With a Little Help From My Friends by The Beatles

Overview

Key: E major · Chords used: 12 · Sections: 11

Form: Intro → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Verse → Chorus → Bridge → Chorus → 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

• C – D – E
  bVI – bVII – I

Verse 1

• E – B/D♯ – F♯m/C♯ – F♯m – B – E – B – F♯m – B – E
  I – V⁶ – ii⁶₄ – ii – V – I – V – ii – V – I

Chorus 1

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

Verse 2

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

Chorus 2

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

Bridge 1

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

Verse 3

Same chords as Verse 2.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Bridge 2

Same chords as Bridge 1.

Chorus 4

Same chords as Chorus 2.

Outro

• D – A – C/G – D9/A – E
  bVII – IV – bVI⁶₄ – bVII9 (bass A) – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• C (bVI) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D (bVII) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• C/G (bVI⁶₄) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.
• D9/A (bVII9 (bass A)) is borrowed from the parallel key, E minor.

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.