Five Steps - Davenports

For Ginger, who first led me to this cool song...

You can hear it here:

http://www.motherwest.com/thedavenports/music.html

Scroll down to the "Five Steps" song in the second album and click on "Listen..."

First off, this is not the most accurate transcription. There are some things going on that I've not yet figured out, but this will give you a very passable arrangement that will (hopefully) be recognized. The song's definitely in G and there's definitely an alternating bass line going on with G notes ringing on open strings. So, I tuned the A string down to G and worked from there. More thought on that in a moment...

I also simplified the picking slightly. The first two chords are G and G7 with the lead note on the B string, so:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
G - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next chord is F/G or perhaps you'd like to call it G11. Whatever. Basically you make an open position A chord on the tenth fret:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - 10- - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10- - - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - - - - 10- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - 10- - - - - - - - - - - 10- - - - - - -
A - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next chord I'm still trying to decide on how to name it (not to mention nail it down entirely :wink: ). Let's call it F9/G for now, okay? There's definitely an Eb in the alternating bass part, an F in the treble. So I'm using an open Amaj (x02120) shape, moved up to the fifth and sixth frets. Anyway...
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - - - - - - 6 - - - - - - -
A - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Then we're back to easy territory - G with D (third fret of the B string), C/G (just a regular C chord but no finger on the A string since that's the bass note), which you linger on for a while
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - -
A - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

and then slide that shape up to get another chord I don't want to name yet until I get it entirely figured out... Let's call it "D/G" for the time being:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 3 - - - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - 4 - - - - - - - - - - - 4 - - - - - - -
A - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

before ending on G with D on the B string again. To get the little fill, just play the open B string and then hammer your finger onto the third fret of the B string and add the high E (first) string to the pattern:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - -
B - - o (H) 3 - - - - - 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
G - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hit that D note on the third fret of the B string and slide it back up to the eighth fret to start the verse again.

The bridge is mostly a matter of shifting a five-string barre around on the neck using this (again simlified) pattern:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - -
A - - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - 5 - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

You start with one measure of C (fifth fret) and then go to Bb (third fret), G (open strings) and B (fourth fret) before playing C again for two measures and then moving up to the sixth fret for C# (or Db if you prefer) for just the first beat, which you hold and let ring before starting the last verse.

So if you put that all together:
G G7
veins swell
F/G F9/G G C/G
you know me, ellen, enough to tell
C/G D/G G
five steps you're over

G G7
get back
F/G F9/G G C/G
this train's a comin' down the track
C/G D/G (Right to Verse pattern)
five steps you're over

To end you go right to the verse pattern, as noted, but when you get to the C/G, you want to then slide up to D/G (x0403x) and then to different versions of C/G and D/G, formed by making an open A7 shape on the fifth (C/G - x0505x) and seventh (D/G - x0707x) frets respectively before ending with just the G note in the bass (open fifth string) and the eighth fret of the B string.

As mentioned, this is not one hundred percent accurate. There may be other ways of doing it better (open D tuning with the capo on the fifth fret comes immediately to mind), but for someone who's been working on five hours' sleep since eleven o'clock Tuesday night, I hope it will suffice to get everyone started.

Ginger, thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy it. And thanks again for bringing this song to my attention.

Peace