Help with chords to this song?

[wayne8]

Can someone take a look at this and tell me how to make the chords David Crowder plays in this video? He starts explaining what he's doing at the 4:30 mark, but he doesn't explain it very well and when I play what I think he's doing, it doesn't sound right. I have the first chord, the E or E5, already, it's the rest I have trouble with.

Extra points if you can give me chord shapes that'll get me closer to the sound of that Bouzouki.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wu0XHCxDsk

Thanks!

[stanron]

He does say at one point "charting it is going to be, er, er, (kinky?) a bit combersome".

His use of numbers gets confusing so I've got

  E5		 A		 B		  C#		
  0	 	   0		   x		    x 		
  │ 7 │ │ │ │	 │ │ │ │ │ │	 7 │ │ │ │ │	  │ │ │ │ │ │
  ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤    ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤     ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	  ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤
  │ │ │ │ │ │	 │ │ │ │ │ │	 │ │ │ │ │ │	  │ │ │ │ │ │
  ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	 ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	 ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	  ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤
  │ │ 9 9 │ │	 │ │ 9 9 │ │	 │ │ 9 9 │ │	  9 │ 9 9 │ │
  ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	 ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	 ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	  ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤
  │ │ │ │ │ │	 │ │ │ │ │ │	 │ │ │ │ │ │	  │ │ │ │ │ │
  ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	 ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	 ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	  ├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤


 	A+9		G#		  B5
	x 0		  x				
        ╒═╤═╤═╤═╤═╕	╒═╤═╤═╤═╤═╕	╒═╤═╤═╤═╤═╕	
	│ │ │ │ │ │	│ │ │ │ │ │	│ │ │ │ │ │
	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤
 	│ │ 2 │ │ │	│ │ 2 │ │ │	2 2 │ │ │ │	
	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤
 	│ │ │ │ │ │	│ │ │ │ │ │	│ │ │ │ │ │
	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤
	│ │ │ 4 │ │	4 │ │ 4 │ │	│ │ 4 4 │ │
	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤	├─┼─┼─┼─┼─┤

E5		   A	   E5
Oh my Lord, it's a winding road.
B		     C#	   A     
It's all bent from a heavy load.
E5		  A	    E5
Feel the weight beneath the ground,
B		     C#       A
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down.

Oh my Lord, I can barely see
Waiting for you and your reckoning.
Angels humming, can you hear the sound?
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down.
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down.

	A
I will rise.
	E5  B
I will rise.
	A
I will rise.
	E5  B
I will rise.

A+9		   G# B5
Troubles come for everyone,
A+9		   G# B5
Death has no respect for love.
C#m7		  A+9   E*
Roll that stone I won't be found.
B5			     E
Ain't no grave gonna hold me down.

I'm hoping that after this it's all repeats.

[JonPR]

Stanron's got the shapes, although I'd fix some of those chord names:

"A" and "A+9" = Asus2 (two different voicings)

"B" = Bsus4

"C#" = C#m7

"G#" = E/G#

The numbers he uses in the video are right: IV, V, VI. "I over III" for the last is a little unconventional, but clear enough.

With most of the chords, it makes no difference if you include the open strings, because they just double the notes on the middle strings. The exception is the B5 in the chorus, turning it into Bsus4 if you include top E.

Oh, for the bouzouki sound, I suggest x-x-x-9-12-12, which will fit every chord in the song!

[wayne8]

Thank you both so much for the help! I'll try it out tonight when I get home.

[stanron]

Just a note ot two on the 'fixed' chords. Whilst I've no wish to challenge any of the chord names you use they do present the problem that any other version or inversion of them in this context is less likely to sound right.

The chord naming convention we now have came to it's full flower in the twentieth century. In the past there have been other conventions. In the Baroque era figured bass was used where a bass note was given in the score and coded numbers beneath them give intervals for keyboards to add. This is still taught today but I suspect it would struggle with the kind of harmonies found in most current jazz.

An earlier, vernacular and vastly different approach to harmonies was drones. I spent several years playing traditional tunes with a piper. I played fiddle and he played Northumberland Small-pipes. If I remember correctly he had three drones. These were usually set to root, fifth and octave root. He could have all three on at once or any one or two. Every note in a tune would have a harmonic relationship to the drones but I'm not sure that there would be any point in naming them as chords. Occasionally a guitarist would join in with chords but not to any great improvement. Waters got muddier.

It seems to me that this tune, from the bouzouki, is more drones based than conventional harmony based. So where I put B, C# and G# these were strong bass notes over the drones.

As long as the shapes work I'm not that fussed about the names. Drones are used a lot today in modern versions of traditional music. Perhaps the genre will develop it's own specific naming conventions.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by stanron

Just a note ot two on the 'fixed' chords. Whilst I've no wish to challenge any of the chord names you use they do present the problem that any other version or inversion of them in this context is less likely to sound right.

True - the shapes are critical.

I only wanted to clarify some of the names, according to conventional symbol language.

Eg, normally (as I'm sure you know):

Letters only, such as "A" "B" or "C#" mean full major triads. Not far off in terms of the A or B, but quite wrong for the "C#" and the "G#" in this case, which contain C#-B-E and G#-B-E respectively.

"+" means augmented 5th, or sharp (referring to a following chord tone) - not "add" - so "A+9" would normally be read as either A9#5, or A7#9 (although it would not be quite correct for either). "add" needs to spelled out.
Moreover, "Aadd9" - while more correct than "A+9" - implies the inclusion of C#, which is missing from this chord.

Giving the right name to Asus2 may not get quite the right voicing for this tune, but at least it will consist of the required notes.

I appreciate what you say about folk traditions - all good stuff - but there's nothing really unusual about these guitar chords, and the player himself is using conventional function numbers. It's still folk Americana, despite the presence of the bouzouki.