Summertime Blues by Blue Cheer

Overview

Key: C minor · Chords used: 16 · Sections: 12

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

• D5 – B♭ – G5 – B♭ – F5 – A♭ – C5 – A♭9 (×2)
  II5 – bVII – V5 – bVII – IV5 – bVI – I5 – bVI9

Verse 1

• C5
  I5

Chorus 1

• F5 – C5 (×2)
  IV5 – I5

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• F7 – Cm7 – F5 – C5
  IV7 – i7 – IV5 – I5

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude

• D5 – B♭ – G5 – B♭ – F5 – A♭ – C5 – A♭9 – D5 – B♭ – G5 – B♭ – F5 – A♭ – C5
  II5 – bVII – V5 – bVII – IV5 – bVI – I5 – bVI9 – II5 – bVII – V5 – bVII – IV5 – bVI – I5

Solo

• E♭5 – E5 – F5 – G♭5 – G5 – A♭5 – A5 – B♭5 – B5
  bIII5 – III5 – IV5 – bV5 – V5 – bVI5 – VI5 – bVII5 – VII5

Verse 4

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Outro

• D5 – B♭ – G5 – B♭ – F5 – A♭ – C5 – A♭9 (×2)
  II5 – bVII – V5 – bVII – IV5 – bVI – I5 – bVI9

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D5 (II5) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.
• E5 (III5) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.
• A5 (VI5) is borrowed from the parallel key, C major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 1170, 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.