With a Little Help From My Friends by Joe Cocker

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 10 · Sections: 10

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Chorus → Transition → Outro

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

• E – B – F♯m – B – E
  I – V – ii – V – I

Verse 1

• E – B – F♯m – B (×2)
  I – V – ii – V
• E
  I

Chorus 1

• D – A – E (×2)
  bVII – IV – I
• Aadd9
  IVadd9

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 2

• D – A/D – E (×2)
  bVII – IV (bass D) – I
• A/D – E
  IV (bass D) – I

Bridge

• C♯m – F♯ – E – D – A (×2)
  vi – II – I – bVII – IV

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

• D – A – E (×2)
  bVII – IV – I
• A – E
  IV – I

Transition

• B
  V

Outro

• D – A – E (×4)
  bVII – IV – I
• D – A – C/G – D – E
  bVII – IV – bVI⁶₄ – bVII – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• D (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• C/G (bVI⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0675, 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.