Rocky Mountain High by John Denver

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 5 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → 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

• E – F♯m7 – A – B7sus4 (×2)
  I – ii7 – IV – V7sus4

Verse 1

• E – F♯m7 – A – B7sus4 (×8)
  I – ii7 – IV – V7sus4

Chorus 1

• A – B – E (×3)
  IV – V – I
• A – B7sus4
  IV – V7sus4

Interlude 1

• E – F♯m7 – A – B7sus4 (×2)
  I – ii7 – IV – V7sus4

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 3

• E – F♯m7 – A – B7sus4 (×4)
  I – ii7 – IV – V7sus4

Chorus 3

• A – B – E (×3)
  IV – V – I
• A – B7sus4
  IV – V7sus4
• E – A – B (×3)
  I – IV – V
• E – A – B7sus4
  I – IV – V7sus4

Outro

• E – F♯m7 – A – B7sus4 (×6)
  I – ii7 – IV – V7sus4

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0720, 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.