Chords + Lyrics | Celebration
Intro
| N.C ||: (Ab) | (Ab) :||
| Gb Db/F Ab Db | Absus4 Ab |
| Ab | Ab |
Chorus 1
||: Db/F Gb Db | Gb Db Ab :||
Ya-hoo! This is your celebration.
Ya-hoo! This is your celebration.
Celebrate good times, come on, let’s celebrate.
Celebrate good times, come on, let’s celebrate.
Verse 1
||: Ab11 | Absus4 Ab :||
There’s a party going on right here.
A celebration to last throughout the years.
So bring your good times and your laughter too.
We gonna celebrate your party with you, come on.
(Celebration) let’s all celebrate and have a good time.
(Celebration) we gonna celebrate and have a good time.
Bridge 1
| Dbmaj7 | Cm7 | F11 | F |
It’s time to come together, it’s up to you. What’s your pleasure?
| Bbm7 | Eb11 |
Everyone around the world, come on!
Chorus 2
Ya-hoo! It’s a celebration. Ya-hoo!
Celebrate good times, come on. It’s a celebration.
Celebrate good times, come on. Let’s celebrate.
Verse 2
There’s a party going on right here.
A dedication to last throughout the years.
So bring your good times and your laughter too.
We gonna celebrate and party with you. Come on now.
(Celebration) let’s all celebrate and have a good time, yeah, yeah.
(Celebration) we gonna celebrate and have a good time.
Bridge 2
It’s time to come together, it’s up to you. What’s your pleasure?
Everyone around the world, come on!
Chorus 3
Yahoo! It’s a celebration.
Yahoo! It’s a celebration.
Celebrate good times, come on. Let’s celebrate, come on now.
Celebrate good times, come on. Let’s celebrate.
Middle 8 (as verse)
||: Ab11 | Absus4 Ab :||
We’re gonna have a good time tonight, let’s celebrate, it’s all right.
We’re gonna have a good time tonight, let’s celebrate, it’s all right, baby.
(Celebration) we’re gonna have a good time tonight. Let’s celebrate, it’s all right.
(Celebration) we’re gonna have a good time tonight. let’s celebrate, it’s all right.
Chorus 4
Yahoo! Yahoo!
Celebrate good times, come on! (Let’s celebrate). Ooh, ooh, ooh, hoo.
Celebrate good times, come on! It’s a celebration.
Celebrate good times, come on! (Let’s celebrate). Come on and celebrate, tonight.
Celebrate good times, come on! ’Cause everything’s gonna be all right. Let’s celebrate.
Celebrate good times, come on! (Let’s celebrate) Ooh, hoo, hoo.
Celebrate good times, come on! Let’s have a great time, celebrate.
Celebrate good times, come on!
Celebration Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning Celebration. I’ve used stem-seperation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Released in 1980, Celebration became Kool & The Gang‘s biggest hit, reaching the top spot on the U.S. Billboard chart. Since then, it has become a staple on the setlists of soul, funk, and disco bands, often played at events dedicated to celebration.
Songs like Celebration are built for parties, which remain a cornerstone of any guitarist’s professional career. Get the chords right, and you’ll keep the gig—and the celebrations going strong—ya-hoo!
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
The chords provided above for the three sections are primarily intended for the keyboard player. For example, the chorus, which follows the progression | Db/F Gb Db | Gb Db Ab | on repeat, is mainly played by keyboards.
In addition, there’s a horn section riff playing | Gb Db/F Ab Db | Absus4 Ab |.
The guitar’s role is simpler, typically just holding a static Ab. This note acts as a common tone, functioning as the 5th of Db, the 9th of Gb, and the root of Ab.
To play more than this syncopated but static Ab octave on guitar, you’ll need TAB. I’ve worked out how to play the horn and keyboard parts on guitar—it’s great fun to play and blends well with the original guitar part, check it out further down this guitar lesson.
Verse + Bridge
The verse features a notably sparse guitar part. You might be tempted to join the keyboard player and play Ab, Absus4, and Ab11 chords. The second half adds some guitar; check the TAB for how to incorporate it effectively.
The bridge is more dynamic, starting with chord IV and moving from Dbmaj7 to Cm7. This is followed by a movement based on the cycle of fourths: F11 → F → Bbm7 → Eb11.
Here’s a chord chart I’ve prepared for you—bring it to the gig!
Celebration Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
You can download my chord chart in two formats: a PDF for easy reference, and the industry-standard iReal Pro format for transposition.
Celebration | TAB
Let’s start by looking at all the various parts from the intro, beginning with that syncopated guitar.
Intro
Notice how I’ve written 8th notes with a little dot above them. This means to “play short”, like a 16th, but avoids having to write too many rests, which would make the notation cluttered. This way, it’s more obvious when to play an up or downstroke.
This section also comes back for the chorus and outro. If you have horns and keyboards in the band, stick with this part; if not, you may need to incorporate those parts as well.
Here’s the next section of the intro—the horns and that answering guitar lick. I decided to write the horns in two ways and got carried away, also writing the lick an octave lower…
Again, if you have horns in the band, just stick with the first syncopated part and blend it with the (high) guitar lick.
Next, the keyboard changes the chords!
Spend plenty of time exploring all these parts—it’s not just the intro but the chorus too. If you play in lots of bands, you may need to dip in and out of all these parts.
Verse
The verse is much easier—here’s what the keyboard plays. Are you playing this as well, instead of, or taking a break?
The second half has some guitar licks, which I’ve combined here with the keyboard chords.
Bridge
The bridge is the first time we get some movement. Try playing the chords like this:
When you can play all this TAB, go back to the chords lesson and put it all together using the chord chart as you play along with Kool & The Gang.
Celebration Chords: Continue Learning
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