I am learning Tangled up in Blue by Bob Dylan and got my music instructor to tab the thing out for me. Sounds awesome, love the song. The wierd thing is he showed me a chord that I don't have named (we named it but he asked me for a name that would help me remember it best, I call it G/D7). The problem is that I am trying to put the chord progression in Band-in-a-Box and I need to come up with its accurate name or I am toast.
Now I play the song capo'd so I guess that complicates things a bit, I will give both the notes I am pretty sure I am playing, and also the fingering.
First the fingering
Capo on 2nd Fret (G becomes A, if I understand that correctly)
v - Capo
e || --- | --- | -x- | --- |
B || -x- | --- | --- | --- |
G || --- | -x- | --- | --- |
D || --- | --- | --- | --- |
A || --- | --- | --- | --- |
E || --- | --- | -x- | --- |
My limited understanding tells me I am playing C, D, C#, E, and B. So from there I realize I have no idea what key the chord is even in. Since there is a half step between C#-D and also from B-C. Nothing I can figure computes. If its in the key of G this chord is:
3,4,b5,5,6. No chord I can find follows this format. Plus without the Root, I am not sure this can work
If the chord is in C:
1,2,b2,3,m7. This must be some funky diminished or augmented or some such chord I have never learned. I tried the reverse chord directory in chord find, no help. The actual song has all the trappings of being in either C or G (I think). The other chords used are G, C, F, D, Am and Em.
Ack, my brain hurts....
Anyone got any input on this problem?
I'm not sure where you're getting those note names...
Just focus on the frets you're playing. Since you have a capo, they're:
5
3
4
?
?
5
(Question marks because it's not clear if they're open or muted)
Those notes are: A-D-B-A
In A, that's 1-2-4; in B that's 1-b3-b7; in D it's 1-5-6
Chords don't need a fifth - the function is to support the root. So Bm7 is the best fit for a name.
But context would help a lot...
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Thanks for the quick reply. I am not sure of my note names at all. The capo still confuses me a bunch. Basically, in Tangled, you Play a regular 3 finger g form with the capo on the 3rd fret. I guess it might be easier to write it this way for that G:
3
0
0
0
2
3
That make sense? So this changed chord looks like this:
3
1
2
0
0
3
I thought that those notes would be: C, D, C#, E, and B. But that's just my pretty newbie-ish guess.
That more clear? If not, just keep asking for any detail i leave out.
Thanks in advance,
The capo is fretting strings for you. So just look at the frets your fingers are on, and consider the capo an extra finger for any strings you have 'open' in your fingering.
So if you play a G fingering with capo at 3, you're really fretting
6
3
3
3
5
6
Which is (lowest to highest) Bb-D-F-Bb-D-Bb, for a Bb major chord.
Your changed fingering, capo on 3, would be:
6
4
5
3
3
6
For Bb-C-F-C-Eb-Bb. In Bb, that's 1-4-5-9; in Eb it's 1-5-6-9; in C it's 1-b3-4-b7; and in F it's 1-4-5-b7.
If you're changing back and forth from the Bb major, I'd call it Bbsus(add9). To put the sound in your software, you could also try Eb6/9 or F7sus.
NOTE: your capo seems to have moved from your first post :) This reply is based on capo at 3.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
If this is Tangled Up in Blue by Bob Dylan I believe it is played with a capo at the 2nd fret and the song is in the key of A.
Played in open position that chord would be a G add 9 sus 4. Behind a capo at the 2nd fret it would be an A add 9 sus 4, and behind a capo at the 3rd fret a Bb add 9 sus 4.
Of course as NoteBoat pointed out, a chord can have more than one name. It's all according to the context (key, other chords used in song). This is the first chord in the song and the key, that is why I chose A add 9 sus 4.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Check David's lesson on The Underappreciated Art of Using a Capo. He's included a table in the lesson that might help you understand how a capo lets you transpose a song easily into different keys.
Well we all shine on--like the moon and the stars and the sun.
-- John Lennon
Thanks all, its actually capo at 2nd fret. My bad.
Try David's other article/song:
"Nothing...can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts."
Go here....
John A.
They say only a pawnshop guitar can play the blues. An eBay one does it better. A guitar's bound to feel unloved if her owner plasters pictures of her over the internet for all to see and then sells her off to the highest anonymous bidder.
