The Steel Guitar Forum

I was thinking about something that my mentor "Pee Wee" Word told me one time, that the tune, "Little Rock Getaway" was a tough song to learn. He said that he counted the chords one time and that song had 30 something chords in it and that you had to practice it a lot to be proficient with it. I got to wondering, what song has the most chords that any of you have seen and how difficult is it to play. I'm anxious to see what replies I'll get with this one !

------------------
JUST 'CAUSE I STEEL, DON'T MAKE ME A THIEF www.geocities.com/squire592001/jason.html



<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by John P.Phillips on 30 August 2004 at 10:07 PM.]</p></FONT>

You can have a round of major minor and 7th chords and get 30 different chords pretty easily.

But the tough songs have many passing and hybrid chords, not just shifts in key of simple chord changes.

Like the ones a major minor chord make perfect sense in.

Thad Jones A Child Is Born has 17 different chords
Gerswins A Foggy Day has 14
Vernon Duke's April in Paris has 28!

I once had the privelege to play with one of Willy Nelson's guitar players, the late Carl Lawrence, who could play a different chord with every beat. I believe you're talking about chords included with the original music, tho. I'd vote for "Crazy", maybe.

I was having difficulty following the chords in "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out." When I charted out the chords I discovered that everyone of the eight notes of the scale served as the root for at least one chord. That's less than 30, but I was just counting the root major and minor chords, not 7ths, etc. Somehow it seemed neat that the song used every note of the scale in its roots.

How about the jazz standard "All The Things You Are"? (All The Chords There Are?)

"Giant Steps".
About 8 bars and about 26 chord changes.
Thank goodness Coltrane didn't write a bridge to it.

"Tie a Yellow Ribbon"

Forgive spelling} [ LIEBERSTRAUM] a bunch o
f chords.......Jennings

Play steel for the sound of it.....

------------------
EMMONS D10 10-10 profex 2 deltafex ne1000 pv1000, pv 31 bd eq, +

I used to nickname "All The Things You Are" as "All The Chords You Know"...

It certainly has a lot of them, anyway...

Sincerely,

David Spires

------------------
Steel Guitarist for Jo Dee Messina: Carter D-10 8&7 / MSA Classic D-10 8&5; Line 6 Pod XT; Jagwire Artist Series Strings; Walker Professional Players' Chair; Peterson VS-II Tuner; and Goodrich Matchbro & LDR Pedal
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David Spires on 31 August 2004 at 10:56 AM.]</p></FONT>

Well - Tony,

I obviously neglected to read your post before I posted! Way to beat me to it. Good song, though.

Oops...

David Spires

Hey, Jennings, no fair getting into classical music with this. Wagner was just warming things up for Chopin and Rachmaninoff, who were just warming things up for Stravinski and Shastokovich, who were just warming things up for...well eveyone that came later. The motto finally became "repeat no chord." But then the audiences stopped repeating their attendance. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David Doggett on 31 August 2004 at 11:06 AM.]</p></FONT>

As far as (many) chords are concerned, ANY song can be made complicated...even a simple ditty such as SILENT NIGHT. A jazz pianist friend of mine, (studied at Berkley), illustrated this to me as he played an entirely different chord to every note of that melody. Man, it sure sounded nice, but I'm sure very few musicians, (including steel guitar players), could tackle something like that! Just illustrates what a formal education in the finer aspects of music theory and harmony can produce. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by George Keoki Lake on 31 August 2004 at 11:31 AM.]</p></FONT>

"How Insensitive" has a lot of chords...

I don't know if it has the most chords, but "Killing Me Softly" has a lot. It's actually a great song to jam on, cause you have to keep track of them all while you're improvising.

A lot of the post surfing era Beach Boys songs like Wouldn't It Be Nice and Heros And Villians have quite a few too.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Mike Perlowin on 31 August 2004 at 11:51 AM.]</p></FONT>

Lush Life by Billy Strayhorn

Tony's candidate is also mine and if you include the verse (In G) and the main tune (In Ab) there are not only quite a few chords but it's also a very good exercise in modulating from one key to another..

My Wife Pat has just mentioned "Carefree" "Body and Soul" and "you go to my Head" as her choices
Baz

------------------

<SMALL>Steel players do it without fretting</SMALL>

http://www.waikiki-islanders.com

"Cherokee" or "Misty" would probably get my votes.

I figured out a way to play "Cherokee" Chet Atkins-style on a six-string, though. Great fun.

I'm still trying to figure out the melody to "Misty". The only version I've heard was an improvised MIDI version.


Lincoln

All the things you are has 19 different chords
plus a few repeats.

My Favorite Things has 12 different chords

How High The Moon 14 different chords

My Funny Valentine 20 different chords

Prelude to A Kiss ha 23 different chords

My One And Only Love by Wood/Mellin has 27 chords

Lush Life seems to be in the lead with 29,
not counting Cb maj 7 as different than B maj7

Funny thing about the musical logic of these old chestnuts. You can really get a feel for how passing chord theory works in practice.

And you know it was a complicated but properly working usage of theory,
because we still hear the tunes played.,
<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 31 August 2004 at 03:23 PM.]</p></FONT>

For Jon Light: Thanks for remembering Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life: it has a change on (most) every beat. HJ my sample at www.steelguitarbyhughjeffreys.com

Most definitely Lush Life. That song is a real b$tch to play.

All the Thngs You Are was my first choice, but since at least 3 other people have suggested it, how about "Tenderly"?
I haven't counted them, but there are quite a few changes in that one.

For Jon Light: A jazz trombone player buddy of mine delights in using this poker-faced routine when someone new wants to hire him for a gig:

<i>"That'd be great.... but I only know 2 songs, y'know."
</i>(slight pause)<i>
"And what two songs are they ?"

"Bill Bailey, and Lush Life. "
</i>

-John

Achey-breaky Heart. Its not that its supposed to have a lotta chords, I'm just bored.

Thats all that matters to me

"Land Of A Thousand Dances"?