Cannonball chords by Damien Rice


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Cannonball | Chords + Lyrics (capo 6)


Intro

| Em Emadd9 Em Em7 | G G/A G/B |
| Em Emadd9 Em Em7 | G G
/A G/B |
| Em Emb6 Em Esus4 Em | G D6
/F# | Cmaj7 C | Cadd9 D6/F# |

Verse 1

| Em Emadd9 Em Em7 | G G/A G/B |
Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth.
| Em Emadd9 Em Em7 | G G/A G/B |
Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt.
| Em Emb6 Em Esus4 Em | G D6/F# | Cmaj7 C | Cadd9 D6/F# |
It’s still a little hard to say, what’s going on.

Verse 2

There’s still a little bit of your ghost your witness.
There’s still a little bit of your face I haven’t kissed.
You step a little closer each day, that I can’t say what’s going on

Chorus 1

| G C | Dsus2/A | G C | D Dsus4 |
Stones taught me to fly, love taught me to lie.
| G C Csus2 G/B | Dsus2/A | C | Cadd9 Csus2 Dadd11/A |
Life taught me to die, so it’s not hard to fall, when you float like a cannonball.

Instrumental 1 (as intro)

| Em Emadd9 Em Em7 | G G/A G/B |
| Em Emadd9 Em Em7 | G G
/A G/B |
| Em Emb6 Em Esus4 Em | G D6
/F# | Cmaj7 C | Cadd9 D6/F# |

Verse 3

There’s still a little bit of your song in my ear.
There’s still a little bit of your words I long to hear.
You step a little closer to me, so close that I can’t see what’s going on.

Chorus 2

Stones taught me to fly, love taught me to lie.
Life taught me to die, so it’s not hard to fall, when you float like a cannon.

Chorus 3

| G C | Dsus2/A | G C | D Dsus4 |
Stones taught me to fly, love taught me to cry.
| G C Csus2 G/B | Dsus2/A |
So come on courage, teach me to be shy.
| Cmaj7 C | G/B D6/F# |
‘Cause it’s not hard to fall, and I don’t wanna scare her.
| Cadd9 C | G/B D/F# |
It’s not hard to fall, and I don’t wanna lose.
| Cmaj7 C | G/B D/F# |
It’s not hard to grow, when you know that you just don’t know.

Instrumental 2

||: Em Emadd9 Em Em7 | G G/A G/B |
| Em Emadd9 Em Em7 | G G
/A G/B |
| Em Emb6 Em Esus4 Em | G D6
/F# | Cmaj7 C |
|1. Cadd9 D6/F# :||
|2. Cadd9 Dsus4 |

End

| Em | Em | Em |



Cannonball Chords: Learn the progressions


Combining the melody with the chords of Cannonball creates extensions of the VI chord to add9, min7, mb6, and sus4, making the verse at home in Aeolian, like this:

||: Em (VI) Emadd9 Em Em7 | G (I) G/A G/B :||
| Em Emb6 Em Esus4 Em | G D6/F# (V/3) | Cmaj7 (IV) C | Cadd9 D6/F# |

As indicated above, Em is chord VI, G is I, C is IV and D is chord V.

The chorus chords follow the simple I – IV – V movement which puts the chorus in Ionian, now we don’t combine the chords with the melody and end up with these chords:

| G (I) C (IV) | Dsus2/A (V) | G C | D Dsus4 |
| G C Csus2 G/B | Dsus2/A | C | Cadd9 Csus2 Dadd11/A |

To switch between a minor verse and a major chorus like this is common in modern songwriting. Roxanne and Dreadlock Holiday are merely two more examples.

There are only two sections in Cannonball, the verse is also the intro and instrumental section. Here’s a chord chart I made for you, the C section is the end.


Cannonball chord chart.


Cannonball Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro


As you saw above, I’m not trying to tell you how many times we play each section using Segno signs, Coda’s, or any complex indication of how many times you play each section.

It would have looked very cluttered and when playing Cannonball, you would have had to focus on reading it. This is not the purpose of a chart, you’re supposed to glance at it.

Instead of writing the perfect guide, I wrote the two sections (and the end called the C section). At the bottom of the chart, I put A- A – A – B – B – A – A – B – B – A – A – C, to indicate the form/structure.

To me, this was the best way forward and something I feel I should do more often when writing chord charts.

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

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


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Cannonball TAB | Course Preview


The original recording of Cannonball by Damien Rice contains up to six guitars playing different lines.

All these parts weave the different melodic lines together, creating a dream-like soundscape.

My one guitar arrangement is a combination of these parts. You could learn this and play the song on just one guitar.

There is also a two-guitar arrangement available. Here, the 2nd guitar enhances what the first one is already doing (check the playlist at the top of this page to find both versions).

A capo is used to get into the same key as the original for both guitar parts. What you hear is the key of Bbm, although you want to think of Cannonball as if in the key of Em when you have the capo on fret 6.

For the 2nd guitar, the capo is on fret 1. We now play the first chord as an Am instead of an Em chord.

To create the guitar parts, I combine the basic chords with the melody, like this:

Cannonball chords and melody, verse capo 6

Separating the melody and the chords like this is a good starting point, it’s a great idea to work towards a complex part using small steps like this.

In the course, we work on each section of Cannonball using TAB and play-along loops, having a capo on both fret 6 and 1. This takes five lessons (or steps).

Step 6 is spent practicing Aeolian as Cannonball’s verse melody is in Aeolian and that’s what we play in step 7.

Finally, in step 8, we bring everything you’ve learned together and create a 2nd guitar part. Learn this so you, I, and the singer can play Cannonball together as if we were a folk trio!

Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessonsCannonball – Guitar Lessons with TAB.



Cannonball and the album O was recorded at home!

Much like David Gray, Irish Damien Rice decided to leave record labels and pro studios behind to record his masterpiece at home instead.

Encouraged by his second cousin, David Arnold (film composer who wrote for James Bond and Independence Day, etc), Damien set out to record O in his home studio, completing and releasing it himself in 2002.

After getting good feedback he managed to get distribution for the album and after re-releasing it, people started to take notice of Damien Rice as an artist.

As the campaign for Cannonball was done over such a long period, it never did well in the charts but sales eventually reached 600.000 in the U.K. alone.

As a whole, O is a great album with other tunes such as The Blower’s Daughter, Delicate, Eskimo, Volcano, and Cheers Darlin’ all worth a listen or two!

Since the release of his debut album, Damien has released a further two albums, 9 (2006), and My Favourite Faded Fantasy (2014). Neither lived up to the level he’d set with his debut which is a contemporary folk classic.



Cannonball Chords | Related Pages


Cannonball | 8 Step-by-step Guitar Lessons + TAB

Cannonball 8 step-by-step guitar lessons with TAB

When we learn Cannonball, we play with a capo on frets 6 and 1. Each position gives us a different advantage, put together, we have a 2 guitar arrangement.

As well as playing the tune in two ways, we also practice the Aeolian mode. It’s essential to learn modes in the context of a song like this.


Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics

When you can play Cannonball's chords, try these five tunes from the songbook.


Damien Rice tunes

Damien Rice wrote Cannonball.

Originally, Rice was a member of Juniper but on the evening of recording their first full album, he changed his mind and left the band.

After walking out, Damien Rice fled to Italy to start afresh, writing songs and busking his way around Europe.


Damien Rice on the web

Listen to Damien Rice on Spotify.


About me | Dan Lundholm

Dan Lundholm wrote this guitar lesson about Cannonball's chords.

This was a guitar lesson about Cannonball 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.


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