Motown & Soul, Rock N Roll & Early Pop, Song Book

Money (That’s What I Want) chords by Barrett Strong

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Money (That’s What I Want) | Chords + Lyrics

Intro

||: N.C :|| x4
||: F riff | F riff :||
| C | Bb | F riff | C5 |

Verse 1

Verse 2

Solo

| F7 | F7 | F7 | F7 |
| Bb7 | Bb7 | F7 | F7 |
| C7 | Bb7 | F7 | C7 |

Verse 3

| F N.C | N.C Bb5 |
Money don’t get everything it’s true,
| F N.C | N.C F7 |
but what it don’t get, I can’t use,
| Bb7 | Bb7 |
I need money (that’s what I want).
| F7 | F7 |
That’s what I want (that’s what I want).
| C | Bb | F7 | C5 |
That’s what I want (that’s what I want). That’s what I want (that’s what I want).

Outro chorus 1

| F7 | F7 | F7 | F7 |
Money (that’s what I want). Lots of money (that’s what I want).
| Bb7 | Bb7 | F7 | F7 |
Whole lot of money (that’s what I want). That’s what I want (that’s what I want).
| C | Bb | F riff | C5 |
That’s what I want (that’s what I want, that’s what I want).

Outro chorus 2

Money (That’s What I Want)’s chords and progressions

Money (That's What I Want) 8 step by step guitar lessons

On the original recording of Money (That’s What I Want), the guitar plays the riff and stays with it as the band moves from F to Bb.

In cover versions (The Beatles, Roy Orbison, etc.) this rarely happens, instead, they move the riff with the progression.

What I ended up playing myself was a hybrid of all the influences I got as I learned the song.

By being open like this, I look for what the song wants in my particular band setup, rather than how to play what I copied and memorized from a single source.

All this means that there is room here for you to design your part. Start with what I do, then consider your options.

In the course, we go through everything I play in the video as well as discuss other options. We also discuss the minor pentatonic and blues language, and we even play the melody in all shapes.

In the video lesson above, I talk you through how I came up with the solo, these are the main points:

Start with learning to play the actual vocal melody in as many areas of the neck as possible
Use the melody’s note choices for your solo, change the rhythm
Use the melody’s rhythm, change the notes
Use the note choices of the riffs
Combine suitable chord licks with ideas from the song’s melody

With all this in mind, we then build a solo, before I play the complete song with the band, followed by you playing the complete song with the live band backing track in step 8.

Here’s a link to the complete lesson series (members only): Money (That’s What I Want) 8 step-by-step guitar lessons with TAB.

Become a member today and get unlimited access to all step-by-step guitar courses, TAB for the songbook, the Self-Eliminating Practice Routine, and the eBook Spytunes Method.

Money (That’s What I Want) was Motown’s first hit!

Money (That’s What I Want) was the first successful single released by Motown, all the way back in 1959.

Written by the founder of Motown himself and performed by Barrett Strong, it would mark the beginnings of the most important musical movement in the history of popular music.

Before the label had even found its sound, this blues-inspired pop tune crossed over from black musicians to white radio, and the money started to roll in for Berry Gordy to build his musical empire.

It wasn’t plain sailing straight away, Money (That’s What I Want) had to be released twice and so did the label’s second successful single, Shop Around (1960).

The first #1 came the following year with Please Mr. Postman by The Marvelettes, and in 1962 another Berry Gordy tune, Do You Love Me was a success.

Before the end of 1962 one more hit came in You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me.

This may sound great, five big tunes but considering the label had released 140 singles in four years, and Berry Gordy had written two of them, he must have had some doubt.

The following year when Stevie Wonder, Martha and the Vandellas, and Marvin Gaye started releasing tunes it was pretty much full steam ahead so if Money was what Berry wanted, he certainly got it!

Money (That’s What I Want) chords | Related pages

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Five similar tunes with chords and lyrics

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Berry Gordy

Berry Gordy is the man behind the hit factory that was Motown. The idea behind the label came from working in a car factory.

Housing the label, the studio, and a house band all in the same building proved to be a masterstroke as Berry set out to discover the greatest superstars of our time.

Berry Gordy on the web

Barrett Strong

Barrett Strong was the first artist on the Motown label to have a hit. The song was Money (That’s What I Want). Performed by Barrett, it was written by the president of the label and a sign of what was to come.

As well as his own solo career, Barrett also wrote many of Motown’s biggest hits.

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