That'll Be the Day by Buddy Holly

Overview

Key: A major · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → Chorus → Bridge → Chorus → Solo → Chorus → Bridge → Chorus → Chorus

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
  I – V

Chorus 1

• D – A (×2)
  IV – I
• E – A
  V – I

Bridge 1

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

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo

• A
  I
• D – A – E (×2)
  IV – I – V

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Chorus 5

• D – A (×2)
  IV – I

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
A	I	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, Chorus, Bridge, Solo
E	V	In the key	Intro, Chorus, Bridge, Solo
D	IV	In the key	Chorus, Bridge, Solo
B	II	Secondary dominant (V/V)	Bridge

Harmonic highlights

• B acts as V/V: it resolves to E.

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 98% 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.