FIGURE 4
D/F
♯
F♯ ADADF♯
OO351513
FMAJ7
FCEACF
1
5
7
3
51
F
FCFACF
34 4
23 2
111111
151351
F^7
FCE♭ ACF
15 ♭ 7351
Gm^7
GDFB♭ DG
1
5
♭^
7
♭^
3
51Gm
GDGB♭ DG
111111 111
34 3
151 ♭ 351
2
T 1 1
3
2
111 1
C
CGCEGC
X151351
Gm^6
GEB♭ DG
X16 ♭ 351
23 33
111
34
3
(^1) 8TH
Pianist Rick Wakeman added considerably
to the palette of sounds available to Bowie
on Hunky Dory. In figure 3, we take a look
at an eight-bar chord sequence inspired
by one of the piano tracks on the album,
which has a distinctive descending bassline.
One way to play this on guitar is to pick
the bass note of the chord first and then
lightly strum the upper notes of the chord.
Aim to hold onto the bass note so it rings
throughout the bar.
Between the chords F/E and F/E♭, it
should be possible to simply slide your third
finger down one fret, making this change
much more straightforward. If playing a D
major chord with your third finger lying
down is a challenge, use fingers two, three
and four are like we did for the F major
chord in figure 2.
Getting a bit theoretical for a moment,
it is worthwhile to take a closer look at
some aspects of this chord sequence. While
descending basslines are in themselves not
exceptional, the F/E♭ chord is effectively F7
in third inversion. F7 is the dominant of B
flat, so we could reasonably expect B flat
major (or possibly minor) to be the next
chord. It could for example be B♭/D, thus
preserving the chromatic bassline.
Instead, we get the D in the bass, but
as the root of a D major chord, which is
the dominant chord of G and the music
swerves off towards G minor to continue
its seemingly continuous descent.
In the hands of a pianist, we could
imagine the bass note of each chord
being played with the left hand and the
remaining notes with the right hand. Figure
4 reimagines the entire sequence as if Bowie
had played it, perhaps as an intro, on an
acoustic guitar, using the big five- and six-
note chords that he often seemed to prefer.
The descending bassline has been moved
to an inner part on the D string, and apart
from the inclusion of D/F♯, which pushes
even more strongly towards G minor, the
chord sequence remains essentially the
same. Compare this version to figure 3
and consider using either of these
approaches next time you are working
out some chords on guitar.
CHORD CLINIC
144