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“Set Fire To The Rain” is a song that largely follows the conventions of pop music, with its simple and repetitive chord progressions echoing those in many similar genres. The chord progression observed in the Outro is primarily a combination of minor and major chords that provide a melancholic and intense undertone to the song’s overall theme. The song is in the key of A minor and the chord progression in the Outro starts on the key’s root chord (‘Am’).

“Penny Lane,” written by the Beatles, utilizes key changes and borrowed chords to create an interesting and complex tonal palette. The song is best understood to primarily be in the key of A Major; however, it frequently borrows chords from the parallel minor key, uses unexpected dominant chords, and briefly modulates to other key areas for color and variety. This is characteristic of several Beatles songs, and it’s one of the ways they added complexity to their music while still remaining accessible.

The song “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay is in the key of G major and follows a fairly simple chord progression in the pop/rock genre. This progression particularly makes use of the I, IV, V, and vi chords in this key, which is a typical pop progression.

“Bennie And The Jets” by Elton John, released in 1973, features a distinctive chord progression that exemplifies Elton’s advanced harmonic sensibility and taste for grand piano-based balladry. The song is mainly in the key of G Major.

Adele – Set Fire To The Rain – Chorus

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Chord Progression

[‘Am’, ‘Am/B’, ‘Am’, ‘G’, ‘G/A’, ‘G’, ‘Dm’, ‘Dm’, ‘F’, ‘Am’, ‘G’, ‘Am’, ‘Am/B’, ‘Am’, ‘G’, ‘G/A’, ‘G’, ‘Dm’, ‘Dm’, ‘F’, ‘Am’, ‘G’]

Chord Progression Analysis

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– A minor (vi)
– A minor/B (vi6/4)
– A minor (vi)
– G Major (V)
– G Major/A (V6/4)
– G Major (V)
– D minor (i)
– D minor (i)
– F Major (III)
– A minor (vi)
– G Major (V)
– A minor (vi)
– A minor/B (vi6/4)
– A minor (vi)
– G Major (V)
– G Major/A (V6/4)
– G Major (V)
– D minor (i)
– D minor (i)
– F Major (III)
– A minor (vi)
– G Major (V)

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Similar Chord Progressions

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1. “Rolling In The Deep” by Adele uses a similar chord progression with the pattern being [Am, G, F, G].
2. “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish uses a similar chord progression with the pattern being [Gm, Gm/A, Gm/Bb, Cm].
3. “Someone Like You” by Adele uses a similar chord progression with the pattern being [A, E/G#, F#m, D, A, E].
4. “Just The Way You Are” by Bruno Mars uses a similar chord sequence of [F, Dm, Bb, F].

This shows that such chord patterns are quite popular throughout many pop songs.

Musical Analysis

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Adele starts the first chorus in A minor, proceeding to an inversed A minor over B. She then goes back to the A minor, then to a G Major chord, and follows it with a G Major over A which creates a suspended feel before transitioning back to the G Major chord.

The D minor sections in the chorus are the points where the song heightens in energy and intensity. following this heightened feel, Adele then moves to F major to create a resolution, creating a sense of completeness, and in the process, making the audience feel something powerful.

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Overall Analysis

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‘Set Fire to the Rain’ is written in the key of D minor. The main course of progression uses the chords of Dm, B-flat Major, F Major and C Major. This is a 6-4-1-5 progression, which is very popular and is used in a lot of pop music.

What makes this progression interesting is that Adele uses the 2nd inversion of the A minor chord, Am/B, and G/A, which gives it a unique timbre. `Am/B` is the 2nd inversion of the `Am` chord and `G/A` is the 2nd inversion of the `G` chord.

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Style Analysis

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Adele’s style often combines pop-soul with contemporary pop music, using simple, effective chord progressions as the building blocks for her emotive and evocative melodies and her distinctive, powerhouse vocal delivery.

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Chords in the Chorus section of Set Fire To The Rain by Adele are:

[‘Am’, ‘Am/B’, ‘Am’, ‘G’, ‘G/A’, ‘G’, ‘Dm’, ‘Dm’, ‘F’, ‘Am’, ‘G’, ‘Am’, ‘Am/B’, ‘Am’, ‘G’, ‘G/A’, ‘G’, ‘Dm’, ‘Dm’, ‘F’, ‘Am’, ‘G’]