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Author Topic:  The Chair - G. Strait chord question
Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 8:12 am    
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At rehearsal last night, we were working on "The Chair" by George Strait.

When playing the line "Oh I like you too and to tell you the truth...", I was taught that the chords played are D, C#m, Bm, F#. The guitar player was adamant that it is not an F# chord, but rather a Bbm. He says this because the bass player is playing a Bb note at the spot that the chord in questioned is played. The Bbm doesn't sound right to me.

What chord ig s correct?
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 8:39 am    
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Well, listen to the where the song stops and that acoustic arpeggio is, definitely a F# major chord. I never heard it any other way.
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Tom Spaulding


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 8:49 am    
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It's an F# chord.

The bass player is playing the 3rd of the F# chord to get a more chromatic line walking down from D.

D...C#..B..A#...
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Skip Edwards

 

From:
LA,CA
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 8:50 am    
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It's an F# with the 3rd (A#) in the bass.
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Craig A Davidson


From:
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 9:39 am    
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It's an F#. Have your bass player learn to play guitar and he will see it. There is also a Bb in an F# chord.
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Richard Sinkler


From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 9:44 am    
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Craig A Davidson wrote:
It's an F#. Have your bass player learn to play guitar and he will see it. There is also a Bb in an F# chord.


It was the guitar player who thought it was a Bbm. The bass player (who also plays guitar) also thought it was an F# major.

Thanks
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Craig A Davidson


From:
Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin USA
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 10:09 am    
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My apologies to the bass player.
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Stu Schulman


From:
Ulster Park New Yawk (deceased)
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 1:10 pm    
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Bet Money.
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Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 1:27 pm    
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Considering how much time guitarists spend playing chords, they don't seem to understand them. There is a difference between "sub" and "wrong".
On the other hand, bass players (who generally don't play chords) understand them perfectly because they know their function.
And anyway, Bbm contains not a single note that's in the key of A. The chord in question is a 1st inversion of F# major. Of course with the chords either side being minors, the guitarist would rather just slide around than think or move any fingers.
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Jerry Overstreet


From:
Louisville Ky
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 3:26 pm    
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Well, there's that C#....
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Lee Baucum


From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 3:41 pm    
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One time I heard a band, at the end of the song, play a Bb diminished chord at that spot. It sounded nice. It added a bit of tension.
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Rick Bernauer

 

From:
Kansas, USA
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 3:52 pm    
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Ask him to play a Bbm#5 and everyone will be happy.
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John Sluszny

 

From:
Brussels, Belgium
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 4:06 pm    
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F#
—
A#
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Tom Wilson

 

From:
Mississippi, USA
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 4:13 pm    
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I see what you did there and I’m a guitar player. Sneaky 😄
Except no flats.


Last edited by Tom Wilson on 14 Nov 2019 4:27 pm; edited 3 times in total
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Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 4:15 pm    
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Spelling police here. There are no flats anywhere in this song, as it's in three sharps. Yes, A#dim would work very nicely.
And yes, F#/A# is a common way to write that inversion.
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Dave Mudgett


From:
Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 4:19 pm    
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Quote:
One time I heard a band, at the end of the song, play a Bb diminished chord at that spot. It sounded nice. It added a bit of tension.

Bbdim = Bb Db Fb equivalent to A# C# E is just the 3, 5, b7 of the F#7 chord, which works well here and lays/voices nicely on guitar running down from the 10th fret D6, 9th fret C#m7, 7th fret Bm7, and finally 6th fret A#dim = Bbdim (A# in the bass).

And btw, that descending line is basically the descending line at the end of Patsy Cline's Crazy (but in A instead B). [edited to correct typo]


Last edited by Dave Mudgett on 14 Nov 2019 10:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Fred Treece


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 14 Nov 2019 9:45 pm    
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One more affirmation here that it’s an F#7 chord with A# (not Bb) on bass.

I guess the next question is how do you break the news to your slightly misguided guitarist. “You’re WRONG, idiot!” probably won’t go over too well. Maybe just show him this thread, and keep in mind that many of us here, if not most, are also guitar players, so it’s not just a bunch of snooty steel players spouting off with their obviously superior knowledge of music theory that are making this claim.
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Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2019 2:36 am    
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I think it has to do with the nature of the instruments. I play steel and bass, and I am used to listening, analysing and copying (or deliberately varying) what I hear.

My impression of guitarists (without wishing to offend) is that they are more inclined to use trial and error rather than thinking from the bottom up.
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John Hopkin

 

Post  Posted 15 Nov 2019 3:21 am     the chair
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i suggest that the sequence is: D, Dbm, Bm, Bbdim7...
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Paul Wade


From:
mundelein,ill
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2019 4:49 am     The Chair - G. Strait chord question
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F# Very Happy
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Roger Rettig


From:
Naples, FL
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2019 5:18 am    
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Nice comment, Fred. Smile
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Ian Rae


From:
Redditch, England
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2019 5:37 am    
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John Hopkin, you're under arrest!
There are no flats in the key of A.
D, C#m, Bm, A#dim, will keep you out of further trouble. Smile
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Al Evans


From:
Austin, Texas, USA
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2019 6:12 am    
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Rick Bernauer wrote:
Ask him to play a Bbm#5 and everyone will be happy.


Very Happy Very Happy

--Al Evans
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Bill Terry


From:
Bastrop, TX
Post  Posted 15 Nov 2019 6:31 am    
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Dave wrote:
And btw, that descending line is basically the descending line at the end of Patsy Cline's Crazy (but in A instead B).


LOL.. busted.. I play the exact same changes (in the correct key of course) for both. Too lazy to learn that chord sequence any other way I guess..
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Barry Blackwood


Post  Posted 15 Nov 2019 7:59 am    
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Quote:
One time I heard a band, at the end of the song, play a Bb diminished chord at that spot. It sounded nice. It added a bit of tension.

An excellent idea. I tried to get any band I was playing in to use this change even though it was not, technically, "correct." I thought it added a bit more sophistication.
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