Walk This Way by Run-D.M.C.

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 13

Form: Interlude → Verse → Interlude → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Interlude ×2 → Verse → Chorus → Solo → Interlude → Solo

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.

Key changes

• Verse 1 moves to C major.
• Interlude 2 moves to E major.
• Verse 2 moves to C major.
• Interlude 3 moves to E major.
• Verse 3 moves to C major.
• Interlude 5 moves to E major.

Section by section

Interlude 1

• A
  IV

Verse 1

• C7 – A
  I7 – VI

Interlude 2

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 2

• C7
  I7

Chorus 1

• C7 – F7 (×4)
  I7 – IV7

Solo 1

• C7 – A
  I7 – VI

Interlude 3

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Interlude 4

Same chords as Interlude 1.

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 2.

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Solo 2

• A
  VI

Interlude 5

• E – A (×2)
  I – IV

Solo 3

• E – A (×22)
  I – IV

Chord vocabulary

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0879, 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.