Chords: Live - Selling The Drama
Please Note: The band Live have their instruments tuned down a semitone. What this means is that if you
want to play along with the recorded song - or any of their tunes - or my video, you will need to tune each
of your strings flat by one semitone. So instead of your strings being tuned to concert pitch - that is E A D
G B E they will be tuned to Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb. Many bands tune like this by the way for example,
Nickelback, Alice In Chains. Makes it especially hard to work out the chords when you are a beginner and
are unaware that they have tuned down.
Note also that you do not have to tune down to be able to play the song using the chords shown, you just
won't be able to play along with the recording because technically you'll be playing it in the wrong key. Also
it will be harder to sing at concert pitch as you'll need to be able to sing it a semitone higher than the
recording. When I play the song at gigs I don't tune down (what a hassle that would be LOL).
Finally, the chord shapes still say E A D G B E. If you have tuned down to play along with the recording they
should be Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb relative to concert pitch but to simplify things I have left them as E A D G B E
in the diagrams. The chord names
also reflect this.
- Guitar Tuning: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb
- Verses:
||: G | D Dsus4-D-Dsus4- :|| Em | Bm | Csus2 |-| - Bridges:
buildup | Csus2 |, | D-Dsus4 | X 4 - Choruses:
| E | A A-Asus4-A | X 4, | Csus2 |-| - Break:
| C |/| Dsus2 |/| Em |/| Dsus2 |/| C |-|
Chord Shapes: Verses, Bridges
... Or ...
The [2] in the Dsus4 shape means you don't need to remove the 2nd finger. Use a Cmajor chord instead
of the Csus2 chord if you prefer. If you're wondering, the unusual chord I actually use in the buildup is
below. I have no idea what it is really called but it is made by making the csus2 bar chord as above and
then raising your index finger off the first two strings. I often use weird chords like this.
Chord Shapes: Choruses
| E | A A-Asus4-A | X 4, | Csus2 |-|
... Or ...
Use whatever shapes you are comfortable with. I use the first set but the second set is easier to play as
you can slide your index finger from the Emajor fret position to the Amajor fret position when changing
chords.
It may seem odd to you that I use the first set of chords. The reason is that I use a lot of bar chords in my
playing. Looking at the first Emajor shape, I can slide that shape to any position on the fretboard and bar
with my index finger creating a new chord. For instance, if I slide the shape up to the 7th fret and bar the
5th fret with my index finger, I've formed an Amajor bar chord. Being able to use chords this way is great
for those songs in which you change between open chords and bar chords a lot. It is a good habit to
develop in my opinion.
The Csus2 is the same shape as above. Again, use a Cmajor chord if you prefer.
Special Note:
Some people are telling me that the Emajor chord should be an Em. This is incorrect because the song
changes key in the chorus from Gmajor to Emajor. You can tell it has changed key because there is an
Amajor chord in the chorus. Amajor does not exist in the key signature of Gmajor. The chord would have
to be an Am instead of Amajor. Try playing the Am instead of the Amajor and you'll see how "off" it
sounds. The reason you can get away with playing the Em without it sounding like it is clashing is because
the guitar in the original recording isn't playing chords in the chorus, it is playing lines. The G note that would
have made the chord a minor chord is not played.
Chord Shapes: Break
| C |/| Dsus2 |/| Em |/| Dsus2 |/| C |-|
The C and Em chords are as above although I tend to use fingers 3 and 4 instead of 1 and 2 in the Em
shape. As explained earlier it's just what I'm used to. As for the Dsus2, you can use a Dmajor chord if you
prefer. I'm actually using another weird chord that I also don't know the name of. I will make a diagram for
it when I find out what it's called. However, it is made by simply sliding the open C chord up 2 frets and
playing all strings except the 6th string. I use this chord often.
- O : Play the string open.
- X : Don't play the string at all.
- 1 : Index finger.
- 2 : Middle finger.
- 3 : Ring finger.
- 4 : Pinky.
- T : Thumb.
Disclaimer: Please note that the chords I use when playing cover songs are not necessarily the exact ones
used by the original artist. I play by ear, meaning that I copy what I hear and often place my own
interpretation on it. I don't use tabs or chord charts. If however you want to play the tunes exactly as I
have in my videos, then these are the chords to use. Most often the original artist uses the same ones or
near enough variations of them anyway. Keep on Rockin !!! ... James