The Twist by Chubby Checker
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 21 steps · 3 unique chords · 1960s
B
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: E major · Chords used: 3 · Sections: 9
Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Verse → Chorus ×2
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
- B – A – E
V – IV – I
Verse 1
- E – A – E – B – A – E
I – IV – I – V – IV – I
Chorus 1
- E – A – E – B – A – E
I – IV – I – V – IV – I
Verse 2
Same chords as Verse 1.
Chorus 2
Same chords as Chorus 1.
Solo
- E – A – E – B – A – E
I – IV – I – V – IV – I
Verse 3
Same chords as Verse 1.
Chorus 3
Same chords as Chorus 1.
Chorus 4
Same chords as Chorus 1.
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| B | V | In the key | Intro, Verse, Chorus, Solo |
| A | IV | In the key | Intro, Verse, Chorus, Solo |
| E | I | Home chord (tonic) | Intro, Verse, Chorus, Solo |
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0948, 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.
Sources & Accuracy
Every chord on this page comes from the expert transcription listed first below. Piano voicings are our arrangement of the reported chord symbols, not a note-for-note transcription.
- the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011)Expert transcription
Annotated from the original recording by trained musicians for a published research dataset.
Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0948, CC0), via ChoCo.
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | B | B1, F♯2 | B3, D♯4, F♯4 | — |
| 2 | Intro | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 3 | Intro | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 4 | Verse 1 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 5 | Verse 1 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 6 | Verse 1 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 7 | Verse 1 | B | B1, F♯2 | B3, D♯4, F♯4 | — |
| 8 | Verse 1 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 9 | Verse 1 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 10 | Chorus 1 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 11 | Chorus 1 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 12 | Chorus 1 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 13 | Chorus 1 | B | B1, F♯2 | B3, D♯4, F♯4 | — |
| 14 | Chorus 1 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 15 | Chorus 1 | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 16 | Solo | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 17 | Solo | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 18 | Solo | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |
| 19 | Solo | B | B1, F♯2 | B3, D♯4, F♯4 | — |
| 20 | Solo | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 21 | Solo | E | E2, B2 | B3, E4, G♯4 | — |