Sir Duke | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: B | G#m(add9addb5) | G | F#7 :||
Verse 1
| B | G#m | G | F#7 |
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand.
| B | G#m | G | F#7 F7 |
With an equal opportunity for all to sing, dance, and clap their hands.
Bridge 1
| E9 Eb9 D9 Db9 | D9 Eb9 E9 |
But just because a record has a groove don’t make it in the groove.
| E9 Eb9 D9 Db9 | D9 Eb9 E9 F#7 |
But you can tell right away at letter A, when the people start to move.
Chorus 1
||: B | Fm7 | Emaj7 B/D# | C#m7 F#7 F#7sus4 :||
They can feel it all over, but they can feel it all over people.
They can feel it all over, they can feel it all over people, no.
Instrumental 1
||: B Major Blues riff :|| x7
Yeah. Ha ha ha!
| B Major Blues riff F# |
Verse 2
| B | G#m | G | F#7 |
Music knows that it is and always will be one of the things that life just won’t quit.
| B | G#m | G | F#7 F7 |
But here are some of music’s pioneers that time will not allow us to forget now.
Bridge 2
| E9 Eb9 D9 Db9 | D9 Eb9 E9 |
For there’s Basie, Miller, Satchmo and the king of all, Sir Duke.
| E9 Eb9 D9 Db9 | D9 Eb9 E9 F#7 |
And with a voice like Ella’s ringing out there’s no way the band could lose.
Chorus 2
||: B | Fm7 | Emaj7 B/D# | C#m7 F#7 F#7sus4 :||
You can feel it all over. You can feel it all over people.
You can feel it all over. You can feel it all over people.
You can feel it all over. You can feel it all over people.
You can feel it all over. You can feel it all over, yeah go!
Instrumental 2
||: B Major Blues riff :|| x7
| B Major Blues riff F# |
Chorus 3
||: B | Fm7 | Emaj7 B/D# | C#m7 F#7 F#7sus4 :||
You can feel it all over. You can feel it all over people.
You can feel it all over. You can feel it all over people.
You can feel it all over. You can feel it all over people.
You can feel it all over. I can feel it all, all, all-all-all over now people.
Can’t you feel it all over? Come on, let’s feel it all over people.
You can feel it all over. Everybody all over people, go!
Instrumental 3
||: B Major Blues riff :|| x7
Don’t wanna look. Ha ha.
| B Major Blues riff F# |
Sir Duke Chords: Learn the progressions
Another Stevie Wonder chordal masterpiece we find in his unforgettable Sir Duke.
Starting in the key of B, the intro goes much like the verse, although we play it differently. The intro is arpeggios, the verse is chords.
Just looking at the chords, we could say they are I – VI – bVIx – V, I’ve called the VI chord a minor add9 with a b5 as that reminds me of the intervals played for the intro.
||: B | G#m(add9addb5) | G | F#7 :||
You need TAB to get that intro right. The verse chords are the same just without that mental extension.
Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Sir Duke – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
The bridge is a chromatic adventure starting on chord IV, moving down to chord bIIIx, and then back up again. After repeating it, we finish on chord V, like this:
| E9 Eb9 D9 Db9 | D9 Eb9 E9 |
| E9 Eb9 D9 Db9 | D9 Eb9 E9 F#7 |
This bridge was a classic series of tritone substitutions, in the chord progression mini-course I use Sir Duke as one example describing how tritone substitutions work.
If you thought Sir Duke’s chords ahve been a bit intense so far, check out this chorus!
||: B (I) | Fm7 (#IVm) | Emaj7 (IV) B/D# (I/3) | C#m7 (II) F#7 (V) F#7sus4 :||
That Fm7 is so unique, I have never seen it before, if it was an F7, we could have called it a tritone substitution. I guess we just have to accept it’s Stevie Wonder and therefore it’s OK.
Finally, the instrumental section is a Major Pentatonic with a b5, we can call this a B major blues scale. You need TAB to learn it (link above).
Returning from the TAB lesson all confident of what to play, use this chord chart as. a reminder of the sections and structure of Sir Duke.
Sir Duke Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Sir Duke Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Sir Duke iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key which sometimes happens as most sax players prefer the key of Bb, you have been warned…
Sir Duke is about Stevie Wonder’s musical heroes!
Written about Duke Ellington and other musicians who influenced Stevie including, Ella Fitzgerald, Louie Armstrong, Count Basie, and Glenn Miller, Sir Duke is a love letter to the legends in the world of music.
This isn’t the only time Stevie has done this, Master Blaster is about Bob Marley, and Happy Birthday is about Martin Luther King Jr.
Released as a single off the album Songs In The Key Of Life in 1977, it has become one of Stevie Wonder’s signature songs and a must-know for any serious musician who wants to play with a soul band.
The instrumental section is a great test to see if you know your major blues scale, just like Master Blaster tested your Minor Pentatonic.
Sir Duke Chords | Related Pages
Sir Duke | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder using TAB and chord analysis.
| B | G#m | G | F#7 |
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
- Crazy In Love
- For Once In My Life
- River Deep, Mountain High
- Signed, Sealed, Delivered
Stevie Wonder tunes
Stevie Wonder is the legend whom most practising musicians come across and who has a life-changing impact on them.
Stevie’s natural groove and ability to purely express music are untouched. His vocal phrasing and songwriting are second to none.
Stevie Wonder on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Sir Duke 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.
