Rocket Ride by Kiss

Overview

Key: E♭ major · Chords used: 26 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Interlude → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Pre-Chorus → Chorus → Interlude → Solo → Chorus ×2 → 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

• F5 – G♭5 – G5 – A♭5 – A5 – B♭5 – B5 – C5
  II5 – bIII5 – III5 – IV5 – #IV5 – V5 – #V5 – VI5

Interlude 1

• E♭m
  i

Verse 1

• F5 – B♭5 – F5 – E♭5 – F5 – B♭5 – F5 – G♭5 – G5 – A♭5 – E♭m (×2)
  II5 – V5 – II5 – I5 – II5 – V5 – II5 – bIII5 – III5 – IV5 – i

Pre-Chorus 1

• D♭ – E♭m – F5
  bVII – i – II5

Chorus 1

• F – B♭/F – F – B♭/F – F – E♭ – B♭ – E♭ – B♭ (×2)
  II – V⁶₄ – II – V⁶₄ – II – I – V – I – V

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Pre-Chorus 2

Same chords as Pre-Chorus 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude 3

• F – F♯ – G – G♯ – A – A♯ – B – C (×2)
  II – #II – III – #III – #IV – V – #V – VI

Solo

• F – B♭ (×3)
  II – V
• F – G♭5 – G5
  II – bIII5 – III5
• A♭ – D♭ (×3)
  IV – bVII
• A♭5 – A5 – B♭5 – B5
  IV5 – #IV5 – V5 – #V5
• C – F (×3)
  VI – II
• C – D♭5 – D5
  VI – bVII5 – VII5
• E♭ – A♭ (×4)
  I – IV

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• E♭m – A♭5 – A♭7 – A♭5
  i – IV5 – IV7 – IV5

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• G♭5 (bIII5) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B5 (#V5) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• E♭m (i) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭ (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• F♯ (#II) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• B (#V) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• D♭5 (bVII5) is borrowed from the parallel key, E♭ minor.
• F acts as V/V: it resolves to B♭/F.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0610, 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.