Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple

Overview

Key: D minor · Chords used: 17 · Sections: 28

Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). 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

Part 1 (0:01)

• Gm – Gm7/F – C/E
  iv – iv⁴₂ – bVII⁶

Part 2 (0:07)

• Gm7/F
  iv⁴₂
• G5 – B♭5 – C5 (×3)
  IV5 – bVI5 – bVII5
• B♭5
  bVI5

Part 3 (0:18)

• G5 – B♭5 – C5 (×3)
  IV5 – bVI5 – bVII5
• B♭5 – G5 – B♭ – C – G5
  bVI5 – IV5 – bVI – bVII – IV5

Part 4 (0:30)

• B♭ – C – G5 – B♭ – C – B♭
  bVI – bVII – IV5 – bVI – bVII – bVI
• G5 – B♭5 – C5 (×3)
  IV5 – bVI5 – bVII5

Part 5 (0:41)

• B♭5
  bVI5
• G5 – B♭6(no3)/G – C5/G (×3)
  IV5 – bVI6(no3) (bass G) – bVII5 (bass G)
• B♭6(no3)/G – G5 – B♭6/G
  bVI6(no3) (bass G) – IV5 – bVI6 (bass G)

Part 6 (0:51)

• C/G – G5 – B♭6/G (×2)
  bVII⁶₄ – IV5 – bVI6 (bass G)
• D♭/Abb – G5 – Gm – F
  bI (bass Abb) – IV5 – iv – bIII

Part 7 (1:04)

• Gm – F (×2)
  iv – bIII

Part 8 (1:18)

• Gm – F – Gm – C – A♭ – G5
  iv – bIII – iv – bVII – bV – IV5

Part 9 (1:33)

• G5 – C – A♭
  IV5 – bVII – bV
• G5 – B♭6/G – C/G (×3)
  IV5 – bVI6 (bass G) – bVII⁶₄

Part 10 (1:44)

• B♭
  bVI
• G5 – B♭6/G – C/G (×3)
  IV5 – bVI6 (bass G) – bVII⁶₄
• B♭ – G5 – Gm
  bVI – IV5 – iv

Part 11 (1:55)

• F – Gm (×2)
  bIII – iv

Part 12 (2:10)

• F – Gm (×2)
  bIII – iv
• C
  bVII

Part 13 (2:25)

• A♭ – G5 – F5 – C – A♭ – G5 – B♭6/G – C/G – G5 – B♭6/G
  bV – IV5 – bIII5 – bVII – bV – IV5 – bVI6 (bass G) – bVII⁶₄ – IV5 – bVI6 (bass G)

Part 14 (2:37)

• C/G – G5 – B♭6/G – C/G – B♭
  bVII⁶₄ – IV5 – bVI6 (bass G) – bVII⁶₄ – bVI
• G5 – B♭6/G – C/G (×3)
  IV5 – bVI6 (bass G) – bVII⁶₄
• B♭
  bVI

Part 15 (2:47)

• G5
  IV5
• Gm – C (×2)
  iv – bVII

Part 16 (3:01)

• Gm – C (×2)
  iv – bVII

Part 17 (3:16)

• Gm – C – F
  iv – bVII – bIII
• G5 – B♭6/G – C/G (×2)
  IV5 – bVI6 (bass G) – bVII⁶₄

Part 18 (3:28)

• G5 – B♭6/G – C/G – B♭
  IV5 – bVI6 (bass G) – bVII⁶₄ – bVI
• G5 – B♭6/G – C/G (×3)
  IV5 – bVI6 (bass G) – bVII⁶₄
• B♭ – G5
  bVI – IV5

Part 19 (3:39)

• Gm – F (×2)
  iv – bIII
• Gm
  iv

Part 20 (3:53)

Same chords as Part 11 (1:55).

Part 21 (4:08)

• C – A♭ – G5 – F5 – C – A♭ – G5
  bVII – bV – IV5 – bIII5 – bVII – bV – IV5

Part 22 (4:21)

• G5 – B♭5 – G5 – C – A♭ – Gm7 – C – A♭ – Gm
  IV5 – bVI5 – IV5 – bVII – bV – iv7 – bVII – bV – iv

Part 23 (4:35)

• C – A♭ – Gm (×2)
  bVII – bV – iv

Part 24 (4:50)

• C – A♭ – Gm – C – A♭ – C
  bVII – bV – iv – bVII – bV – bVII

Part 25 (5:23)

• A♭ – Gm7 – C – A♭ – Gm – C
  bV – iv7 – bVII – bV – iv – bVII

Part 26 (5:38)

• A♭ – Gm – C (×2)
  bV – iv – bVII

Part 27 (5:53)

Same chords as Part 26 (5:38).

Part 28 (6:07)

• A♭ – C5 – G5 – B♭5
  bV – bVII5 – IV5 – bVI5
• G5 – B♭6/G – C/G (×3)
  IV5 – bVI6 (bass G) – bVII⁶₄

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the Uspop2002 chord annotations (Music and Audio Research Lab, New York University). Chord annotation of the original recording (Nobody S Perfect Disc 2 2), time-stamped by researchers; CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo.
• Section names: this annotation doesn't name verses or choruses, so they aren't guessed. Instead, code used the chord timings to find the bars and cut the song into 8-bar parts. Each part is labelled with the time it starts in the annotated recording (Nobody S Perfect Disc 2 2), and a part with exactly the same chords as an earlier one says so.
• The key was estimated by code from the chords; this annotation doesn't state it.
• Not verified: only one expert transcription of this song is available so far.
• 2 chords were simplified to the closest symbol our player supports (for example, an unusual added tone dropped).
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.