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three chords...

psycosmicpsycosmic Posts: 504
edited December 2005 in Musicians and Gearheads
hehe, well, you know what they say... all you need for rock n' roll are three chords...
so i was playing around on my guitar and tried to put this to the test... and i couldn't really come up with too many songs that consist of ONLY three chords... even the most simple and basic songs i know throw in a fourth or fifth chord in the chorus or bridge...
well, you could always just play a standard blues progression and also the kingsmen's "louie louie"... or "wild thing"...
and isn't danzig's "mother" the most rocking three chord song ever? :D

anyway, just an observation...
can you come up with more songs that only use three different chords?


(and yes, i know there are plenty of three chord riffs, but i'm just trying to be a smartass here and take it literally... one song = only three different chords)
~~~
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.

http://epplehausradio.blogspot.com/

pearl jam @ the astoria, london, 20/04/06
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    Yup, and I was messing around with one at my guitar lesson today, just for the hell of it. Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle". Not the most complex song in the world, just fun to play. The progression is basically D-A-G-D and repeat, but with different versions of the chords, power in the verse vs. open in the chorus.

    And I can't help it, there's something about them, but I really like Jimmy Eat World.
  • UpHereInMyTree500UpHereInMyTree500 Posts: 1,772
    Powderfinger - DAF

    The song is named after the three chords played throughout.
    Wave came crashing...
  • Oh, JimmyOh, Jimmy Posts: 957
    The Widow by The Mars Volta only has 3. Am, E, Dm. You can strum along to it pretty easy, but the song sounds like there is alot goin on.
  • HailHailVitalogyHailHailVitalogy Posts: 5,217
    after just learning Immortality

    D/F# is one of my favorite chords

    ---0----
    ---3----
    ---2----
    ---0----
    ---x----
    ---2----
    2003: Uniondale, MSG x2 | 2004: Reading | 2005: Gorge, Vancouver, Philly | 2006: East Rutherford x2, Gorge x2, Camden 1, Hartford | 2008: MSG x2, VA Beach | 2009: Philly x3 | 2010: MSG x2, Bristow | 2011: Alpine Valley x2 | 2012: MIA Philly | 2013: Wrigley, Charlottesville, Brooklyn 2 | 2014: Milan, Amsterdam 1 | 2016: MSG x2, Fenway x2, Wrigley 2 | 2018: Rome, Krakow, Berlin, Wrigley 2 | 2021: Sea Hear Now | 2022: San Diego, LA x2, MSG, Camden, Nashville, St. Louis, Denver | 2023: St. Paul 1, Chicago x2, Fort Worth x2, Austin 2 | 2024: Las Vegas 1, Seattle x2, Indy, MSG x2, Philly x2, Baltimore, Ohana 2
  • likepilateihaveadoglikepilateihaveadog Posts: 1,083
    UpHereInMyTree500 wrote:
    Powderfinger - DAF

    The song is named after the three chords played throughout.
    maybe I'm a freak...
    always played it
    G/C/Bm/D

    ....
    Teamwork. Rawk. Pwnage. Infinite Possibilities. YIELD. Hells yeah.
  • SamgsSamgs Posts: 7
    Well my band as at least two songs based on only 3 chords... there was a topic about us a while ago... you may hear us at http://www.myspace.com/thewage (sorry for the publicity again)...

    But we (in the band) find it really easy to come up with 3 chord songs... we have some more complex songs but we love these simple ones... they´re just too much fun to play!

    As for other great songs with only three chords you´ve got, for example, All Along The Watchtower...
  • dunkmandunkman Posts: 19,646
    tomorrow never knows - beatles..... its all in C baby :cool:
    oh scary... 40000 morbidly obese christians wearing fanny packs invading europe is probably the least scariest thing since I watched an edited version of The Care Bears movie in an extremely brightly lit cinema.
  • House53House53 Posts: 1,276
    downtown - ny with pearl jam
    lukin - pj
    Don't be shy - cat stevens (ed covers it)
    Throw your arms around me - another ed cover
    Can't explain - the who
    There's No Code.
  • sustainediasustainedia Posts: 112
    check us out. 3 out of 4 songs only use 3 chords. sorry for the publicity.

    http://www.sustaindia.com
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