Hallelujah Chords
Chords in this song
Chords for Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley, in the key of C, around 71 BPM. The song is built on C, Am, F, G, E7, Em, usually played with a capo on fret 5. Press play — the chord sheet above highlights in time with the track, and you can click any bar to jump there.
How to play Hallelujah
C is the key you actually hear on the record. Most players don't finger those chords directly — they put a capo on fret 5 and play G, Em7, C, D, B7 shapes, which sound as C, Am, F, G, E7, Em. That's why chord sites often list this song "in G": they're printing the shapes, not the sounding key.
Difficulty: Easy — mostly open chords, with F as the one tricky shape. The capo makes it considerably easier than the key suggests.
Re-analysed 2026-07 from a correct-speed source: the previous video was sped up ~5% (392s vs the album 413s), which raised the recording a semitone and made every chord on this page wrong.
Chords you need
With a capo on fret 5, finger these as G, Em7, C, D, B7.
Chord progression through the song
The bar-by-bar timeline above is detected from the audio by EarChords and can include passing voicings the songbooks simplify away — the key, the core chords and the capo position on this page are checked against published sheet music and audio-analysis sources.
Frequently asked
What key is Hallelujah in?
Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley is in the key of C, at around 71 BPM. That's the key the recording actually sounds in, not the shapes you finger — with a capo on fret 5 you play G, Em7, C, D shapes and it still sounds in C.
What chords do I need for Hallelujah?
The core of the song is C, Am, F, G, E7, Em, which most players finger as G, Em7, C, D, B7 with a capo on fret 5.
Is Hallelujah good for beginners?
Easy. Mostly open chords, with F as the one tricky shape. The capo does a lot of the work here — it turns the chords into G, Em7, C, D shapes.
What capo do you use for Hallelujah?
Fret 5. With the capo there you play G, Em7, C, D, B7 shapes, and the song sounds in its original key of C.