With a Little Luck by Paul McCartney

Overview

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

Form: Intro → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Verse → Chorus → Interlude → Interlude → Transition → Instrumental → Instrumental → 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

• A/B – E – A/B – Dmaj9 – C♯m7 – A/B
  IV (bass B) – I – IV (bass B) – bVIImaj9 – vi7 – IV (bass B)

Chorus 1

• E – E/G♯ – A – A/B (×2)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass B)
• C♯m7
  vi7

Verse 1

• F♯m – C♯7 (×3)
  ii – VI7
• F♯m/C♯ – C♯7 – F♯m – C♯7 – Dmaj7♯11 – A/B
  ii⁶₄ – VI7 – ii – VI7 – bVIImaj7#11 – IV (bass B)

Chorus 2

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Verse 2

Same chords as Verse 1.

Chorus 3

Same chords as Chorus 1.

Interlude 1

• E – E/G♯ – A – A/B (×4)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass B)
• E – E/G♯ – A
  I – I⁶ – IV

Interlude 2

• A/B – E – A/B
  IV (bass B) – I – IV (bass B)
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – A/B – E (×3)
  bVIImaj7 – vi7 – IV (bass B) – I
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – A/B
  bVIImaj7 – vi7 – IV (bass B)

Transition

• E – A/B
  I – IV (bass B)

Instrumental 1

• E – E/G♯ – A – A/B (×2)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass B)
• C♯m7
  vi7

Instrumental 2

• F♯m – C♯7 (×3)
  ii – VI7
• F♯m/C♯ – C♯7 – F♯m – C♯7 – Dmaj7♯11 – A/B
  ii⁶₄ – VI7 – ii – VI7 – bVIImaj7#11 – IV (bass B)

Outro

• E – E/G♯ – A – A/B (×3)
  I – I⁶ – IV – IV (bass B)
• E – E/G♯ – A
  I – I⁶ – IV
• Dmaj7 – C♯m7 – A/B – E (×2)
  bVIImaj7 – vi7 – IV (bass B) – I

Chord vocabulary

Harmonic highlights

• C♯7 acts as V/ii: it resolves to F♯m.

Sources & accuracy

• Chords and sections: the McGill Billboard Project (Burgoyne, Wild & Fujinaga, 2011). Expert transcription by trained musicians (song 0456, 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.