Chords of: Mama knows the highway by: Hal Ketchum. (A, D, E7, Em7) are the main chords of the song. The chords are displayed instantly in real-time with a YouTube player, four synced views, instrument diagrams, loop practice and a built-in vocal-remover mixer.
“Mama knows the highway” by Hal Ketchum is in D Major and runs at about 162 BPM, giving it a fast, energetic pace. Our analysis found 19 different chords across 141 chord changes; the ones that carry the song are A, D, E7, Em7.
A is the chord you will hold longest — roughly 52% of the 4:12 the chords were tracked for. The song opens with A → E7 → A → E7 → A → B7 → E → D. Play the timeline above to hear each change land in real time.
Difficulty: intermediate — 5 main chords including 3 extended or barre voicings. Guitarists can play it as written — D Major sits in open-chord territory, no capo needed.
| Chord | Time held | Share |
|---|---|---|
| A | 2:11 | 52% |
| D | 0:42 | 17% |
| F#m7 | 0:18 | 7% |
| E7 | 0:11 | 4% |
| E | 0:11 | 4% |
| Em7 | 0:06 | 3% |
| D6 | 0:06 | 2% |
| Amaj7 | 0:05 | 2% |
A – D – A – F#m7 – E6 – A – D – A – F#m7 – A – D – A – E7 – A – D6 – D – A – E7 – A – D – A – B7 – E – A – D – A – E – A6 – D – A – D – Amaj7 – F#m7 – Em7 – A – D/A – A – D6 – A – E – A – D – A – F#m7 – E6 – A – D – A – …
