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At Last Chords | Etta James Guitar Lesson

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At Last | Chords + Lyrics

Intro

| 6/8 F | F/A | Bb | Bdim7 |
| F/C | D7b9 | Db7 | C(#5) |

Verse 1

| F | Dm7 | Gm7 | C7 | F | Dm7 |
At last, my love has come along.
| Gm7 | C7#5 | F | Dm7 |
My lonely days are over.
| Gm7 | C7 | F | Dm7 | Db7 | C7 |
And life is like a song. Ooh yeah, yeah.

Verse 2

| F | Dm7 | Gm7 | C7 | F | Dm7 |
At last, the skies above are blue.
| Gm7 | C7#5 | F | Dm7 |
My heart was wrapped up in clover.
| Gm7 | C7 | F | Bb | F | F |
The night I looked at you.

Bridge

| Gm7 | C7 | F |
I found a dream, that I could speak to.
| F | E7 | F7 E7 | Am7 |
A dream that I can call my own.
| Am7 | Dm7 | G | Cmaj7 |
I found a thrill to rest my cheek to.
| C#dim7 | Dm7 | G7 | C7 | C7#5 |
A thrill that I have never known. Ohh yeah, yeah.

Verse 3

| F | Dm7 | Gm7 | C7 | F | Dm7 |
You smile, you smile. Oh and then the spell was cast.
| Gm7 | C7#5 | F | Dm7 |
And here we are in heaven.
| Gm7 | C7 |
For you are mine, at last.

Outro

| F | F/A | Bb | Bdim7 |
| F/C | D7b9 | Db7 | C7#5 | F F6 | F |

At Last Chords: Learn the progressions

The beautiful and very well-known string intro can be played on the guitar, or you could just play the chords. This is what they are:

| F | F/A | Bb | Bdim7 |
| F/C | D7b9 | Db7 | C7#5 |

In the TAB lesson, I give you both a way to play the chords and the string line, here’s a link: At Last – Guitar Lesson with TAB.

When the verse starts, we are in the key of F moving from I – VI – II – V, like this:

| F (I) | Dm7 (VI) | Gm7 (II) | C7 (V) |
| F | Dm7 | Gm7 | C7#5 |
| F | Dm7 | Gm7 | C7 |
| F | Dm7 | Db7 (tritone sub) | C7 |

At the end of the verse, the Gm7 has been tritone substituted to a Db7.

As the verse repeats, nothing changes, we add this at the end:

| F (I) | Bb (IV) | F | F |

The bridge starts with a II – V – I in F. Gm7 – C7 – F. Next, a pivot between F and E signals that something is up. What’s up is a modal interchange, making the F chord IV and the E a IIIx, we are now in the key of C instead.

Next, we get a II – V – I in this new key. Dm7 – G7 – Cmaj7. The C#dim7 that follows sets the same progression up again.

Finally, the C becomes a C7 and we are ready to move back to the key of F.

Here are all of At Last bridge chords with Roman Numerals:

| Gm7 (II) | C7 (V) | F | F | (key of F)
| E7 (IIIx) | F7 E7 | Am7 | Am7 | (key of C)
| Dm7 (II) | G (V) | Cmaj7 (I) | C#dim7 (I#dim7) |
| Dm7 (II) | G7 (V) |
| C7 (V) | C7#5 | (key of F)

At Last is a textbook example of how to write a jazz blues ballad, both in terms of chords and lyrics.

Having studied my TAB and absorbed the chord movements as Roman Numerals, this chord chart is all you need.

At Last Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro

Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: At Last Chord Chart PDF.

This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file: At Last iReal Pro.

Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key. I don’t think that’s going to happen on a gig but it would be good practice for comping and soloing in general.

At Last – The perfect first dance!

As perhaps the perfect first dance at a Wedding, At Last by Etta James is a must for every working musician to not just learn the chords but also learn from this, in essence, perfect song.

The song may have been Etta James’s first single, it may also be the version everyone refers to but she didn’t write it and AT Last had been released 19 years earlier and recorded several times.

In 1942, Glenn Miller even hit the charts and reached the #2 spot with it. But when Etta sang it, the world stopped and At Last will forever be connected with her.

Since Etta James’ 1960 release, several singers have covered it, including Celine Dion and Beyonce. Christina Aguilera who holds Etta James as her biggest inspiration finishes most of her gigs with the song.

Christina even sang At Last at Etta James’ funeral in 2012, you can find that performance in the playlist above.

At Last Chords | Related Pages

At Last | Guitar Lesson + TAB

With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play At Last by Etta James using TAB and chord analysis.

| F | Dm7 | Gm7 | C7 | F | Dm7 |
At last, my love has come along…

Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics

When you can play At Last's chords, try these five tunes from the song book.

Etta James tunes

Jamesetta had a brutal childhood with a 14-year-old mother and unknown father, she was regularly beaten by her foster parents and even the choir leader.

After touring with Little Richard in her teens, Etta James signed with Chess Records, releasing her first single, At Last, only 22 years old.

Etta James on the web

About me | Dan Lundholm

Dan Lundholm wrote this guitar lesson about At Last chords.

This was a guitar lesson about At Last chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.

Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.