The Chicken chords by Jaco Pastorius


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The Chicken | Chords


Intro/tag

||: Bb7 Eb7 :|| x4

Verse

| Bb7 (Em7b5 Dm7b5) | Bb7 | Bb7 | Bb7 |
| Eb7
(Am7b5 Gm7b5) | Eb7 | D7 | G7 |
| C7 | C7 | C7 | Bb
(minor pentatonic riff) |


The Chicken Chords: Learn the progressions


To spice the chords up, you can add sliding m7b5 substitutions, just like T-Bone Walker did on Call It Stormy Monday and Papa Ain’t Salty, a few decades earlier, and B.B. King with his Paying The Cost To Be The Boss around the same time.

First, picture the dom7 chord you want to substitute, then start your m7b5 chord on the 3rd.

If it’s a Bb7, start on the D. This creates a dom9 extension.

For even more spice, start a tone above, on an Em7b5, then slide down to the Dm7b5. Putting all notes in relation to the Bb, you’ve got yourself a Bb13b5 chord. All intervals played are as the diagram shows.

Root2/934b556/13b7root2/93
Bb7BbDFAb
Dm7b5DFAbC
Em7b5EGBbD

Here’s a chord chart you can bring to the gig or keep in your back pocket because you practised The Chicken’s chords so much already.


The Chicken chord chart.


The Chicken Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro


I could have made this chart easier to read by having bigger bars, but then it wouldn’t have fitted on one page. Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDFThe Chicken Chord Chart PDF.

This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file: The Chicken iReal Pro.

Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key, a great idea should you want to attempt this in all 12 keys!

For best results, record the chords to a loop pedal, then play the theme followed by a solo. When you feel good about it, change the key!



The Chicken is Jaco Pastorius’s signature song!

Initially written by Pee Wee Ellis, The Chicken was first released as a James Brown B-side in 1969 to his hit Popcorn.

Since the release, several cover versions have been recorded, first, by saxophonist Dave Liebman in 1977, under the name Chicken Soup.

Most notably, Jaco Pastorius (the self-proclaimed best bass player in the world) recorded a live version in 1983. This particular recording became so popular it turned The Chicken into a jazz/funk/fusion standard.

Being a standard, you must be able to play at least The Chicken’s chords, should the singer suddenly leave the stage and make the band play an instrumental.

Once you’ve done that a few times with a sax player taking the melody and solos, start with learning the melody, then move on to the solo!



The Chicken Chords | Related Pages


The Chicken | Guitar lesson + TAB

The Chicken TAB lesson.

Learn to play The Chicken by Jaco Pastorius and Pee Wee Ellis using TAB and chord analysis.

| Bb7 (Em7b5 Dm7b5) | Bb7 | Bb7 | Bb7 |
Instrumental.


Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics

When you can play The Chicken's chords, try these five tunes from the songbook.


Jaco Pastorius tunes

Jaco Pastorius recorded The Chicken.

The best bass player in the world, Jaco Pastorius started out with co-tutor Pat Matheny, releasing genre-defining albums in 1976.

His best-known tunes include The Chicken, Coyote, Bright Size Life, Birdland, and Donna Lee.


Jaco Pastorius on the web

Listen to Jaco Pastorius on Spotify.


James Brown tunes

James Brown was the first to release The Chicken.

The hardest working man in show business, the Godfather of Soul, Michael Jackson’s biggest influence – Mr. James Brown!

Biggest tunes include I Feel Good, Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag, It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World, Super Bad, and Living In America.


James Brown on the web

Listen to James Brown on Spotify.


About me | Dan Lundholm

Dan Lundholm wrote this guitar lesson about The Chicken chords.

This was a guitar lesson about The Chicken’s 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.


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