Chords + Lyrics | Thriller
Intro
| C#5 | C#5 | C#sus2 | C#sus2 |
| C#m | C#m | C#sus4 | C#sus4 |
| C#dim | C#dim | C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
||: C#m bass riff :|| x8
Verse 1
||: C#m (bass riff) | C#m (bass riff) :||
It’s close to midnight and something evil’s lurking in the dark.
Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart.
||: C#m (guitar riff) | C#m (guitar riff) :||
You try to scream, but terror takes the sound before you make it.
You start to freeze, as horror looks you right between the eyes, you’re paralyzed.
Chorus 1
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night.
| F# | F#m |
And no one’s gonna save you from the beast about to strike.
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
You know it’s thriller, thriller night.
| F# | A F# B |
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight, yeah.
Instrumental
||: C#m (guitar riff) | C#m (guitar riff) :||
Ooh, ooh.
Verse 2
||: C#m (guitar riff) | C#m (guitar riff) :||
You hear the door slam, and realize there’s nowhere left to run.
You feel the cold hand, and wonder if you’ll ever see the sun.
You close your eyes, and hope that this is just imagination.
Girl, but all the while, you hear a creature creepin’ up behind, you’re out of time.
Chorus 2
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night.
There ain’t no second chance against the thing with forty eyes, girl.
(Thriller) Woo-hoo (thriller night).
| F# | A F# B |
You’re fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight.
Middle 8
I (Cm)C#m (E5) F#7 | F#7 | F#7 | Amaj7 | Amaj7 A B |
Night creatures call and the dead start to walk in their masquerade.
| C#m | C#m/B | A#m7b5 | Amaj7 |
There’s no escaping the jaws of the alien this time (they’re open wide).
| G#sus4 | G# |
This is the end of your life, ooh.
Verse 3 (as verse 2)
They’re out to get you, there’s demons closin’ in on every side.
They will possess you, unless you change that number on your dial.
Now is the time, for you and I to cuddle close together, yeah.
All through the night, I’ll save you from the terror on the screen, I’ll make you see.
Chorus 3
That this is thriller, thriller night.
‘Cause I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try.
Thriller, thriller night.
| F# | A F# B | D#m7b5 Dmaj7 B11 | B11 |
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller, chiller, thriller here tonight.
Chorus 4 (as chorus 1)
‘Cause this is thriller, thriller night.
Girl, I can thrill you more than any ghoul would ever dare try.
Thriller, thriller night.
So let me hold you tight and share a killer, thriller, ow!
Breakdown
||: C#m (guitar riff) | C#m (guitar riff):||
I’m gonna thrill you tonight.
Outro
||: C#m (guitar riff) | C#m (guitar riff) :||
Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close at hand.
Creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorize y’all’s neighborhood (I’m gonna thrill you tonight).
And whosoever shall be found, without the soul for getting down.
Must stand and face the hounds of hell, and rot inside a corpse’s shell.
I’m gonna thrill you tonight. Thriller, ooh baby (thriller).
I’m gonna thrill you tonight (thriller night). Thriller, all night, oh baby.
I’m gonna thrill you tonight. Thriller, thriller night (oh baby).
I’m gonna thrill you tonight. Thriller, all night (oh baby).
Thriller night, babe (thriller night, babe), ooh.
The foulest stench is in the air, the funk of forty thousand years.
And grizzly ghouls from every tomb, are closing in to seal your doom.
And though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver.
For no mere mortal can resist, the evil of the thriller.
Thriller Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find two backing tracks for playing Thriller. I’ve used AI to extract the chords while keeping the drums and bass intact, with vocals included on the first track in the playlist.
I’ve also tuned Thriller back up to 440Hz—the original sits closer to 432Hz—so use my tuner if you want to play along with the original recording.
After studying the chords and TAB, use these backing tracks to prepare for playing Thriller with a band.
Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones’s masterpiece Thriller features some seriously sophisticated chords within its arrangement.
