Close To You chords

Helpful Tips: Chord Crazy (But Worth It!)

• Level Of Ease: Fairly Hard unless you are a competent player. Beginners may find this a little testing, but you will get there with time and practice... you may want to download the version without a key change (much easier).
• Beginners: The chords in G Major are all fairly easy. If you are playing with the video, you can stop it at the key change, place a Capo on the first fret, and continue to play in G Major. You will also need to press F# on the Transposer to see the chords in the key of G Major.
• Cadd9 is a C chord with an added 9th which in this case is an added D note which can also be written as C/9. The chord formula for an added 9 is 1 - 3 - 5 - 9 = C - E - G - D. This is not to be confused with C9 where the chord formula is 1 - 3 - 5 - ♭7 - 9 = C - E - G - B♭ - D, which can also be written as C7add9.
• The D♭/9 is a fairly hard chord with quite a stretch. It can be played several different ways. Because you have to play the D♭/9 and D♭ in quick succession, I have chosen the voicing above. Other voicings include x43141, x4314x, x4364x, 9-8-11-8-9-x, x-x-11-10-9-11 (this works well if you use the 'E'-shape barre chord starting on the 9th fret when you play D♭ - very easy transition from D♭ to D♭/9 - sounds a little high in pitch though, compared to the rest of the song.
• Gmaj7 can also be played like the A♭maj7, except that you play it one fret lower with the barre on the 3rd fret instead of the 4th fret... 354433 or you can play the classic 'let's do some stretching' xx5432.
• This song is well suited to piano players due to the rapid rate of chord changes in certain parts of the song.
• You don't have to play all the different G , A♭, and D♭ chord extensions. You can just play a straight G chord over the Gmaj7, and an A♭ chord over the A♭maj7 and A♭maj9 chords - same for D♭. However, if you can play all the chords, it does sound better.
• This song is not recommended for beginners as you will need to use several barre chords. Once you learn some barre chords, make sure you come back and give this song a go... once you master it, you'll be glad you did.
• If you are not sure of all the chords, make sure you spend time practicing them before you play the song. Listen to the song a few times and get a good 'feel' for it. When you are familiar with the tune and can play the chords smoothly with the minimum of fuss, you are good to go.
• If you use the Transposer and try some different keys, you may find that if you come back to G Major, all the Db chords are now C# chords. They are simply enharmonic equivalents - they are still the same chord. If you prefer to view the Db chords which are relevant to the chord charts, simply refresh the page.
• This is the type of song that requires effort, and once you have mastered it, you will start to play more and more challenging tunes which will take your playing to another level... then try the following:
  
  What A Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
  Copacabana - Barry Manilow
  Songbird - Eva Cassidy
  The Way We Were - Barbra Streisand

Song Details:

• Composer: Burt Bacharach
• Lyricist: Hal David
• Date: 1963
• Lyrics Begin: Why do birds suddenly appear ev'rytime you are near?
• Performing Artists: The Carpenters
• Single:
  Released: May 14, 1970
  B-side: I Kept on Lovin' You
• Genre: Easy listening, Soft pop
• Album: Close to You
  Released: August 21, 1970

The Carpenters

• Origin: Los Angeles, California, United States
• Line-up: Karen & Richard Carpenter (sister/brother duo)
• Active Years: 1969 – 83
• Music Styles: Pop, soft rock, adult contemporary
• Karen Carpenter: Born Karen Anne Carpenter on March 2nd, 1950 in New Haven, Connecticut, USA
• Died: February 4, 1983 (aged 32) in Downey, California, USA
• Cause of Death: Anorexia Nervosa (complications)
• Instruments: Drums, Percussion, Vocals
• Active Years: 1965 to 1983
• Music Genres: Soft Rock, Pop