Ticket to Ride by The Beatles
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 14 steps · 7 unique chords · 1960s
A
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: A major · Chords used: 7 · Sections: 8
Form: Intro → Verse → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Bridge → Verse → Outro
Where these chords come from: an expert transcription of the original recording made for the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). 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
I
Verse 1
- A – Bm – E – F♯m – D – F♯m – Gmaj7 – F♯m – E – A
I – ii – V – vi – IV – vi – bVIImaj7 – vi – V – I
Verse 2
Same chords as Verse 1.
Bridge 1
- D7 – E (×2)
IV7 – V
Verse 3
Same chords as Verse 1.
Bridge 2
Same chords as Bridge 1.
Verse 4
Same chords as Verse 1.
Outro
- A
I
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | I | Home chord (tonic) | Intro, Verse, Outro |
| Bm | ii | In the key | Verse |
| E | V | In the key | Verse, Bridge |
| F♯m | vi | In the key | Verse |
| D | IV | In the key | Verse |
| Gmaj7 | bVIImaj7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Verse |
| D7 | IV7 | Outside the key (chromatic) | Bridge |
Sources & accuracy
- Chords and sections: the Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London). Expert chord and structure annotation of the original recording (CC BY 4.0 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 Isophonics reference annotations (Centre for Digital Music, Queen Mary University of London)Expert transcription
Annotated from the original recording by trained musicians for a published research dataset.
Expert chord and structure annotation of the original recording (CC BY 4.0 via ChoCo).
All Piano Voicings
| # | Section | Chord | Left hand | Right hand | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Intro | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 2 | Verse 1 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 3 | Verse 1 | Bm | B1, F♯2 | D4, F♯4, B4 | — |
| 4 | Verse 1 | E | E2, B2 | E4, G♯4, B4 | — |
| 5 | Verse 1 | F♯m | F♯2, C♯3 | F♯4, A4, C♯5 | — |
| 6 | Verse 1 | D | D2, A2 | F♯4, A4, D5 | — |
| 7 | Verse 1 | F♯m | F♯2, C♯3 | F♯4, A4, C♯5 | — |
| 8 | Verse 1 | Gmaj7 | G2, D3 | F♯4, B4, D5 | — |
| 9 | Verse 1 | F♯m | F♯2, C♯3 | F♯4, A4, C♯5 | — |
| 10 | Verse 1 | E | E2, B2 | E4, G♯4, B4 | — |
| 11 | Verse 1 | A | A2, E3 | E4, A4, C♯5 | — |
| 12 | Bridge 1 (×2) | D7 | D2, A2 | F♯4, A4, C5 | — |
| 13 | Bridge 1 (×2) | E | E2, B2 | E4, G♯4, B4 | — |
| 14 | Outro | A | A2, E3 | E4, A4, C♯5 | — |