Thriller by Michael Jackson

Overview

Key: C♯ minor · Chords used: 22 · Sections: 9

Form: Intro → A Section → C Section → A Section → C Section → B Section → A Section → C Section → Outro

Where these chords come from: a chord chart of this song written by a musician and shared on the iReal Pro forums, archived in the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). It's one musician's reading of the song, not a transcription checked against the recording. This page shows that chart 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

• C♯m – E – F♯ – C♯m7
  i – bIII – IV – i7

A Section 1

• F♯7 – C♯m7 (×4)
  IV7 – i7
• Amaj7/C♯ – G♯m7/C♯
  bVImaj⁶₅ – v7 (bass C♯)

C Section 1

• C♯m – E – F♯ – C♯m7 – F♯7 – F♯m7 – C♯m – E – F♯ – C♯m7 – F♯7 – A7 – F♯7 – A/B – C♯m7
  i – bIII – IV – i7 – IV7 – iv7 – i – bIII – IV – i7 – IV7 – bVI7 – IV7 – bVI (bass B) – i7

A Section 2

Same chords as A Section 1.

C Section 2

• C♯m – E – F♯ – C♯m7 – F♯7 – F♯m7 – C♯m – E – F♯ – C♯m7 – F♯7 – A7 – F♯7 – A/B – C♯m – E – F♯
  i – bIII – IV – i7 – IV7 – iv7 – i – bIII – IV – i7 – IV7 – bVI7 – IV7 – bVI (bass B) – i – bIII – IV

B Section

• F♯7 – F♯sus4 – E – Amaj7 – B – C♯m7 – E/B – B♭m7♭5 – Amaj7 – A♭7sus4 – A♭7
  IV7 – IVsus4 – bIII – bVImaj7 – bVII – i7 – bIII⁶₄ – viø7 – bVImaj7 – V7sus4 – V7

A Section 3

Same chords as A Section 1.

C Section 3

• C♯m – E – F♯ – C♯m7 – F♯7 – F♯m7 – C♯m – E – F♯ – C♯m7 – F♯7
  i – bIII – IV – i7 – IV7 – iv7 – i – bIII – IV – i7 – IV7

Outro

• A7 – F♯7 – A/B – E♭7 – C/D – A/B – B – C♯m – E – F♯ – C♯m7 – F♯7 – F♯m7 – C♯m – E – F♯ – C♯m7 – F♯7 – A7 – F♯7 – A/B
  bVI7 – IV7 – bVI (bass B) – II7 – bI (bass D) – bVI (bass B) – bVII – i – bIII – IV – i7 – IV7 – iv7 – i – bIII – IV – i7 – IV7 – bVI7 – IV7 – bVI (bass B)
• C♯m – A/C♯ – B/C♯ – F♯/C♯ (×8)
  i – bVI⁶ – bVII (bass C♯) – IV⁶₄

Chord vocabulary

Chord	Roman numeral	Role	Heard in
C♯m	i	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, C Section, Outro
E	bIII	In the key	Intro, C Section, B Section, Outro
F♯	IV	Borrowed from C♯ major	Intro, C Section, Outro
C♯m7	i7	Home chord (tonic)	Intro, A Section, C Section, B Section, Outro
F♯7	IV7	Outside the key (chromatic)	A Section, C Section, B Section, Outro
Amaj7/C♯	bVImaj⁶₅	In the key	A Section
G♯m7/C♯	v7 (bass C♯)	In the key	A Section
F♯m7	iv7	In the key	C Section, Outro
A7	bVI7	Outside the key (chromatic)	C Section, Outro
A/B	bVI (bass B)	In the key	C Section, Outro
F♯sus4	IVsus4	In the key	B Section
Amaj7	bVImaj7	In the key	B Section
B	bVII	In the key	B Section, Outro
E/B	bIII⁶₄	In the key	B Section
B♭m7♭5	viø7	Outside the key (chromatic)	B Section
A♭7sus4	V7sus4	In the key	B Section
A♭7	V7	In the key	B Section
E♭7	II7	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
C/D	bI (bass D)	Outside the key (chromatic)	Outro
A/C♯	bVI⁶	In the key	Outro
B/C♯	bVII (bass C♯)	In the key	Outro
F♯/C♯	IV⁶₄	Borrowed from C♯ major	Outro

Harmonic highlights

• F♯ (IV) is borrowed from the parallel key, C♯ major.
• F♯/C♯ (IV⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, C♯ major.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Thriller” (credited “Temperton Rod”, style Pop) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata.
• Section names: from the chart's own markings: section names written on the chart (Intro, Verse, Chorus…) are kept, and rehearsal letters are shown as “A Section”, “B Section” and so on (the B of an AABA song is called the Bridge).
• Cross-check: the iReal Pro forum charts archived in ChoCo (de Berardinis et al., 2023). Community chord chart “Thriller (Beloff arr.)” (credited “Temperton Rod”, style Moderately Bright) from the forum file linked here, CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo. Performer/songwriter confirmed from Wikidata. A separately posted chart of the same song; its chords match this page's closely when both are read in the same key (similarity 67%).
• Chord charts are often written in a key that suits a particular singer or band, so this may not be the key of the original recording.
• The chart's D.S./D.C./coda jumps have been written out in playing order.
• About the song: Wikipedia.
• Verified: two community charts of this song, posted in different forum threads, agree on its harmony. They're still charts, not transcriptions checked against the recording.
• Rhythm and chord durations aren't shown; each step is one chord change.