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Roar by Katy Perry

Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 21 steps · 4 unique chords · 2010s

Community chart. These chords come from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums, not from a transcription checked against the recording. Charts are sometimes written in a different key or simplified, and no second chart of this song agreed closely enough to mark this page verified. Trust your ears.
Lead-inStep 1 of 21

B♭

LeftB♭2, F3RightB♭3, D4, F4
C4F3D4F4B♭2B♭3
Left hand Right hand Middle C (C4)

No source cited for this step

Harmonic Analysis & Structure

Overview

Key: B♭ major · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 15

Form: Lead-in → A Section → A Section → B Section → B Section → C Section → C Section ×2 → A Section → B Section → C Section ×4 → C Section

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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

Lead-in

  • B♭
    I

A Section 1

  • B♭ – Cm – Gm – E♭
    I – ii – vi – IV

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

B Section 1

  • B♭ – Cm – Gm – E♭
    I – ii – vi – IV

B Section 2

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 1

  • B♭ – Cm – Gm – E♭
    I – ii – vi – IV

C Section 2

Same chords as C Section 1.

C Section 3

Same chords as C Section 1.

A Section 3

  • B♭ – Cm – Gm
    I – ii – vi

B Section 3

Same chords as B Section 1.

C Section 4

Same chords as C Section 1.

C Section 5

Same chords as C Section 1.

C Section 6

Same chords as C Section 1.

C Section 7

Same chords as C Section 1.

C Section 8

  • B♭ – Cm – Gm – E♭ – B♭
    I – ii – vi – IV – I

Chord vocabulary

ChordRoman numeralRoleHeard in
B♭IHome chord (tonic)Lead-in, A Section, B Section, C Section
CmiiIn the keyA Section, B Section, C Section
GmviIn the keyA Section, B Section, C Section
E♭IVIn the keyA Section, B Section, C Section

Sources & accuracy

  • Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Roar” (credited “Perry Katy”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.
  • Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
  • Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
  • The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
  • About the song: Wikipedia.
  • Not verified: other charts of this song differ in places from this one, so this page isn't marked verified.
  • Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.

Sources & Accuracy

Every chord on this page comes from the community chart listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.

  • Chords from a chart a musician wrote and shared on the iReal Pro forums (archived in the ChoCo research dataset); may be in a different key from the recording, and not checked against it.

    Community chord chart “Roar” (credited “Perry Katy”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer confirmed from the Billboard year-end charts.

All Piano Voicings

#SectionChordLeft handRight handSources
1Lead-inB♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
2A Section 1B♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
3A Section 1CmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
4A Section 1GmG2, D3B♭3, D4, G4—
5A Section 1E♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
6B Section 1B♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
7B Section 1CmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
8B Section 1GmG2, D3B♭3, D4, G4—
9B Section 1E♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
10C Section 1B♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
11C Section 1CmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
12C Section 1GmG2, D3B♭3, D4, G4—
13C Section 1E♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
14A Section 3B♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
15A Section 3CmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
16A Section 3GmG2, D3B♭3, D4, G4—
17C Section 8B♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—
18C Section 8CmC2, G2C4, E♭4, G4—
19C Section 8GmG2, D3B♭3, D4, G4—
20C Section 8E♭E♭2, B♭2B♭3, E♭4, G4—
21C Section 8B♭B♭2, F3B♭3, D4, F4—