Nirvana · 1991
Smells Like Teen Spirit
8 notes across the harmonic analysis · 2 different passage shapes.
Chord-derived pitch classes, after David Temperley. The melody and other unannotated notes are not included. Method & limits
All annotated harmonies combined
Whole analysis
Circle 509 · 8 notes
C · D♭ · D · E♭ · F · G♭ · A♭ · B♭
Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This combines notes across time; compare the passages below to see where the field changes.
Source passage · Intro
Intro
Circle 253 · 7 notes
C · D♭ · D · E♭ · F · A♭ · B♭
Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.
Source passage · Vr
Verse
Circle 253 · 7 notes
C · D♭ · D · E♭ · F · A♭ · B♭
Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.
Source passage · Ch
Chorus
Circle 509 · 8 notes
C · D♭ · D · E♭ · F · G♭ · A♭ · B♭
Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.
Source passage · BP
Passage BP
Circle 253 · 7 notes
C · D♭ · D · E♭ · F · A♭ · B♭
Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.
Source passage · Vrsolo
Passage Vrsolo
Circle 253 · 7 notes
C · D♭ · D · E♭ · F · A♭ · B♭
Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.
Source passage · Ch3
Chorus 3
Circle 253 · 7 notes
C · D♭ · D · E♭ · F · A♭ · B♭
Does not fit inside one diatonic scale. This field belongs to this passage, not necessarily the whole song.
Source & interpretation
David Temperley’s harmonic analysis of Smells Like Teen Spirit ↗, from the de Clercq–Temperley RS 200 corpus. Retrieved 19 October 2026.
The complete field includes all harmonies in the source’s S rule. The passages are its named top-level units; direct chords outside those units still contribute to the whole field. Repeated units with the same notes are merged. Labels such as “Passage A” preserve the source where a conventional section name is not given.
Notes and circle assignments are calculated by Chordfields from that analysis. They have not been independently verified against the recording. Read the full method.