September Gurls by Big Star

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 14

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Bridge → Solo → Transition → Verse → Chorus → Outro

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. 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

• A/E – Bsus4 – A/E – E
  IV⁶₄ – Vsus4 – IV⁶₄ – I

Verse 1

• E – B – A – F♯m (×2)
  I – V – IV – ii

Chorus 1

• E – B – A (×2)
  I – V – IV

Transition 1

• E
  I

Transition 2

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Transition 3

Same chords as Transition 1.

Bridge

• B
  V

Solo

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

Transition 4

Same chords as Transition 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

• E – B – A (×3)
  I – V – IV

Outro

• E – B – A (×5)
  I – V – IV
• E
  I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A/E	IV⁶₄	In the key	Intro
Bsus4	Vsus4	In the key	Intro
E	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Verse, Chorus, Transition, Solo, Outro
B	V	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Solo, Outro
A	IV	In the key	Verse, Chorus, Solo, Outro
F♯m	ii	In the key	Verse

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by Trevor de Clercq. Expert by-ear harmonic analysis of the original recording, shown on this page.
• Cross-check: the Rock Corpus RS 200 (de Clercq & Temperley, 2011), analysis by David Temperley. Independent by-ear analysis of the same recording. The two analysts agree on the chord (root and major/minor) for 93% of the song.
• Verified: two independent expert transcriptions agree on this song's harmony.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.