Never Too Much | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| A11 Ab11 A11 Bb11 B11 |
||: B11 | B11 | Gmaj7 | Gmaj7 Em7 A11 |
| B11 | B11 | Gmaj7 |1. Em7 A11 Bb11 B11 :||
|2. Gmaj7 Em7 A11 B11 |
Verse 1
| B11 | B11 |
I can’t fool myself, I don’t want nobody else to ever love me.
| Gmaj7 | Gmaj7 Em7 A11 B11 |
You are my shinin’ star, my guiding light, my love fantasy.
| B11 | B11 |
There’s not a minute, hour, day or night that I don’t love you.
| Gmaj7 | Gmaj7 Em7 A11 B11 |
You’re at the top of my list ’cause I’m always thinkin’ of you.
Verse 2
I still remember in the days when I was scared to touch you.
How I spent my day dreamin’ plannin’ how to say I love you.
You must have known that I had feelings deep enough to swim in.
| Gmaj7 | Gmaj7 Em7 | 2/4 B9omit3 Gmaj7 Em |
That’s when you opened up your heart and you told me to come in.
Chorus 1
||: 4/4 Em | Em Em7 Em7/F# | G | A B9omit3 Gmaj7 Em :||
Oh, my love. A thousand kisses from you is never too much.
I just don’t wanna stop.
Oh, my love. A million days in your arms is never too much.
| Em | Em Em7 Em7/F# | G | A6 N.C | N.C A11 | 3/4 Ab11 A11 Bb11 B11 |
I just don’t wanna stop. Too much, never too much, never too much, never too much.
Instrumental
||: 4/4 B11 | B11 | Gmaj7 | Gmaj7 Em7 A11 :||
Verse 3
Woke up today, looked at your picture just to get me started.
I called you up, but you weren’t there and I was broken hearted.
Hung up the phone, can’t be too late, the boss is so demandin’.
Opened the door up and to my surprise, there you were standin’.
Verse 4
Well, who needs to go to work to hustle for another dollar.
I’d rather be with you ’cause you make my heart scream and holler.
Love is a gamble and I’m so glad that I’m winnin’.
We’ve come a long way and yet this is only the beginnin’.
Chorus 2
||: Em7 | Em Em7 Em7/F# | G | A B9omit3 Em :||
Oh, my love. A thousand kisses from you is never too much.
(Never too much, never too much, never too much) I just don’t wanna stop.
Oh, my love. A million days in your arms is never too much.
(Never too much, never too much, never too much) And I just don’t wanna stop.
Oh, my love. A thousand kisses from you is never.
Never, never, never (never too much, never too much, never too much). I just don’t wanna stop.
Oh, my love. A million days in your arms is never too much.
Never Too Much Chords: Learn the progressions
In the key of D/Bm, Never Too Much heavily relies on other chords from these keys.
By disguising that the B is minor and extending the other chords, we get a slick-sounding chord progression which we must break down section per section to get to terms with.
We even have to look at how these chords could be named in different ways in order to fully understand what is going on here. Let’s start with the intro.
Similar to Sir Duke, we have the same chord moving chromatically, but instead of being a 9, it’s a bigger chord. Depending on who you ask, these chords may be described using different names so let’s look at three possibilities.
- A11 – Ab11 – A11 – Bb11
- G/A – Gb/Ab – G/A – Ab/Bb
- A9sus4 – Ab9sus4 – A9sus4 – Bb9sus4
What’s important to understand with all these chords is that, as seen from the bass note, there is no 3rd. So when the next chord arrives, which could be described as a B11, A/B, or B9sus4, we don’t have a 3rd, should there be one, it’s minor.
Next, we have a progression that is also the verse, it looks like this:
||: B11 (VI) | B11 | Gmaj7 (IV) | Gmaj7 Em7 (II) A11 (V) :||
Remember the B11 doesn’t have a 3rd, it’s a minor chord should you want to add one as a chord fill, make it B Minor Pentatonic or B Dorian.
If you were 100% locked in on music theory it should be B Aeolian but that would be less jazz and if you study the TAB, you’ll find the licks are B Dorian.
Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Never Too Much – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Gmaj7 could also be a Gmaj9. A11, or whatever you prefer calling it should be played in the same way as the B11, just a tone below.
The chorus is easier to get along with, even though there are seemingly more chords.
||: Em (II) | Em7 Em7/F# | G (IV) | A (V) B9omit3 (VI) Em (II) :||
The Em7 is chord II, so this chorus is in Dorian, which makes sense theoretically. When we had B Dorian it didn’t, making that a modal interchange.
The G and A chords are just simple triads. The B9omit3 could also be described as an A6/B, extremely similar to a B11, just having an F# instead of an E in it.
Finally, the last line looks like this.
| Em (II) | Em Em7 Em7/F# | G (IV) | A6 (V) N.C |
| N.C A11 | 3/4 Ab11 (#IV) A11 (V) Bb11 (#V) B11 (VI) |
We start in the same way but then play an A6, rather than A6/B. Then rest, hold the A11 for two beats, and then play the chromatic 11 chords in a 3/4 bar before we repeat the intro.
This is a test in most bands, do you know this part then that means you’ve done this before, if not, you’re new to the game!
Here’s a chord chart for which ones you can play the TAB will make complete sense.
Never Too Much Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Never Too Much Chord Chart PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file: Never Too Much iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key, there have been times when I’ve had to play Never Too Much in the key of Am/C instead, and I did not enjoy that!
Never Too Much – A modern standard!
Luther Vandross‘s Never Too Much is so commonly found on the cover bands’ setlist that it can only be compared to Respect, Mustang Sally, I Feel Good, All Night Long, and Valerie.
If you want to be a working guitarist, playing the correct chords for Never Too Much is a must! Study them with lyrics as well as dissect the meaning of the actual chord progression above. Pair this with memorising the TAB!
Released in 1981, this was Luther Vandross’s lead single from his debut album, it went straight in at #1 and got nominated for two Grammy Awards. On the good old Best 500 song list, it claimed the #466 spot.
Still played on the radio and by DJs, it is perhaps the weekend warrior Soul Bands that have made this song their own, few weddings have a band that avoids Never Too Much, you simply must learn how to play it.
Never Too Much Chords | Related Pages
Never Too Much | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Never Too Much by Luther Vandross using TAB and chord analysis.
| B11 | B11 |
I can’t fool myself, I don’t want nobody else to ever love me…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Luther Vandross tunes
Starting as a backing vocalist in the ’70s, Luther Vandross embarked on a solo career in the ’80s before he ended up singing duets in the ’80s and ’90s.
His best tunes include covers of Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now, duets like Endless Love, and of course, his very own smash hit Never Too Much.
Luther Vandross on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Never Too Much 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 practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
