Roll Over Beethoven | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| N.C | D N.C | N.C | D N.C | N.C |
| G | G | D | D |
| A7 | A7 | D | D |
Verse 1
| D7 | G7 | D7 | D7 |
Well, I’ma write a little letter, I’m gonna mail it to my local DJ.
| G7 | G7 | D7 | D7 |
Yeah, it’s a jumping little record I want my jockey to play.
| A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 |
Roll over Beethoven, I gotta hear it again today.
Verse 2
You know my temperature rising, the jukebox blowin’ a fuse.
My heart’s beating rhythm and my soul keep a-singing the blues.
Ah, roll over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news.
Verse 3
I got the rockin’ pneumonia, I need a shot of rhythm and blues.
I caught the rollin’ arthritis sittin’ down at a rhythm review.
Ah, roll over Beethoven, they rockin’ in two by two.
Verse 4
Well if you feel it and like it, go get your lover, then reel and rock it. Roll it over then.
Move on up, and yes-a, try for further and reel and rock with, one another.
Roll over Beethoven, dig this rhythm and blues.
Solo
| D7 | D7 | D7 | D7 |
| G7 | G7 | D7 | D7 |
| A7 | A7 | D7 | D7 |
Verse 5
Well early in the mornin’, I’m giving you my mornin’ don’t you step on my blue suede shoes.
Hey diddle-diddle, I’m-a play you my fiddle, ain’t got nothing to lose.
Roll over Beethoven, tell Tchaikovsky the news.
Verse 6
You know she wiggle like a glow worm, dance like a spinnin’ top.
She got a crazy partner, you oughta see ‘em reel and rock.
Long as she got a dime, the music will never stop.
Outro
| D7 | D7 | D7 | D7 |
Ah, roll over Beethoven, ah roll over Beethoven.
| G7 | G7 | D7 | D7 |
Roll over Beethoven, roll over Beethoven.
| A7 | N.C | N.C | D9 |
Roll over Beethoven and dig these rhythm and blues.
Roll Over Beethoven Chords: How to Play Along with the Original Recording (Tuning Sharp)
Chuck Berry’s Roll Over Beethoven is played in the key of D. However, if you try to play along with the original recording, you’ll notice that the pitch doesn’t quite match up. This might be because the tape was played back at a faster speed, raising the pitch beyond D.
The other possibility is that Chuck and his band were not in concert pitch when tuning up. Either way, to play along with the song correctly, you’ll need to adjust your tuning. My free online guitar tuner can help you set it to 458Hz.
Once you’re tuned correctly, the chords for the song follow this progression:
||: D7 (I) | G7 (IV) | D7 | D7 |
| G7 | G7 | D7 | D7 |
| A7 (V) | A7 | D7 | D7 :||
In bar two, there’s a quick change to the IV chord (G7), before returning to the I chord (D7). The turnaround simply goes from the V (A7) to the I (D7), which is a classic choice.
For the intro, you’ll play two stops with just a D chord — no quick change or extensions. Only the A7 is a dominant seventh.
The solo follows the same chord progression as the verse, but without the quick change. The outro is also similar, finishing with a D9 chord.
Most of the chords in Roll Over Beethoven are written as dominant seventh chords (dom7). While this is accurate for one guitar and the piano, the other guitar plays a honky-tonk rhythm with D5 – D6 – D5 – D6. This style of comping is typical in many Chuck Berry songs and has been widely adopted by other artists as well. I cover this technique in detail in the I Can’t Stand The Rain lessons in the intermediate acoustic course.
Roll Over Beethoven Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
Download my chord chart and use it as a reminder on the gig. You’ve got the static PDF or iReal Pro in case you wnat to change the key.
Roll Over Beethoven Chords | Related Pages
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