Sleepwalk, Fm or F?

Ron Victoria · Post by **Ron Victoria** » 12 Dec 2004 12:34 pm

I searched Sleepwalk here and found the third chord both ways, major and minor. Was it originally played as C, Am, F, G7 by Santo? Actually, the Fm sounds good. Thanks, Ron

Nic du Toit · Post by **Nic du Toit** » 12 Dec 2004 1:31 pm

I could not find my copy of the original version, but I prefer the Fm. It flows better (to my ear).

Peter Feller · Post by **Peter Feller** » 12 Dec 2004 2:25 pm

Ron, I think that the Fm is the way to play it. It lets you take the melody line up to the Aug V more logically to my ears. I don't know how anyone can be certain of the original progression except for the composer. The fake books are notoriously inaccurate and oversimplified.

Peter Feller · Post by **Peter Feller** » 12 Dec 2004 5:30 pm

Correction. Sorry. The chord I use after the Fm is a Gdom7flat9. Not an augmented.

George Wixon · Post by **George Wixon** » 12 Dec 2004 5:30 pm

I slowed this song down and from the original and came up with this version of it if anyone would like to see what I came up with you can find it here http://gwixon.com/Sleep.html
George

Herb Steiner · Post by **Herb Steiner** » 12 Dec 2004 5:35 pm

There is one F chord in Sleepwalk, all the rest are Fm. The F major occurs on the turnaround between the first and second "A" sections.

Bob Watson · Post by **Bob Watson** » 12 Dec 2004 11:05 pm

Heres the way I have always played it, 6/8 time in the key of C:

C|Am|Fm|G7|
C|Am|Fm|G7|
C|Am|Fm|G7|
C|Am|Fm|G7|

C|Am|Fm|G7|
C|Am|Fm|G7|
C|Am|Fm|G7|
C|F7|C|C7|

F|F|Fm|Fm|
C|G7|C|C7
F|F|Fm|Fm
G7|Bb7|G7|G7|

C|Am|Fm|G7|
C|Am|Fm|G7|
C|Am|Fm|G7|
C|Am|Fm|G7

Don Sulesky · Post by **Don Sulesky** » 13 Dec 2004 8:24 am

I have two music books I bought in 1960 and both show the Fm chord. Other than the intro and the bridge which goes F to Fm I have also always played it with the Fm chord.
Don

Ed Shimkus · Post by **Ed Shimkus** » 13 Oct 2006 12:13 am

The original recording was in the key of C#. You can hear it here:
http://www.angelfire.com/music4/wavrave5/oldies/JohnnyandSanto_Sleepwalker.wav

Robert Shafer · Post by **Robert Shafer** » 13 Oct 2006 4:55 am

FWIW. I was priviledged to accompany, just the once, a well known Welsh guitarist (Tele) on this number and was told in no uncertain terms that the third chord is a Fm7.
Try it, it seems to work well.
Just my half a groat's worth.

Ed Shimkus · Post by **Ed Shimkus** » 13 Oct 2006 7:59 am

I think there are two ways to present a piece of music: the way the composer intended and wrote it (if that is know) and the way it sounds best to you, in your circumstance, on your instrument, with your accompaniment, band, or orchestra. This way of doing business is especially evidenced in classical music. There are many good renditions of Brahms 1st symphony, e.g., all of which sound differently because the conductor applied his or her soul to the piece. So too for a tune like Sleepwalk. I have no qualms about changing chords or notes, adding accidentals, altering the tempo, or otherwise fidgeting with a tune until it sounds good to me. I agree with Robert: try it – if it sounds good, use it; if not, experiment around and create what you like.

Speaking of soul, Jeff Newman talked frequently about the soul in PSG. We all have different souls and notions as to what constitutes soul in music. It may seem odd to some but whether I play alone or in front of an audience, I play for me, in a way that I am moved, in a manner that impels me to say, “Damn, that was good!” I hope my audience enjoys it as much as I do.
[This message was edited by Ed Shimkus on 13 October 2006 at 09:00 AM.]

