What is more right than this E7?

[Shortfinger]

I want to play and sing West Texas Highway as Lyle Lovett does it, and am stumped.

Here is my source for chords and it seems to be in the right key. Bear with me as I don't know music. No theory. No lessons ever. Just learned to play a little from song books.

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/l/l...ighway_crd.htm

The chords go F7 - Bb7 - and then go E7 but E7 somehow sounds wrong.

Any ideas?

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by Shortfinger

I want to play and sing West Texas Highway as Lyle Lovett does it, and am stumped.

Here is my source for chords and it seems to be in the right key. Bear with me as I don't know music. No theory. No lessons ever. Just learned to play a little from song books.

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/l/l...ighway_crd.htm

The chords go F7 - Bb7 - and then go E7 but E7 somehow sounds wrong.

Any ideas?

Score another c*** chart for Ultimate Guitar Tabs. They have no efitors and most of the posters know less about msic than you.

It's a diminished chord, not an E7. If you listen enough and listen carefully, though, it's a pretty good example of the tonal "swoop" a melody gets when using a diminished chord in a progression.

Try a G# diminished: 4 x 3 2 3 x. If that's not it (I listened in a hurry and I've got to run) just move the diminshed chord up or down one fret from what I wrote. There are only three possible diminished chords from which to choose although they may have more names due to their context in key and progression.

This is really a good example of how diminished chords can put a "swoop" into a melodic line.

Go for it!

[stanron]

In this version here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRLicxoa_mo

I get this;

West Texas Highway Lyall Lovett

|F - - - |F7 - - - |Bb - - - |Bbm7- - - |
|F - - - |D7 - - - |G7 - - - | C7 - - - |
|F - - - |F7 - - - |Bb - - - |Bbm7- - - |
|F -D7 - |G7 - C7- |F - Bb - | F - C7 - |

The Bbm7 could be a D diminished (or an F dim or a B dim or an Ab dim, they are all the same.)

[funkapus]

Originally Posted by Wyllys

Try a G# diminished: 4 x 3 2 3 x.

Think you mean 4 x 3 4 3 x? The B is in the G# diminished, but the A is not.

How would you finger that? I tend to play diminished chords only on the first four strings, e.g. x x 3 4 3 4 in this case, 'cause that's all I know.

[Shortfinger]

Originally Posted by stanron

In this version here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRLicxoa_mo

I get this;

West Texas Highway Lyall Lovett

|F - - - |F7 - - - |Bb - - - |Bbm7- - - |
|F - - - |D7 - - - |G7 - - - | C7 - - - |
|F - - - |F7 - - - |Bb - - - |Bbm7- - - |
|F -D7 - |G7 - C7- |F - Bb - | F - C7 - |

The Bbm7 could be a D diminished (or an F dim or a B dim or an Ab dim, they are all the same.)

Thanks! xx0131 works for me there. I searched for "D dim" and got a few options, and this one seems to work into the sequence.

[Wyllys]

OK, back now.

Lyle plays it in E. You can easily hear the typical sound of the E to A riff. Chords are:

E / / A | E / / / | A / / / | A#dim / / / | E / / / | C#7 / / / | F#7 / / / | B7 / / /|

E / / A | E / / / | A / / / | A#dim / / / | E / C#7 / | F#7 / B7 / | E and out.....

A#dim is 6 x 4 5 4 or x 1 x 0 2 0

You've got good taste in songs and singers.

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by funkapus

Think you mean 4 x 3 4 3 x? The B is in the G# diminished, but the A is not.

How would you finger that? I tend to play diminished chords only on the first four strings, e.g. x x 3 4 3 4 in this case, 'cause that's all I know.

Right! I had to run fix supper for the household.

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by stanron

In this version here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRLicxoa_mo

I get this;

West Texas Highway Lyall Lovett

|F - - - |F7 - - - |Bb - - - |Bbm7- - - |
|F - - - |D7 - - - |G7 - - - | C7 - - - |
|F - - - |F7 - - - |Bb - - - |Bbm7- - - |
|F -D7 - |G7 - C7- |F - Bb - | F - C7 - |

The Bbm7 could be a D diminished (or an F dim or a B dim or an Ab dim, they are all the same.)

You got the "out" right (I have a bad habit of ignoring the turn-arounds at the end 'cause they're mostly standard.

But you want that quick little IV chord change on the fourth beat of the first bar. You know, the "Muddy Waters" riff that the Stones liked so much. It really shouldn't be left out. Lovett and/or another guitar player throw it in. The bass player doesn't, but he's playing primarily on 1 and 3 as all we bass players do (slight personal confession there).

For the OP:

The standard session name for the progression outside of the "usual" 3 chords is a I/VI/II/V/I. This describes the progression following the demented chord...

[stanron]

Yes chord IV on beat four is a keeper, so corrected chords are

West Texas Highway Lyall Lovett

|F - - Bb|F7 - - - |Bb - - - |Ddim- - - |
|F - - - |D7 - - - |G7 - - - | C7 - - - |
|F - - Bb|F7 - - - |Bb - - - |Ddim- - - |
|F -D7 - |G7 - C7- |F - Bb - | F - C7 - |

Originally Posted by Shortfinger

Thanks! xx0131 works for me there. I searched for "D dim" and got a few options, and this one seems to work into the sequence.

If you can get a low B into your D dim

x 2 0 1 3 1

you might like it.

A more conventional way of doing it is to go from Bb7

x 1 3 1 3 1

to D dim

x 2 3 1 3 1

The raising bass note continues to the C in the F chord and then to the D in the D7

[FwL]

Originally Posted by funkapus

Think you mean 4 x 3 4 3 x? The B is in the G# diminished, but the A is not.

How would you finger that? I tend to play diminished chords only on the first four strings, e.g. x x 3 4 3 4 in this case, 'cause that's all I know.

3rd finger on the E-string, 1st finger on the D-string, 4th finger on the G-string and 2nd finger on the B-string is a common fingering:

 ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|-2-|---|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|-1-|---|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|---|-3-|---|---|---|-

Compare to this common G7 fingering

 ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|-3-|---|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|---|-4-|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|-2-|---|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-
 ||---|---|-1-|---|---|---|---|-

.