Les Paul & Mary Ford's 1951 hit cover of a 1940 Broadway musical tune by Morgan Lewis. The song is
recognized as a landmark recording due to Les's recording innovations and the song's influence on
the shaping of the early rock-n-rock genre.But the song has some odd pecularities that if you know
about them, makes it a bit easier to learn.
1) For the 1951 recording, Les tunes his guitar up to F rather than the standard E. This makes the song
actually in the key of Bb. But early videos of him playing show he was fingering in the A position, so
we'll do the same and tab this to the key of A. But if you play with the record, you'll need to retune.
2)Les's basic track is all stripped down straight basic chords. However, he overlays so many tracks of
guitar, bass, and voice that these rudimentary chords are morphed into maj7ths, 9ths, even phantom turnaround
chords at the end of some verses. We'll try and be as basic as possible and let you add maj7ths and 9ths
as you see fit.
3)Every verse is structured differently to some degree from every other verse. Even each guitar solo verse
is unique to itself. It's a good thing to be aware of.
At the end I will tab, by verse, the unusual chords and chord melodies that require exact positions.
[Intro-chords]
[A] [A7] [Bm7] [F7] [A] [A7] [Bm7] [F7]
e|--5-5----5-5-5----7-7----x-x-x--|---20---20---20---20---|--5-5---5-5-5---7-7---x-x-x--|--------------|
B| -5-5----5-5-5----7-7----6-6-6--|---19---19---19---19---| 5-5---5-5-5---7-7---6-6-6--|--------------|
G|X-6-6----6-6-6----7-7----8-8-8--|-----------------------|X-6-6---6-6-6---7-7---8-8-8--|---7-----7----|
D| 7-7----5-5-5----7-7----7-7-7--|-----------------------| 7-7---5-5-5---7-7---7-7-7--|---6-----6----|
A|--x-x----x-x-x----9-9----8-8-8--|-----------------------|--x-x---x-x-x---9-9---8-8-8--|---7-----7----|
E|--x-x----x-x-x----x-x----x-x-x--|---0-------------------|--x-x---x-x-x---x-x---x-x-x--|---0----------|
[Verse I]
NC
Somewhere there's - (start on last beat of Intro)
[A]
music
[Am7]
How faint the tune
[G]
Somewhere there's heaven
[Gm7]
How high the moon
[F]
There is no moon above
[A]
When love is far away too
[Bbmaj7] [Amaj7]
Until it comes true
[Dbm7] [D6/9]
That you love me as I love you
[Verse II]
NC
Somewhere there's - (start on last beat of last verse)
[A]
music
[Am7]
How near, how far
[G]
Somewhere there's heaven
[Gm7]
It's where you are
[F]
The darkest night would shine
[Amaj7]
If you would come to me soon
[Dbm7] [C7]
Until you will, how still my heart
A (optional phantom E turnaround)
How high the moon Ahh
[ Solo ]
Verse III
NC
Somewhere there's - (start on last beat of solo verse)
[A]
music
[Am7]
How faint the tune
[G]
Somewhere there's heaven
[Gm7]
How high the moon
[F]
The darkest night would shine
Amaj7 (5bts)+(3bts break)
If you would come to me soon
Dbm7 Cm7 Bm7 E note on D string, slide up and back, hit E and ring
Until you will, how still my heart
How high the......
(sing over Outro Chords)
moooooooooon
[Outro-chords]
[A] [A7] [Bm7] [F7]
e|--5-5----5-5-5---7-7---x-x-x--|----20----------14-------|-------x-x-x---------|
B| 5-5----5-5-5---7-7---6-6-6--|----19----12-13-14-------|-------5-6-7---------|
G|X 6-6----6-6-6---7-7---8-8-8--|----------11-12-13-------|-------4-5-6---------|
D| 7-7----5-5-5---7-7---7-7-7--|----------12-13-14-------|-------x-x-x---------|
A| x-x----x-x-x---9-9---8-8-8--|-------------------------|-------5-6-7------0--|
E|--x-x----x-x-x---x-x---x-x-x--|-------------------------|---------------------|
[Chord Fingering Verse I]
[A] [Bbmaj7] [Amaj7] [Dbmaj7] [D6/9]
e|-----------------------------------0-----|
B|---2------3-------2-------5--------0-----|
G|---2------2-------1-------4--------3-----|
D|---2------3-------2-------6--------4-----|
A|---0--------------0-------4--------0-----|
E|-----------------------------------------|
[Chord Fingering Verse II]
[Dbm7] [C7] [A]
e|--------------------------|
B|---5---------5------2-----|
G|---4---------3------2-----|
D|---6---------5------2-----|
A|---4---------3------0-----|
E|---x---------x------x-----|
[Chord Melody Fingering Verse III]
Dbm7 Cm7 Bm7 (slide up and back down) (ring)
e|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|------5------------4------------3-------------------------------------------|
G|----4----4-------3-----3------2---------------------------------------------|
D|--6------------5------------4-------------2----------------------2----------|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