Sherman Willden · Post by **Sherman Willden** » 13 Oct 2006 9:21 am

You should check out Mike Auldridge with Chesapeake on the Pier Pressure album. Nice work on Sleepwalk(ing) At The Drive-In.

Sherman

Jesse Pearson · Post by **Jesse Pearson** » 14 Oct 2006 7:28 am

The answer is in listening to what the steel is playing note wise as it relates to the chord the band is playing. In the 8 measure intro, the steel plays an Fm chord (3rd measure) for the first 4 measures and for the second 4 measures he plays F major (7th measure). This progression goes along with the youtube version and the corrected tab for steel can be found at www.jessepearsonguitar.com
<pre>
Intro:/C /A- /F- /G7 /C /A- /F /G7 /.

Verse:/C /A- /F- /G7 /x3 (add turnaround 1. or 2.)
Verse turn arounds (1.) /C /A- /F- /G7

(2.)/C /F /C /C /.

Bridge: /F /F /F- /F- /C /G7 /C /C7 /
/F /F /F- /F- /G /Bb /G /G7 /.
</pre>
The rhythm guitar is strumming in 6/8 time = /123, 456/. I think of the time as 2/4 as far as tapping my foot but strum in 6/8 on rhythm guitar.

The bass is sustaining a G note for the 6th measure of the bridge as Bob Watson has in his bridge progression.
[This message was edited by Jesse Pearson on 14 October 2006 at 12:17 PM.]

John McClung · Post by **John McClung** » 14 Oct 2006 1:12 pm

Jesse Pearson has it exactly right, in the intro it's Fm the first time, then a surprising F Major the 2nd.

What tuning was used exactly?

Anyone know what are the exact chords on standard guitar that end the song on the original record? It was the first place I even noticed a guitar playing; does he play rhythm throughout the track?

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Jesse Pearson · Post by **Jesse Pearson** » 15 Oct 2006 10:35 am

John, the last chords on guitar sound like Cmaj7(3rd fret root on the A string), Db9(4th fret root on the A string), D6/9(5th fret root on the A string). The D6/9 voicing is used in Rockabilly (i.e. Gene Vincent "Blue jean bop").

The steel was tuned to C#m7 on the original "Sleepwalk", which one exactly? All I am sure of is that the C#m7 used on my tab sounds just like the youtube version to me. I am aware that they used an 8 string steel, but that doesn't seem to make any difference when compared to a 6 string steel as far as the voicings. I had used a Dick McIntire voicing on my first tab attempt, but changed it to the voicing that Jeff Au Hoy pointed out, which after repeated listening sounded right to me.

I have guitar chord voicings that follow the youtube version and I tabbed out the bass as well. I'm still trying to figure the posting .jpg image thing when I get a chance and will post this on my site when my room mate gets around to teaching me the steps.[This message was edited by Jesse Pearson on 15 October 2006 at 03:20 PM.]

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 15 Oct 2006 10:35 am

On the bridge, I like to play

F, F(Maj7), Fm, Fm(Maj7)

Lee, from South Texas

Jerry Malvern · Post by **Jerry Malvern** » 17 Oct 2006 2:01 pm

Long time ago, when I was first learning regular guitar, I remember looking at the sheet music at a music store. If I remember correctly, the third chord in the book was Dm7

Sidney Ralph Penton · Post by **Sidney Ralph Penton** » 20 Oct 2006 6:25 pm

i am not that much of a steel player and mostly what i play is gospel however i love the song sleep walk and to go all the way up to the 21st fret is way too high. johnny plays it about 12 or 14 th fret but he uses a chime instead of a regular string pluck. by using a chime it sounds higher than it really is.

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if its not a zum steel it isn't real
just trying to steel for the Lord>

Edward Meisse · Post by **Edward Meisse** » 22 Oct 2006 5:47 pm

Fm7? I'll have to try it. I've always used Ab7.