Chords for Ode To Billie Joe by Bobbie Gentry – Totally Guitars Lesson Preview
Tempo:
73.825 bpm
Chords used:
D
Am
G
C
A
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Well, we have a special guest here at TG Central the last couple of days, and so we are going to try to do a song for a lesson that I hope to finish soon.
And it is
what do you know about this song?
Well, not much.
I heard it when I was younger, somewhere here and there on the radio in the car.
But I know nothing about the history or if it's
well, whatever.
So, Bobby Gentry, mid-60s, we're talking about Ode to Billy Joe, a song that
this doesn't happen very often, but a song that turned into a movie, you know, because I'm pretty sure it was completely a fictional thing that she put together.
And then they built a whole thing around it, and it paints a lot of puzzles, too.
It's like, what the heck really happened here?
We don't know.
So, we're going to [N] give it a try.
You ready?
Okay.
Throat's clear?
[D] Yeah.
It was the third of [Am] June, another sleepy, dusty, [D] Delta day.
I was out chopping cotton [Am] and my brother was baling [D] hay.
[G] And at dinnertime we stopped and walked back to the house to eat.
And [D] Mama hollered out the back door, y'all remember to wipe your feet.
[G] And then she said, I got some news this morning from Chapter Ridge.
[D] Today Billy Joe [C] McAllister jumped off the [D] Tallahatchie Bridge.
And Papa said to Mama [Am] as he passed around the [G] black-eyed [D] peas,
Well, Billy Joe never had a [Am] lick of sense, Pants made of hick's skirts [D] please.
[G] There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow.
And [D] Mama said it was [Am] a shame about Billy Joe, [G] anyhow.
[D] [C]
So, as I mentioned in the play-through there, we really have only three shapes of chords.
The C7 shape is of course played like a standard C chord with the B flat added.
[A] And what we're going to be doing with the right hand, I'll get to that in a minute,
but the right hand is going to be just playing those four strings.
So we're not even strumming this.
[C] So, C7 is at the end, but the whole thing revolves around a D7 chord played [D] by just moving this up the whole [C#] step.
So, the right hand, I'm playing the D7 chord that we had here, you can see it a little bit there.
And my thumb, again, as I mentioned in the last segment, my three fingers are going to be playing the middle strings,
what I'd call the second, well, the second, third, and fourth strings.
And then the thumb is going to be hitting, so we're not going to use the first string at all, at least not intentionally.
And then the thumb is going to be playing the fifth string and the sixth, depending on exactly what's going on.
And it is
what do you know about this song?
Well, not much.
I heard it when I was younger, somewhere here and there on the radio in the car.
But I know nothing about the history or if it's
well, whatever.
So, Bobby Gentry, mid-60s, we're talking about Ode to Billy Joe, a song that
this doesn't happen very often, but a song that turned into a movie, you know, because I'm pretty sure it was completely a fictional thing that she put together.
And then they built a whole thing around it, and it paints a lot of puzzles, too.
It's like, what the heck really happened here?
We don't know.
So, we're going to [N] give it a try.
You ready?
Okay.
Throat's clear?
[D] Yeah.
It was the third of [Am] June, another sleepy, dusty, [D] Delta day.
I was out chopping cotton [Am] and my brother was baling [D] hay.
[G] And at dinnertime we stopped and walked back to the house to eat.
And [D] Mama hollered out the back door, y'all remember to wipe your feet.
[G] And then she said, I got some news this morning from Chapter Ridge.
[D] Today Billy Joe [C] McAllister jumped off the [D] Tallahatchie Bridge.
And Papa said to Mama [Am] as he passed around the [G] black-eyed [D] peas,
Well, Billy Joe never had a [Am] lick of sense, Pants made of hick's skirts [D] please.
[G] There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow.
And [D] Mama said it was [Am] a shame about Billy Joe, [G] anyhow.
[D] [C]
So, as I mentioned in the play-through there, we really have only three shapes of chords.
The C7 shape is of course played like a standard C chord with the B flat added.
[A] And what we're going to be doing with the right hand, I'll get to that in a minute,
but the right hand is going to be just playing those four strings.
So we're not even strumming this.
[C] So, C7 is at the end, but the whole thing revolves around a D7 chord played [D] by just moving this up the whole [C#] step.
So, the right hand, I'm playing the D7 chord that we had here, you can see it a little bit there.
And my thumb, again, as I mentioned in the last segment, my three fingers are going to be playing the middle strings,
what I'd call the second, well, the second, third, and fourth strings.
And then the thumb is going to be hitting, so we're not going to use the first string at all, at least not intentionally.
And then the thumb is going to be playing the fifth string and the sixth, depending on exactly what's going on.
Key:
D
Am
G
C
A
D
Am
G
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Well, we have a special guest here at TG Central the last couple of days, and so we are going to try to do a song for a lesson that I hope to finish soon.
