We Will Rock You by Queen
Piano chords, voicings & structure breakdown · 9 steps · 4 unique chords
C
Whole song transcribed by
Harmonic Analysis & Structure
Overview
Key: E minor · Chords used: 4 · Sections: 2
Form: Chorus → Solo
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.
Key changes
- Solo moves to A major.
Section by section
Chorus
- C
bVI
Solo
- A – D (×2)
I – IV - A – Asus4 – D – A – Asus4 – A
I – Isus4 – IV – I – Isus4 – I
Chord vocabulary
| Chord | Roman numeral | Role | Heard in |
|---|---|---|---|
| C | bVI | In the key | Chorus |
| A | I (in A major) | Home chord (tonic) | Solo |
| D | IV (in A major) | In the key | Solo |
| Asus4 | Isus4 (in A major) | Home chord (tonic) | Solo |
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 | Chorus | C | C2, G2 | C4, E4, G4 | — |
| 2 | Solo, part 1 (×2) | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 3 | Solo, part 1 (×2) | D | D2, A2 | D4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 4 | Solo, part 2 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 5 | Solo, part 2 | Asus4 | A2, E3 | D4, E4, A4 | — |
| 6 | Solo, part 2 | D | D2, A2 | D4, F♯4, A4 | — |
| 7 | Solo, part 2 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |
| 8 | Solo, part 2 | Asus4 | A2, E3 | D4, E4, A4 | — |
| 9 | Solo, part 2 | A | A2, E3 | C♯4, E4, A4 | — |