What is this chord?!?!?!?

[jjjtttggg]

This may not be an entirely appropriate question for a songwriting forum, 'cause i just want to record a cover this song, but I'm hoping somebody here might be a more formal musician than me and able to help. I cannot figure out the very first chord of this early Jackson 5 song (one of the best bass lines in the history of the universe! thank you James Jamerson).

YouTube - Jackson 5 Darling Dear

The chord progression once past the intro is (I think):

Cm7 Ebmaj7 Bbmaj7 Bbmaj7

Cm7 Dm7 Cm7-Ebmaj7 Bbmaj7

Dm7 Gm7

Dm7 Cm7 Bbmaj7 F

Dm7 Cm7 Bbmaj7 F

Even the intro seems to follow something like this pattern except that I cannot figure out the first chord. It appears several times in the intro. Seems like it should be Cm7 but has an F in the bass line. Cm7 / F can't be right can it? Doesn't sound quite right.

Anybody with a good ear for figuring out chords care to have a listen?

Thanks,
J

 

[gruemungus]

The first chord is Bb major 7th. the melody is Bb A Bb C C F
The second chord is F.

 

[jjjtttggg]

Thanks gruemungus!!!, but I think maybe I didn't ask the question quite right, the song begins on a partial measure with a rising bass part "ba-da-da-| dop! bom! bom!". That partial measure it the Bbmaj7, I think, which is indeed the first chord of the song. The chord I'm looking for, though its the next one, that starts on the "dop! bom! bom!" which I think is the one you're calling F. Where the horns or lead guitar (can't quite tell which. I think it's guitar) come in. It certainly has an F on the bottom, but straight F doesn't quite capture the tone. So it must be an Fxyz. Do you mind listening one more time? Thanks for helping!

J

 

[Lt. Bob]

allright ....... here ya' go:
1st chord is an Ebmajor7 with a F in the bass

INTRO
Ebma7/F ... Bbma7 do that twice, one measure each chord .... ... then the next time you hit the EbMa7/F hold it 2 measures and the same with the BbMa7, but then when you hit the NEXT EbMa7/F you go back to 1 measure per chord and it's: EbMa7/F ... Dm ... Cm ... then 2 beats per chord for the Bb Cm Dm Db that brings you to the vocals in the first verse.

Verse: EbMa7/F (2 measures) and BbMa7 (2 measures) Cm Dm Cm F BbMa7 ....... Gm Dm Cm Bb F Dm Cm Bb F ...... and so on.
Those are all your basic patterns ...... if you need the rest let me know but that ought to get you there.

Some of those chords are confusing because the bass player is playing a LOT of passing tones and suspensions against them.

 

[pauly615]

They are called chord inversions, AKA slash chords (the way they are written, not the Guns n Roses guitarist). In chordal theory, the first inversion has the 3rd in the bass (not the chord root note), and the second inversion has the 5th in the bass (again, not the root). These two are the most common but there are others, and they open up many new chordal options and sound textures. Examples are G/B (first inversion--G chord with the 3rd, B, as the lowest note) and D/A (second inversion--D major chord with the 5th, A as the lowest note played). They create movement, and are handy to aid smooth transition from chord to chord. An example progression would be G to G/B to C. An easy way to experiment with inversions on guitar is to take a simple major or minor barre chord and play only portions of the barre. Instead of starting your strum with your lowest string, drop to the next one.

 

[Lt. Bob]

yeah ....... technically a EbMa7/F could be called an inversion of a EbMa7 9.
But few guitar players think of it that way and it can be confusing to some.

And really, in 40 years of gigging, I can't remember anyone ever saying "play an EbMa7 9 inversion". They pretty much ALWAYS say "EbMa7 with an F in the bass".

 

[Greg_L]

Em11......

 

[Lt. Bob]

Em11......

no ..... that's in that OTHER Jackson 5 song you love.

 

[Greg_L]

Lol. I don't even know what an Em11 is. That's all open strings, right?

 

[Lt. Bob]

Lol. I don't even know what an Em11 is. That's all open strings, right?

almost ..... all open strings is an Em7 11 although it could also be called a Em7sus4.

 

[Greg_L]

Nope. Wrong. It's an Em11 or an A 9sus4.

 

[Lt. Bob]

Nope. Wrong. It's an Em11 or an A 9sus4.

you picked that up from the Ramones right?

 

[Greg_L]

you picked that up from the Ramones right?

Haha. No. I'm well versed in all things theory and guitar related.


And I have an iphone guitar chord app.

 

[jjjtttggg]

THAT IS IT!!!!!!!! Thank you SO MUCH!

I've spent the last several weeks learning that crazy ass bass line. I finally got that down (whole thing, baby, no piece at a time on this one), and so I sat down to work out how I want to orchestrate/arrange the rest of the song - bass line the same, the rest a little different so as to give it a little different sound (I've got no Little MJ, so it's GOING to sound different!)... Holy crap!!!, I can't figure out that chord!!!!!

OK so now I'm back on track... which means I get to play drums now - Ugggg! (Actually I love playing drums, but I'm not very good at it, so it's a really time consuming piece of every project!)

Props and thanks!!!

Jeff

 

[Greg_L]

You're welcome!

 

[Lt. Bob]

You're welcome!

Em11 is always the solution!