Miley Cyrus - River - Chord

Chord degrees: major and relative minor

Show the degrees above the chords — relative to E or to C#m; comparing both readings is a practice of its own.

Every chord of the key, listed 1 to 7 separately for each key. Chords played in the song show how often they appear; chords from outside the scale sit next to their own degree.

Analysis

The key pair is E major and its relative C# minor (4 sharps). 12 different chords appear 79 times in total; 12 of them sit naturally inside the shared scale. Everything stays inside one scale, which is why the song is easy to follow by ear.

Chord movement

1. Amaj7 → B EIVmaj7 → VIV → V C#mVImaj7 → VIIVI → VII ×14
2. B → Dbm7 EV → vi7deceptive cadence C#mVII → i7Aeolian arrival ×9
3. A5 → B5 EIV → V C#mVI → VIIVI → VII ×6
4. B → E EV → Iauthentic cadence C#mVII → III ×3
5. B → Dbm EV → videceptive cadence C#mVII → iAeolian arrival ×2
6. A → B EIV → VIV → V C#mVI → VIIVI → VII ×1

The move to watch is Amaj7 → B, heard 14 times. From the E side it reads IVmaj7 → V (IV → V: the lift that builds tension before home); from the C#m side it is VImaj7 → VII (VI → VII: the rising step that heads for the tonic). Knowing where these arrivals fall helps you feel the phrasing and anticipate the next chord.

Capo and easier keys

The song's harmonic story

Starting on Amaj7, the song gives away its key from the very first bar. The chords that keep coming back are B, Amaj7, B5, B7; read them as V–IVmaj7–V–V7 in E or VII–VImaj7–VII–VII7 in C#m. No chord leaves the shared scale, so a single pentatonic shape works over the whole song. Keep an ear on Amaj7 → B (IVmaj7 → V in E, VImaj7 → VII in C#m): IV → V — the lift that builds tension before home. It closes on E, letting the E side have the last word.

This analysis is generated from the song's chords by akorculuk's harmony engine using consistent rules. When you change key, the degrees stay the same; only the chord names change.