I want to play this on the piano, but the recording I have (and I doubt there's a better one out there) is not the best quality, which makes it hard to really here the chords he is playing when he sings louder (especially the refrain). I do have the melody of his voice and all, but there are quite a few possibilities of diminished chords that would fit there, so I'd like to ask for you help or even if somebody actually has the chords somewhere...



It's in G#. "...space of time" is Bb minor, "we've lived..." is Bb minor/G and so on. The "I want to live my whole life..." part is Bb minor, Bb/D, F-C/E and it ends on G# again.


But the chords to the refrain I can't make out. Why does that fucker have to sing so loudly?


And why didn't he release that brilliant song anyway?

Very disappointing.




I expect "Prince: Music and More" to be rather about his music mainly, great moments, discussing sounds, chord progressions, melodies, ways to play an instrument/sing to sound like him, instead of talking about how much Tame wants to marry him.

I feel you Dave, I often try to start thought-provoking threads only to have them threadjacked into hater or gossip sessions. The chords to grand progression are something I've been meaning to sit down and work out for a while now. Since I now know I am not alone, I will make an attempt to work em out in the next day or so.

Stay tuned...

Cheers.

Hopefully I'll have more time tomorrow, so I'll work on them too.

Great song! I hope you get it worked out. It would be well worth the trouble.

Okay,

Here's what I think is going on. The real clues are near the end of the song when the piano fills give you chord tones, and the synth arpeggiates those diminished chords. Give up your secrets Prince!

Intro:
|Ab | | Ab/C | Ab |

Verse:
|Ab |Bb- |Bb-/G |Ab Ab7|
|Bb- Bb/D |FMaj+11|Ab | |

Chorus:
|E+ Bbo|C7b9 |F- |G-7b5 |
|D+ C/E|Bb+ G7b9|C- |Ao Abo Go Eb7|

Deliberated long and hard over the second line of the chorus... during the second chorus you can hear what sounds like a bass or electric piano playing that root movement up thirds D, F#, Bb. But if you emphasise those notes in the bass every time it seems a little wrong. My original idea was |Eo C/E|F#7b5 G7b9|.
Even tho that synth/bass plays an F# somewhere in that C/E chord, it sounded better somehow than any alternatives I could think of, so I have left it as C/E. The G7b9 (basically a Bbo with a C in the bass) resolves nicely into the
C-.

Also, in Bar 6 of the Verse, I'm pretty sure it's an Fmaj7+11, rather than a C/E, mainly because the bass note seems to stay the same, then the piano and synth can be heard playing a playing a B on beat 3.

Incidentally, that movement in major thirds I mentioned was what Coltrane was getting at in his compositions like Giant Steps. He believed that subdividing the octave into equal thirds represented the holy trinity. That's why, for example when playing in C, he would quickly modulate from C to E major to Ab Major and back to C. Eric musta been teaching Prince some jazz thinking!

Well, that's my theory. Feel free to dispute or discuss!
[Edited 3/21/10 17:30pm]

Oh, and BTW, if any of you read those chords I worked out, you owe me $77.

Dave1992 said:

There's quite a clear version on Pure Funk's '30 Years of Unreleased Funk'.

For some weird reason, it's both on Vols. II and III.

vitriol said:

Mine is from deposition. It wont play anymore for dl though. Help somebody please.

vitriol said:

Yeah, that's the one I used as reference.

PM me if u want the score, I have it...sorry my mistake i have venus de milo not grand..do u still want it??
[Edited 3/22/10 4:31am]

This what I have so far:



Ab Bbm7
Can it be in this seemingly short space of time?
Bb/G Ab
We've lived a year or 2 inside our minds
F7 Bbm Bb/D F C/F
Now I want to whisper in your ear
Ab
That you're okay

...
If love were gold then I would be fixed for life
...
If I was a star, then baby, you would be the night
...
And I want to live my whole life through
Ab/Eb Ab Abmaj7
Inside of you


E+ C7/E C7/E Bbo/E
Darling, it seems I've found the grand progression
Fm7 Edim/B
Whenever I'm in your arms
F#7 F#7flat5
From July until June, ...




Didn't get much further, 'cause I didn't have much time...

I think you should try asking for pics of the back of Prince's knee.

So true, though.

Dave1992, if I'm not mistaken, if you pause the scene in GB when Prince steals Aura and she's looking through his music, Grand Progression has the notes written down pretty clear. I will check it out cause my dvd player has a zoom button as should most other players.

joyinrepetition said:

You are mistaken JIR, but there's a deeper conspiracy at work here! Check this out!
http://prince.org/msg/7/333023

That's odd since newer bootlegs have remastered versions. At least remastered from a bootleg perspective..lol

.
[Edited 3/24/10 10:14am]

Hope u get it done soon man, post it on facebook ( but be carefull), or whatever, id love to hear it! Its one of my all time Prince tracks.

Dave1992 said:

Dave, most the music talk goes on at the chords site, usually just get dumb answers here

http://prince.forum9.biz

Nice thread, and I like the chord progressions.
I don't know the song so I'll have to find it and learn it.
thanks.