And it is_
what do you know about this song?
Well, not much.
I heard it when I was younger, somewhere here and there on the radio in the car.
But I know nothing about the history or if it's_
well, whatever.
So, Bobby Gentry, mid-60s, we're talking about Ode to Billy Joe, a song that_
this doesn't happen very often, but a song that turned into a movie, you know, because I'm pretty sure it was completely a fictional thing that she put together.
And then they built a whole thing around it, and it paints a lot of puzzles, too.
It's like, what the heck really happened here?
We don't know.
So, we're going to [N] give it a try.
You ready?
Okay.
Throat's clear?
[D] Yeah.
_ _ _ It was the third of [Am] June, another sleepy, dusty, [D] Delta day. _ _
I was out chopping cotton [Am] and my brother was baling [D] hay.
_ _ [G] And at dinnertime we stopped and walked back to the house to eat.
_ _ And [D] Mama hollered out the back door, y'all remember to wipe your feet. _ _
[G] And then she said, I got some news this morning from Chapter _ Ridge.
_ [D] Today Billy Joe [C] McAllister jumped off the [D] Tallahatchie Bridge.
_ And Papa said to Mama [Am] as he passed around the [G] black-eyed [D] _ _ peas,
Well, Billy Joe never had a [Am] lick of sense, Pants made of hick's skirts [D] please.
_ _ [G] There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow.
_ _ And [D] Mama said it was [Am] a shame about Billy Joe, [G] anyhow.
[D] _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ So, as I mentioned in the play-through there, we really have only three shapes of chords.
The C7 shape is of course played like a standard C chord with the B flat added.
[A] And what we're going to be doing with the right hand, I'll get to that in a minute,
but the right hand is going to be just playing those four strings.
So we're not even strumming this.
[C] So, C7 is at the end, but the whole thing revolves around a D7 chord played [D] by just moving this up the whole [C#] step.
So, the right hand, I'm playing the D7 chord that we had here, you can see it a little bit there.
And my thumb, again, as I mentioned in the last segment, my three fingers are going to be playing the middle strings,
what I'd call the second, well, the second, third, and fourth strings.
And then the thumb is going to be hitting, so we're not going to use the first string at all, at least not intentionally.
_ And then the thumb is going to be playing the fifth string and the sixth, depending on exactly what's going on. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Well, we have a special guest here at TG Central the last couple of days, and so we are going to try to do a song for a lesson that I hope to finish soon.
And it is_
what do you know about this song?
Well, not much.
I heard it when I was younger, somewhere here and there on the radio in the car.
But I know nothing about the history or if it's_
well, whatever.
So, Bobby Gentry, mid-60s, we're talking about Ode to Billy Joe, a song that_
this doesn't happen very often, but a song that turned into a movie, you know, because I'm pretty sure it was completely a fictional thing that she put together.
And then they built a whole thing around it, and it paints a lot of puzzles, too.
It's like, what the heck really happened here?
We don't know.
So, we're going to [N] give it a try.
You ready?
Okay.
Throat's clear?
[D] Yeah.
_ _ _ It was the third of [Am] June, another sleepy, dusty, [D] Delta day. _ _
I was out chopping cotton [Am] and my brother was baling [D] hay.
_ _ [G] And at dinnertime we stopped and walked back to the house to eat.
_ _ And [D] Mama hollered out the back door, y'all remember to wipe your feet. _ _
[G] And then she said, I got some news this morning from Chapter _ Ridge.
_ [D] Today Billy Joe [C] McAllister jumped off the [D] Tallahatchie Bridge.
_ And Papa said to Mama [Am] as he passed around the [G] black-eyed [D] _ _ peas,
Well, Billy Joe never had a [Am] lick of sense, Pants made of hick's skirts [D] please.
_ _ [G] There's five more acres in the lower forty I've got to plow.
_ _ And [D] Mama said it was [Am] a shame about Billy Joe, [G] anyhow.
[D] _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ So, as I mentioned in the play-through there, we really have only three shapes of chords.
The C7 shape is of course played like a standard C chord with the B flat added.
[A] And what we're going to be doing with the right hand, I'll get to that in a minute,
but the right hand is going to be just playing those four strings.
So we're not even strumming this.
[C] So, C7 is at the end, but the whole thing revolves around a D7 chord played [D] by just moving this up the whole [C#] step.
So, the right hand, I'm playing the D7 chord that we had here, you can see it a little bit there.
And my thumb, again, as I mentioned in the last segment, my three fingers are going to be playing the middle strings,
what I'd call the second, well, the second, third, and fourth strings.
And then the thumb is going to be hitting, so we're not going to use the first string at all, at least not intentionally.
_ And then the thumb is going to be playing the fifth string and the sixth, depending on exactly what's going on. _ _ _ _