Don’t Wait Too Long | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: D G/B | E7 A7sus4 :||
Verse 1
| D G/B | E7 A7sus4 | D G/B | E7 A7sus4 |
You can cry a million tears, you can wait a million years.
| D G | F#7 Bm7 | E7 A7sus4 | D |
If you think that time will change your ways, don’t wait too long.
Verse 2
When your morning turns to night, who’ll be loving you by candlelight?
If you think that time will change your ways, don’t wait too long.
Bridge 1
| G | F#7 Bm7 | E7 A7 | D |
Maybe I got a lot to learn, time can slip away.
| G | F#7 Bm7 | E7 | A7 |
Sometimes you got to lose it all, before you find your way.
Verse 3
Take a chance, and play your part. Make romance, it might break your heart.
But if you think that time will change your ways, don’t wait too long.
Solo
| D G/B | E7 A7sus4 | D G/B | E7 A7sus4 |
| D G | F#7 Bm7 | E7 A7sus4 | D |
Verse 4
It may rain, it may shine, love will age like fine red wine.
But if you think that time will change your ways, don’t wait too long.
Bridge 2
Maybe you and I got a lot to learn, don’t waste another day.
Maybe you got to lose it all, before you find your way.
Verse 5
Take a chance, play your part. Make romance, it might break your heart.
| D G | F#7 Bm7 | E7 A7sus4 |
But if you think that time will change your ways, don’t wait too long.
Outro
||: D G/B | E7 A7sus4 :||
Don’t wait, don’t wait. Getting older.
Don’t Wait Too Long Chords: Learn the progressions
Madeleine Peyroux‘s Don’t Wait Too Long is played using jazz comping based on consistent downward strumming on the beat.
Against this straight beat, you apply back strums to indicate how much you’re swinging.
Once you get the feel of the swing i.e. how far you stretch the up strum from the “on the beat” strum, start looking for variations and when to put them in. A good trick is to apply the off beats more frequently in between vocal lines.
The intro chords set up the main theme, the I – IV/3 – IIx – V. In the key of D, this becomes:
||: D (I) G/B (IV/3) | E7 (IIx) A7sus4 (V) :||
Using TAB, you’ll get an idea of how to play these chords. Here’s a link to that part of the lesson: Don’t Wait Too Long – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Here we focus on the chords, the verse starts as the intro before it applies a turnaround progression, like this:
||: D (I) G/B (IV/3) | E7 (IIx) A7sus4 (V) :||
| D (I) G (IV) | F#7 (IIIx) Bm7 (VI) |
| E7 (IIx) A7sus4 (V) | D (I) |
In my recording, this varies throughout so I wrote out the entire arrangement for you. This doesn’t mean you have to play it note for note like I did, but that you can find any detail you may want to in the TAB.
Don’t Wait Too Long’s bridge chords, like so many songs in this style start on chord IV. This makes us feel as if we are going somewhere new, like this:
| G (IV) | F#7 (IIIx) Bm7 (VI) |
| E7 (IIx) A7 (V) | D (I) |
| G (IV) | F#7 (IIIx) Bm7 (VI) |
| E7 (IIx) | A7 (V) |
Having studied my TAB of the video lesson, this simple chord chart is all you need to play Don’t Wait Too Long’s chords yourself.
Don’t Wait Too Long Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Don’t Wait Too Long Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Don’t Wait Too Long iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
How to solo over Don’t Wait Too Long using modes!
When you solo in this style, it is essential to swap mode and arpeggio for every chord. To do this, you must think in chord numbers as you employ arpeggios and modal scales.
This means you play Phrygian Dominant for chord IIIx and Aeolian for chord VI, for example.
The bridge section uses the cycle of 4th as it moves: IV – IIIx – VI – IIx – V7sus4 – I. This is perfect for practising modal scales. like this:
| G (Lydian) | F#7 (Phrygian Dom) Bm7 (Aeolian) |
| E7 (Mixolydian) A7 (Mixolydian) | D (Ionian) |
If you don’t know all of your pentatonic scales, arpeggios, and modes in each shape, you will never be able to relax enough to play a jazz solo with a smile on your face.
When you do know, jazz is easy and you’ll end up playing around with melodies and chords like a footballer play around with his ball – constantly finding new ways.
Don’t Wait Too Long Chords | Related Pages
Don’t Wait Too Long | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Don’t Wait Too Long by Madeleine Peyroux using TAB and chord analysis.
| D G/B | E7 A7sus4 | D G/B | E7 A7sus4 |
You can cry a million tears, you can wait a million years.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Madeleine Peyroux tunes
Madeleine Peyroux is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and guitarist who learned her trade on the streets of Paris.
Often compared to Billie Holiday for her vocal similarities, Peyroux’s second solo album only had one original tune on it, Don’t Wait Too Long.
Madeleine Peyroux on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Don’t Wait Too Long 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.
