Nobody Knows You When
You’re Down And Out
Very Traditional Blues song in an old
style. Will do as a blues and give you
an indication of chord melody and then
go beyond blues. Start of a chord
melody and Chet Atkins Styles – F.
Markovich
Start with the chords
• Do them in 1st position.
• Get the exact voicings down. Voicing is the
order of notes and how they work together. For
example, a major or minor chord has 3 different
notes. A C major is C, E and G notes. The
order of notes is a voicing: you could have C, E,
G, or E, C, G or C, G, E etc. While all of those
would be C chords they would sound a little
different from each other due to the order of the
notes from high to low.
Nobody Knows You When Your Down And
Out Chords
1
Dm
A
E7
C
1
2
1
2
2
3
1
2
3
4
4
0
A7
0
0
0
F#dim
0
F
T
2
2
3
2
1
1
0
D7
1
3
3
1
2
3
0 0
0
0
G7
Ab7
1 1
1 1
3
1
1
2
1 1
1
1
2
3
1 1
4
Get these down
before moving
on.
NOBODY KNOWS YOU WHEN YOUR DOWN AND OUT
C
E7
A7
Once I lived the life of a millionaire
Dm
A7
Dm A7 Dm
Spent all my money (lord) and I didn't care
F
F#dim7
C
(E7)
A7
Taking my friends out for a mighty good time
D7
Ab7
G7
Drinking fancy liquor, champagne and wine
C
E7
A7
But then I began to fall so low
Dm
A7
Dm
A7
Dm
I didn't have a dollar, I had no place to go
F
F#dim7
C (E7)
A7
Well if I get my hands on a dollar again
D7
G7
C
I will squeeze it so hard that the eagle grins
Nobody knows you
When your down and out my friend
In my pocket I havent got a pennie
And as for friends I ain't got to many
But when I get back on my feet again
Everybody wants to be my long lost friend
It's mighty strange with out any doubt
Nobody Knows you when your down and out
Now the whole thing
Now play the chord and melody
• Play the chords as ½ notes with the
melody on as the highest pitch.
• This is like playing an outline of the song!
• Talk it slow and do one part at a time.
Put page 1 to
memory. Page 2
starts the same
but the last
couple of
measures are
different.
See the minor differences. Mainly the last measure!
Memorize this
• Next we will add in alternating bass.
• This will get you close to a Chet Atkins Style
Arrangement.
• The key is holding the chords and doing an
alternating bass (well most of the time).
• The bass will almost always start on the root of
the chord! The next note will be the 5th or the 3rd
degree of the chord.
• Remember to hold the chord down as you play
the tune.
• Melody is with the index or middle finger.
Start on the C Chord get the move from C to E7. Note the bass movement
See if you can add to this
• Start by syncopating some of the notes. I will
give you examples.
• If you are advanced, try to take this and move it
up the neck.
• Take it slowly as it isn’t easy.
• Realize that once you are done you will have a
full piece that you can play for others that they
will recognize.
• Now tell a story about the piece. This is a
tradition!