Tabs
Chain Lightning - Steely Dan
----------------------------
From the album Katy Lied
Transcribed by Howard Wright
[email protected]
This is yet another Steely Dan "blues with a twist" type of song.
Pretty simple - just one chord sequence that keeps repeating. The
nice thing about the chords is that the triads that are used are very
similar throughout - it's the use of different bass notes with the same
triads that defines the changes in harmony.
The rhythm guitar part basically follows what the vocals do. The only
difference is that the vocals use different inversions of the same
triads,
e.g when the guitar plays: [
A augmentedA 
C#C# 
F#F#] (xx767x)
the vocals have: [C#C# F#F# A augmentedA] (xxx675)
If you want to play the vocal harmony part on the guitar, just invert
the triads I've written out (i.e move the bottom note of the triad up
and octave so it's at the top).
There are short riffs that come between the triad patterns that sound
like they are played on the same guitar. For clarity, I've written these
riffs out as a separate guitar part, though it's not too hard to play
both parts together. The tablature above the lyrics is the main triad
ryhthm guitar part, the tablature underneath the lyrics has the connecting
riffs.
Just so it's clear what the bass part is doing, I've written out the main
bass notes in brackets in the rhythm guitar part.
You need to use short slides before a lot of the triads to get the
right phrasing - just follow what the vocals do. I've written out
the most obvious slides, but listen to the guitar and vocals on
the original to hear how this works.
Intro:
------
12th fret harmonic (top 
E MajorE string) on the first beat of the first full bar,
then guitar enters after 4 bars (keyboard vamps on 
A major 6A6 and 
A9A9).
E---12/-----------5--8--5-----8b9--------5---5---5---------------------
B---12/-------3/5--------------------3/5-------------------------------
G---12/------------------------------------8---7---4/6-----------------
D---11/----------------------------------------------------------------
A--------------------------------------------------------7-6-5-4-------
E----------------------------------------------------------------------
Verse 1:
--------
I've put the first two xx978x triad in brackets - they're cut short, and
you might want to leave them out all together.
A major 6A6 A9A9 A major 6A6 A9A9 A major 6A6 A9A9 A major 6A6 A9A9
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
B-----/7---5--7---(8)--7--/7---5------------/7--5--7---(8)--7---/7---5--
G-----/6---4--6---(7)--6--/6---4------------/6--4--6---(7)--6---/6---4--
D-----/7---5--7---(9)--7--/7---5------------/7--5--7---(9)--7---/7---5--
A-(0)-----------------------------------(0)-----------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Some turn out, a hundred grand. Get with it, we'll sh...
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G---------------------------------------2-------------------------------------2-
D-------------------------------------2--------------------------------------2--
A-------------------------------0-2/4-----0----------------------------0-2/4----
E-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D/C 
C majorC D/C G/C D/C 
C/DC/D D/G 
C/GC/G D/G 
G+G D/G C/GC/G
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------
B-----/7---5--7---8---7-/7---5---------/7----5--7----8---7-/7---5----------
G-----/7---5--7---7---7-/7---5---------/7----5--7----7---7-/7---5----------
D-----/7---5--7---9---7-/7---5---------/7----5--7----9---7-/7---5----------
A---3-----------------------(5)--------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------3-------------------------------------
Don't bother to understand, don't question the little man
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------
B--------------------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------------------2-----------------------------------------
D------------------------------4---4-5------------------------------5------
A---3------------------------------------------------------------/7---7-5--
E--------------------------------------------------------------------------
D MajorD C/DC/D D MajorD 
G/DG/D 
D/ED/E 
E6E6 
E9E9 E6E6
E-------------------------------------------------------------------
B-----/7---5--7---8---7-/7---5----3/5-------------------------------
G-----/7---5--7---7---7-/7---6----4/6-------------------------------
D-----/7---5--7---9---7-/7---6----4/6-------------------------------
A---5---------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------0---------------------------------------------
Be part of the brotherhood yes it's
A major 6A6 A9A9 A major 6A6 A major 6A6 A9A9
E---------------------------------------------------------
B------/7---5--7---(8)--/7--/7----5-----------------------
G------/6---4--6---(7)--/6--/6----4-----------------------
D------/7---5--7---(9)--/7--/7----5-----------------------
A---0-----------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------
chain lightning it feels so good
E-------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------------------------------2----------------
D------------------------------------------2------------------
A------------------------------------0-2/4-----0--------------
E-------------------------------------------------------------
Guitar Solo
-----------
Repeat the above sequence twice.
Brief pause on A augmentedA after solo and before 2nd verses starts.
Verse 2:
--------
Same sequence again (once).
Keyboard Solo/Outro
-------------------
Same again ...
Other versions of Chain Lightning
Alternative guitar chords and tabs for Chain Lightning by Steely Dan
| Version | Type |
|---|
| Chain lightning | Chords |
