Below is a breakdown of Chuck Berrey’s Jonny B Goode, it shows the section name and number of bars.
Section No. of Bars
Guitar intro 4
Intro 8
1st Verse 12
Chorus 12
2nd Verse 12
Chorus 12
Guitar Break 4
Guitar Solo 8
Guitar Break 4
Guitar Solo 8
3rd Verse 12
Chorus 12
This weeks “Track of the week” is Jonny B Goode by Chuck Berry, this has to be one of my all time favourite songs. So let me tell you something interesting. I’m afraid some of you who haven’t been learning for long won’t understand this, but I feel compelled to say it anyway. If you listen to the drums, they’re played swung, but if you listen to the guitar, it’s straight. This creates a very interesting sound and is why it doesn’t quite sound right when people try to cover it. The reason for the swung drums and straight guitar is because it was a pioneering song. At the time when it came out everything around was born from jazz, everything was played swung and so the drummer knew no different. However the guitarist heard his part differently, he heard it played straight. So the two played alongside each other in the same song with two different “feels” going on. Have a listen and hear it for yourself, see if you can cover it properly, it’s good fun to try!