Intro
The intro, played on keyboards, revolves around a C#m chord, with a single note moving up from the root to the 2nd, m3rd, 4th, and b5.
This leads into a two-bar chorus progression, outlining the melody:
| C#5 | C#5 | C#sus2 | C#sus2 |
| C#m | C#m | C#sus4 | C#sus4 |
| C#dim | C#dim | C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E |
||: C#m (bass riff) :|| x8
You might think this was just a cool intro created by chance—no way.
The King of Pop knew exactly what he was doing. Designed for radio, a DJ could talk over the intro, pause for the big chords, speak again as the bass line kicks in, and then hand it over to Michael.
Thriller was engineered to be a radio hit—Michael and Quincy thought of everything.
I’ve created TABs to help you play all of this on guitar, including that eerie intro, so you can perform Thriller in a band even without keyboards.
We’ll also break down the bass line, guitar riff, find a chorus part, explore the various chorus endings, and even construct a middle 8. Here’s the TAB lesson link: Thriller – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Verse
The verse is essentially static on C#m. Initially, it’s just a bass line, which you can double if you like. Then a great palm-muted 16th-note part enters, returning for every verse, the breakdown, and the outro.
In the course, you’ll find TAB for all of this, including how to vary the looped guitar riff.
Chorus
The chorus begins with the same progression that ends the intro. These chords form the entirety of the first chorus:
| C#m (VI) C#m7 | C#m7 F# (IIx) E (I) | F# (IIx) | F#m (II) |
| C#m C#m7 | C#m7 F# E | F# | A (IV) F# (IIx) B (V) |
Aside from the IIx chord (F#), Thriller’s chorus progression is entirely diatonic.
Chorus 2 repeats this, leading into the middle 8.
Chorus 3 extends the ending for added tension:
| F# | A F# B | D#m7b5 Dmaj7 B11 | B11 |
Chorus 4 mirrors Chorus 1, but on the recording, the guitar shifts to playing the verse riff, which continues through the outro.
Middle 8
The middle 8 features the most complex harmonic movement—it took the longest to figure out. Here’s what I believe is happening:
I (Cm) C#m (E5) F#7 | F#7 | F#7 | Amaj7 |
| Amaj7 A B | C#m | C#m/B | A#m7b5 |
| Amaj7 | G#sus4 | G# |
The first bar—sometimes considered part of the preceding chorus—includes Cm and E5 to lead into the main chords.
It may look complicated, but many of the chords towards the end share similar notes.
In the course, I’ve built a part where you only move one note at a time while holding the others. Once you see the logic, this chord chart becomes easy to follow.
Thriller Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
If you’d like to download my chord chart, here’s the PDF: Thriller chord chart PDF
This chart was created using iReal Pro. You can also download the iReal Pro file here: Thriller iReal Pro. With the app, you can easily change the key.
Thriller TAB | Course Preview
In the course, we break down the main bass and guitar riff for Thriller and look at how to arrange the iconic keyboard intro for guitar. We also develop chorus parts and really dig into the middle 8.
As a preview, here are the first two lines of that intro in TAB.
From Chart-Topping Hits to a Groundbreaking Video—How Thriller Became Legendary
As a single from the album of the same name, Thriller sold an impressive 10 million copies—an incredible feat considering it was the seventh single released. By then, you’d think everyone already owned the album.
The album Thriller went on to sell a staggering 70 million copies worldwide. Before the title track was even released, it had already produced six hit singles: The Girl Is Mine (with Paul McCartney), Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, Human Nature, and P.Y.T.
These seven singles were released between October 1982 and November 1983, keeping the album in the spotlight for over a year.
When Michael Jackson finally released Thriller as a single, it came with a groundbreaking music video—unlike anything seen before.
Inspired primarily by An American Werewolf in London, along with other horror films, the video helped propel the album to its record-breaking status.
Alongside the iconic video, a making-of documentary was also released, which went on to become the best-selling videotape of all time.
In the early ’80s, Michael Jackson truly earned his title as the King of Pop.
Thriller Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Thriller (Michael Jackson) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
