Chords + Lyrics | He’s The Greatest Dancer
Intro
||: Gm7 (Gm) Cm7 | Cm7 Dm7 :||
| Gm7 | Gm7 |
Chorus 1
| Cm7 Dm7 | F#dim7 Gm7 |
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
| Cm7 Dm7 | Gm7 (Gm) |
Oh, what, wow, that I’ve ever seen.
| Cm7 Dm7 | F#dim7 Gm7 |
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
| Cm7 Dm7 | Gm7 (Gm) |
Oh, what, wow.
Verse 1
||: Gm7 (Gm) Cm7 | Cm7 Dm7 :||
One night in a disco on the outskirts of Frisco,
I was cruising with my favorite gang.
The place was so boring filled with out-of-towners touring,
I knew that it wasn’t my thing.
I really wasn’t caring, but I felt my eyes staring,
At a guy who stuck out in the crowd.
He had the kind of body that would shame Adonis,
| Gm7 | Gm7 |
and a face that would make any man proud.
Chorus 2
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
Oh, what, wow, (that I’ve ever seen) ooh.
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
Oh, what, wow
Verse 2
The champion of dance, his moves will put you in a trance,
and he never leaves the disco alone.
Arrogance but not conceit, as a man he’s complete,
my creme de la creme, please take me home.
He wears the finest clothes, the best designers Heaven knows,
ooh, from his head down to his toes.
Halston, Gucci, Fiorucci,
he looks like a still, that man is dressed to kill.
Chorus 3 (double)
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
Oh, what, wow, (that I’ve ever seen), I’ve ever seen.
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
Oh, what, wow, ooh, ooh, ooh-wow.
Oh, what, wow, hey, (he’s the greatest dancer).
Oh, what, wow, (that I’ve ever seen), I love your moves.
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
Oh, what, wow, that I’ve ever seen.
Instrumental
||: Gm7 (Gm) Cm7 | Cm7 Dm7 :|| x8
||: N.C | N.C | N.C | N.C :|| x4 (chorus string stabs)
||: Cm7 Dm7 | F#dim7 Gm7 | Cm7 Dm7 | Gm7 (Gm) :|| x4
Chorus 4 (double)
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
Oh, what, wow, (that I’ve ever seen), I’ve ever seen.
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
Oh, what, wow, ooh, ooh, ooh-wow.
Oh, what, wow hey, he’s the greatest dancer.
Oh, what, wow, (that I’ve ever seen), I love your moves.
Oh, what, wow, he’s the greatest dancer.
Oh, what, wow, that I’ve ever seen.
Outro
||: Gm Cm7 | Cm7 Dm7 :|| to fade
He’s The Greatest Dancer Backing Tracks | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning He’s The Greatest Dancer. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, strings, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
There are two key progressions to understand when learning how to play He’s the Greatest Dancer.
Intro + Verse
The intro and verse start on the VI chord, move to II, stay there, and then shift up to III. In the key of Gm, it looks like this:
||: Gm7 (VI) Cm7 (II) | Cm7 Dm7 (III) :||
| Gm7 | Gm7 |
What makes this unique is how it lingers on Cm7. After repeating the progression several times, it holds on Gm7 for two bars before transitioning to the chorus.
Chorus
The chorus begins on II, moves up to III, and then introduces a diminished 7th chord just below VI. When repeated, the dim7 chord is omitted:
| Cm7 (II) Dm7 (III) | F#dim7 (#IVdim7) Gm7 (VI) |
| Cm7 Dm7 | Gm7 |
That’s how straightforward the chords for He’s the Greatest Dancer are. The real challenge? Playing them with the groove and precision of Nile Rodgers!
I’ve got TAB available for you further down this guitar lesson. When you can play as the TAB describe use the backing tracks and this chord chart as a guide to play with Sister Sledge yourself.
He’s The Greatest Dancer Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
You can download my chord chart as a PDF or in the iReal Pro format:
He’s The Greatest Dancer | TAB
On most Chic recordings, we have one guitar part to worry about. Usually, it’s seemingly varied with Nile’s unmistakable funk rhythms so when I teach these, I’d like to boil them down to a few examples, allowing you to nail that, then take it from there.
For He’s The Greatest Dancer’s verse, there are two parts, one strummed, one picked and before I started transcribing, I thought it was going to be improvised again, I was mistaken, there is no variation!
Intro + Verse (picked)
Here’s the signature picked part, once you get it, you may never want to stop playing this!
If you, like me became frustrated when trying to play it right, try this: divide the part up in two and practise each along to a metronome, here’s the first phrase – loop it!
Next, here’s the second phrase, notice how the chords are the other way around now:
When you can play both, go back and try the full part again. Still frustrated? Go back and play the individual sections again, or alternatively, move on to the strumming instead (it will get easier that way).
Intro + Verse (strumming)
Here’s the strumming for the same section:
Again, it’s really difficult, let’s break this down into three parts.
This can’t be played to the original, play to a click instead at 112 BPM. Here’s the next part.
Again, practise to a click, when it feels easy and you can hear this as a rhythm in and of itself, go for the final example.
This was the same as example 1, just a different chord. Now try the full rhythm again using the backing tracks.
If you can do it or just feel really frustrated, go back to the picked part and start the process again. Eventually, you will get there.
Chorus
Here’s the full chorus part, (there is no picked part, just this):
Again, this is very difficult, let’s break it down, this time into just the first bar like this:
And let’s loop bar 2 and 4, this is a bit tricky but will help once you get it down.
OK, now go back and play the complete chorus along with the backing tracks!
He’s The Greatest Dancer: Continue Learning
Step-by-step Guitar Courses
Master guitar by studying real tunes. Build your skills with video lessons, eBooks and practice routines that connect theory with the music you love!
Explore SpyTunes step-by-step Guitar Courses.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
