Shapes of Things by The Yardbirds

Overview

Key: G major · Chords used: 6 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Chorus → Verse ×2 → Chorus → Solo → Verse

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

• F
  bVII

Verse 1

• G – Dm7 (×3)
  I – v7
• F
  bVII

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 1

• C – B♭ (×3)
  IV – bIII
• D
  V

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo

• G – F (×7)
  I – bVII
• B♭ – D
  bIII – V

Verse 5

• G – Dm7 (×3)
  I – v7
• F – G
  bVII – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• F (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• Dm7 (v7) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.
• B♭ (bIII) is borrowed from the parallel key, G minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0990, 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.