – iii7 – vi – IV – ii – I

Bridge 1

• F – E♭ (×2)
  IV – bIII
• Em
  iii

Bridge 2

• G – Em (×2)
  V – iii
• E♭ – A♭
  bIII – bVI

Solo 1

• G – Am – F – Dm – C
  V – vi – IV – ii – I

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude

• F – E♭ (×2)
  IV – bIII
• Em
  iii

Solo 2

• G – Em (×2)
  V – iii
• E♭ – A♭
  bIII – bVI

Outro 1

• C – Em – Am – F – Dm (×2)
  I – iii – vi – IV – ii

Outro 2

• C – Em7 – Am – F – Dm (×4)
  I – iii7 – vi – IV – ii

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• E♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.
• A♭ (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, C minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0772, 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.