Wish I could help you out, Zeldar, but I am more of a “Riff” guy. I play favorite chords and such - I like the Moondance chords - Amin7, Bmin7, Cmaj7, Bmin7 - but when I am just picking up my guitar, or trying out a new guitar at a shop, I tend to play specific riffs to see if that guitar captures the essence of that style of guitar’s tone.
So on a Strat, I will play some SRV - Cold Shot or Pride and Joy - with the appropriate pickup selected (Neck/Mid out of phase for Cold Shot, Neck only for P&J) and see if that Strat sounds SRV-ish (obviously the amp is key, too). For a Gibson, I will often play “Born under a Bad Sign” - the Cream version.
In both cases, these are very rhythmic, percussive riffs, which get me in a groove to play…
Do you like this in A in particular because you end on an open chord? I don’t like the sound of dominant chords in open positions because they just should hokey to me. I would prefer to substitute the b5 of the 5th instead of the actual dominant 5th in this case. So a Bb9 instead of the E7b9. It sounds slightly less dominant and the chromatic move from B to Bb sounds a bit more soulful and jazzier.
There are several variations off these same chords that I’ll use, including the “Free As A Bird” changes, with FMaj7 replacing the Bm7, and going to E7. Yes, I do like the open position sound when possible.
Another variation I like is AMaj7 - F#7#5 - Bm9 - E7#5
And thanks, WordMan, for helping me remember that the Moondance changes are also among my favorites, as are the ones for The Thrill Is Gone (BB King’s version) and Comin’ Home Baby.
For the life of me I’ll never understand why writers of popular music don’t use more major and minor 7th chords. I find their omission mindboggling. Zeldar, I don’t know if your familiar with “The Style Council” (Paul Weller), but based on some of these changes and chords you’ve mentioned you would probably love their music.
Things I usually play when messing around with a guitar… the melody/main riff to Allmans songs including Dreams (melody or bass line; the chords under the soloing are just C and D), One Way Out, Les Brers in A Minor, and the chords to Whipping Post (A-Bm-C, then reverse) or Seven Turns (basically G-C-D), In Memory of Elizabeth Reed (not sure about the names here).
I’m also fond of the riff to How Many More Years as performed by Led Zeppelin, and the chords to the Grateful Dead’s Box of Rain (D-Am-Em-C-G).
Thanks, if6was9 and Marley23, for the feedback for Stormy Monday! I found an “Allman Brothers Complete” book of sheet music back in the 70’s or 80’s that had everything they had done up to the time that Gregg put out the Laid Back album. It had everything butStormy Monday so I had to make up my own version from listening to the Fillmore East album. My version started in E.
Later I found any number of versions on the internet until I finally located This One which sounds as much like the album as any I have found.
If you know of a better version on the web, please share.
And, c_carol, that “C-Am-F-G7” is basically the same changes as my “AMaj7 - F#m7 - Bm7 - E7b9” just in the key of C instead of A (and with Dm substituted for the F). That little “turnaround” sequence is the basis for most of the “doo wop” songs of the 50’s, which is probably where I developed my fondness for it. That and “Blue Moon” and “Heart and Soul” from when I was a kid. That’s about all I could play on piano back then, too.
Do any of you folks hunt around for TAB versions of your favorite stuff? If so, where have you found your best TAB’s?
Until not very long ago, Vision Music had an extensive collection of FREE guitar things. Now they’re on a membership basis but there are still some free pages that you might want to check out. One that’s still free and that I have enjoyed playing is Example 3 on this page. Note that each example is played twice on the MIDI file.
Zeldar: in 1995, Hal Leonard released three books of Allman Brothers Band chords and tab that have pretty much all of their major songs- melody, harmony, lead, solos, everything. Stormy Monday is in Volume One. (The three are alphabetical, but it’s listed as (Call It) Stormy Monday.)
The chords are given as G7, G6, G9, C7, C6, C9, G7, G6, G#9… well, that’s most of it, perhaps you can work it out from there.
This tablature from the Allman Brothers site pretty much matches up with the one you linked to, but I remember the one in the book always sounding right when I used it.
I am a sodding pathetic amateur guitarist at best but my automatic chord progression when I pick one up is Pete Townshend’s familiar D-G-C from “Tommy” and “Rael.”
If your looking for “note for note” tabs Guitar Pro software is the best - dl a trial then search their site for tabbed songs. Otherwise I just search the name and “guitar tab” - usually OLGA comes up but you’ll catch songs you otherwise may not from searching OLGA alone.
Well, for me, I find a chord progression I like and then just transpose it. For instance, one of the most popular and most used chord progressions is G - C - D. Buy any crappy “Matchbox 20” CD, add an occasional Em and you’re in business!
G - C - D are a I - IV - V progression. If you have two guitars, have one play G-C-D and have the other Capo on the 3rd fret and play E - A - B (Another I - IV - V progression). This is really easy but sounds good.
I usually play bar chords with the bottom two strings (B and E) open. Open chords sound really good to me and they’re easier to play. Just my preference though.
Also, when I go from C to D, many times I will just slide that C up two frets. Try that, I think you’ll like it.
Chords you can play together (This is just a few):
I did think of this one: “Tempted” [by the fruit of another] - Squeeze. I have a copy of the words and chord changes (from the net), but they’re nowhere near correct.