"All you need to know is Three Chords"

[bobc]

Does'nt "Horse With No Name" by America only have 2 chords?

Hmmmm... I wonder if a song was ever written with 1 chord...

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by anthonyc007

You know the cliche: "All you need to know to play rock n roll is three chords"??...
Does anyone know what is the intent behind that cliche; what chords they mean? Just curious.

Who knows... but I'd guess the common first position fingerings for the E, A and D major chords. As easy chords go they give the most bang for the buck I think...

Their roots are open strings so even if the fingers are sloppy you've still got the bass notes coming out, heh-heh. Their first position fingerings translate into the most often used simple bar chord types. Their minor forms are simple-to-visualize alterations of the major fingerings. Oh, and you can get a bit of flamenco flavor in the phrygian mode with the first position E or A chord by leaving the open strings as they were but moving the fingers a fret higher.

Tim

[Bern]

Originally Posted by bobc

Does'nt "Horse With No Name" by America only have 2 chords?

Hmmmm... I wonder if a song was ever written with 1 chord...

Tomorrow Never Knows - Beatles

[dthumb]

And I think there's a Sonic Youth piece in one of their odd ball "D" tunings that is played with only one "chord".

[bobc]

Originally Posted by Bern

Tomorrow Never Knows - Beatles

I love chords...

[Timothy Lawler]

Hmmmm... I wonder if a song was ever written with 1 chord

Didn't "Put the Lime in the Coconut" have just 1 chord.... a dominant 7th if I remember. That song should get an award for best nonsense lyrics yet coolest vibe.

Tim

[underwhelmed]

Originally Posted by bobc

Hmmmm... I wonder if a song was ever written with 1 chord...

The first song on the new Constantines record is only one chord (a G chord, I believe) for 4 minutes. And it's awesome. They use dynamic shifts and such to keep the interest, and it has a great melody. Album's not actually out until mid october though. They're a canadian indie band with an amazing live show.

[bjay540]

Originally Posted by bobc

Does'nt "Horse With No Name" by America only have 2 chords?

Hmmmm... I wonder if a song was ever written with 1 chord...

the coconut song by harry nillson
"you put the lime in the coconut...."
I do it in E7th using the open C7th fingering at the 5th fret (with the open E on each side)
what TIM said