Sir Duke Chorus Chords

[Bobadohshe]

Anyone here play 'Sir Duke' by Stevie? Long have I put off learning this beast and the huge lines in the middle of it, but I finally have to learn it for a gig tonight.

 

I am scratching my head ever so slightly over the 2nd chord of the chorus. The melody at that point is A#/Bb, and hearing a C in there too, I thought 'Oh no big, it's an Ab9 chord'. But the bass is playing an F minor triad! But the chord isn't Fm11 because the natural 9th clashes with the F# in the B pentatonic tonality and his melody includes that.

 

So I'm thinking, Fm11 no 9th? Or am I missing something much more obvious. Playing a kind of C half diminished voicing in the RH works okay too.

[kanker.]

I always play it with the 9. It's just part of the voice leading if you ask me. Sometimes a little rub is good.....

[kanker.]

I suppose if the G really bugs you, an Ab, Bb, C, Eb voicing works nicely.

[Josh Paxton]

So I'm thinking, Fm11 no 9th?

 

Bingo. I just think of it as an Fm7.

 

ETA: Kanker, you play the G, really? That just sounds wrong to me, especially since the melody hits (or least implies) a quick Gb on the way from the Ab to the Eb.

[Bobadohshe]

I can see all sides of what you guys are saying, and at least realize that I am in the neighborhood I want to be in. If I'm feeling G natural then I'll throw that in. If not, then I'll leave it out. Harmonic game time decision.

[linwood]

It's been a long time since I've played it or listened to it

 

maybe?

[Nordude]

Fmi7, at least, that's what I used to play there...

[mattbeezy]

I agree with kanker hear. I hear it as an Fmin9 chord, that G that rubs a little voice lead nice to what I hear as a 9th on the top of the E chord that follows. Oh yeah, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the G in that F minor chord is voiced ABOVE the Ab in the melody, so it's not as dissonant as it may appear on paper, right?

[mattbeezy]

oh yeah....and burn any Stevie charts you have. And if they say it's in C, it's not. And not trying to show off here, just sharing probably the coolest thing that ever happened to me...the night Stevie showed up at our little club gig and sat-in:

[Nordude]

... the night Stevie showed up at our little club gig and sat-in:

 

w-h-o-w. That's a pretty neat experience, I'd say.

[Floyd Tatum]

I agree with kanker hear. I hear it as an Fmin9 chord, that G that rubs a little voice lead nice to what I hear as a 9th on the top of the E chord that follows. Oh yeah, and correct me if I'm wrong, but the G in that F minor chord is voiced ABOVE the Ab in the melody, so it's not as dissonant as it may appear on paper, right?

 

Here's a youtube of Stevie playing it in B.

 

Listen at about 1:03, you can definitely hear an Fm9 on the rhodes. There may be other notes in there, but I can hear a closed voicing on rhodes of (from bottom to top): G, Ab, and C at 1:03. You may be right about the G being above the Ab melody, I can't tell without being at the piano. The Gb in Stevie's vocal melody over that chord is so short-lived (it's just part of descending pentatonic riff), that you'd never notice the clash.

 

I remember in '76 I used to have that record, and played it a lot.

[Bobadohshe]

Linwood I think you may be 100% correct as far as what's on the recording is concerned. I don't hear any G naturals on the record.

 

But I think everyone who's saying 'play the full on Eb triad / Fm sound might be right from a contemporary RnB idiomatic standpoint. Cats today probably WOULD put it in I'm thinking. Love these kinds of discussions, thanks for chiming in everybody.

[Josh Paxton]

Good point. I think it's always interesting to note subtle shifts in what's harmonically acceptable and hip over time.

 

Now if you want a REAL harmonic "rub," voice it as an Fm11(b9).

[linwood]

You could always play the 9 when he sings 11 and when he moves to -3 play a m7 chord. No clash with an outside octave if you were to place the 9 an octave +1 below the -3 and no tone a half step below the melody if it were the other inversion. Ahhh...the choices to make......

[vicsant]

Here's a youtube of Stevie playing it in B.

 

How do you voice the chromatic chords starting at around :40sec?

[Bobadohshe]

Here's a youtube of Stevie playing it in B.

 

How do you voice the chromatic chords starting at around :40sec?

 

I play unison notes. The guitar is playing chords. I'd probably play some kind of dominant 9th voicing.

[mattbeezy]

Here's a youtube of Stevie playing it in B.

 

How do you voice the chromatic chords starting at around :40sec?

 

I play unison notes. The guitar is playing chords. I'd probably play some kind of dominant 9th voicing.

 

I think those are all parallel 9th chords, no 3. I usually play an E in the LH, then D-F#-B in the RH. In general, the advice I got from a mentor (who plays in Stevie's band currently, so she got this advice from the man himself) regarding Stevie's voicings was "think simple". Like the last two chords on the chorus of 'Do I Do' for example...sounds kinda complicated at first, but it's just two major triads over a different bass note. Clearly, Stevie transcends genre, but if I were to make a generalization about R&B piano voicings, I'd say SPACE IS THE PLACE. Lots of triads, not a lot of 2nds in the right hand.