Chords for When Sting Sat On The Piano

Tempo:
113.3 bpm
Chords used:

Gm

F#

G#

D#m

G

Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
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When Sting Sat On The Piano chords
Start Jamming...
Hi everybody, welcome to Amy Nolte Music.
Did you know that at the beginning of the Police's Roxanne cut,
right at the beginning there's this strange piano cluster that doesn't fit at all,
but it sounds really cool.
Have you ever wondered what that is?
We're going to talk about that today.
Somebody wrote to me and actually told me that they heard that Sting fell on the piano
or sat on the piano and created this cluster of atonal sounding kind of notes
right at the introduction to Roxanne.
So I hadn't noticed it before and I went and listened.
[Gm]
[N] I found an interview where Sting clears it up.
He says,
I was just about to sing the first line of this celebrated song
when I noticed there was an upright piano next to the microphone.
I was feeling tired.
I'd been up all night for some reason, so I just sort of sat down.
I thought the piano lid was closed, but it was open.
So I wound up playing this incredible chord with my, um, buttocks.
It was this atonal sort of cluster that really went nicely against the chords we were playing.
We thought it was funny, so we left it in.
So I went and listened to the track a whole bunch of times.
I just put it on a loop the first five seconds.
It happens around four seconds.
And let's hear what it sounds like.
[Gm] I
[C] could definitely hear three distinct notes just from listening to the recording on a loop like this.
But I could tell that there was probably one more note.
So I slowed down the track to a quarter of the speed.
And I think I've come up with what the chord actually is.
[Gm] Let's hear it.
[F#] [G]
[D#] [Gm]
[F#] [G]
[G#] So the first note that I could hear for sure was this one.
Woo.
Action.
[C#] The second note that I could hear for sure was a fourth lower than that.
Woo.
C sharp.
Woo.
You could hear those together very clearly.
[F#]
[A#m] The third note was a little bit tougher to hear, but it's a B flat.
Woo.
Woo.
Let's listen [C#] back and see if you can hear those three notes.
Woo.
[Gm] Woo.
Woo.
[F#] [G]
[D#m] [Gm] Now that chord is a G flat major chord or an F sharp major chord.
The chord that they're playing on Roxanne is G minor [Dm]
or [N] G minor 7.
So a G flat major chord or an F sharp major chord against that G minor chord sounds, you know, like it doesn't belong,
which is what Sting dug about it, I guess.
But there also sounds like there's a little bit more dissonance in the chord.
So I listened a few more times until I determined, well, I mean, actually what I decided was if I'm going to figure out the other note,
the fourth note, I'm going to need to do like a little science experiment.
[F#] [G#]
[C#] [A]
Well, [C] all right.
So my butt isn't as tight as Sting's butt apparently.
It's like it's not.
But [F#] really, if you're going to sit on a piano and you're going to hit these three notes,
[D#m] there's pretty much no way that you can avoid also hitting an E flat.
So, I mean, just by a little scientific deduction, we determined that this is the chord.
[F#]
[D#m] This chord on its own, easy peasy.
G flat major 6.
[D#] Go back and listen.
Hum this note.
[G#]
It's very hard to hum that note while you listen to this.
[Gm] To hear all of those notes and then to actually hear the [G#] E flat in there, it's not easy.
But you get it right in your head.
[Gm]
And then you listen to [F#] it.
It's [Gm] just barely in there.
I'm pretty sure that's what it is.
[D#m] So that's what it is.
I mean, it's a G flat major chord in first inversion,
[N] which I'm sure is exactly what Sting meant to do with his left butt cheek, right?
Heck yeah.
And the only name for this chord, I think, is a slash chord.
We've got G minor 7 on the bottom, G flat 6 on the top.
And that's what we're going to call it.
At any rate, it's a pretty cool sounding chord.
I think that Sting has not only a tight buttocks, but a talented buttocks as well.
And I'm just going to give that behind of his all the credit for those notes over that intro on the amazing song Roxanne.
I hope you've enjoyed this.
Tell me about any happy mistakes you have ever experienced in your recordings.
I'm sure you've got some of them.
I'll see you next time on
Key:  
Gm
123111113
F#
134211112
G#
134211114
D#m
13421116
G
2131
Gm
123111113
F#
134211112
G#
134211114
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Hi everybody, welcome to Amy Nolte Music.
Did you know that at the beginning of the Police's _ Roxanne cut,
right at the beginning there's this strange piano cluster that doesn't fit at all,
but it sounds really cool.
Have you ever wondered what that is?
We're going to talk about that today.
Somebody wrote to me and actually told me that they heard that Sting fell on the piano
or sat on the piano and created this cluster of atonal sounding kind of notes
right at the introduction to Roxanne.
So I hadn't noticed it before and I went and listened. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ [Gm] _
_ [N] I found an interview where Sting clears it up.
He says,
I was just about to sing the first line of this celebrated song
when I noticed there was an upright piano next to the microphone.
I was feeling tired.
I'd been up all night for some reason, so I just sort of sat down.
I thought the piano lid was closed, but it was open.
So I wound up playing this incredible chord with my, um, buttocks.
It was this atonal sort of cluster that really went nicely against the chords we were playing.
We thought it was funny, so we left it in.
So I went and listened to the track a whole bunch of times.
I just put it on a loop the first five seconds.
It happens around four seconds.
And let's hear what it sounds like.
[Gm] I _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ could definitely hear three distinct notes just from listening to the recording on a loop like this.
But I could tell that there was probably one more note.
So I slowed down the track to a quarter of the speed.
And I think I've come up with what the chord actually is.
[Gm] Let's hear it. _ _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
[D#] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
[G#] _ _ So the first note that I could hear for sure was this one.
Woo.
_ _ Action. _ _
_ [C#] The second note that I could hear for sure was a fourth lower than that.
Woo.
_ C sharp. _ _
Woo.
You could hear those together very clearly.
[F#] _ _
[A#m] The third note was a little bit tougher to hear, but it's a B flat.
Woo. _ _ _ _ _ _
Woo.
Let's listen [C#] back and see if you can hear those three notes.
Woo.
[Gm] Woo.
Woo. _ _ _ _
_ [F#] _ _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
[D#m] _ _ [Gm] _ Now that chord is a G flat major chord or an F sharp major chord.
The chord that they're playing on Roxanne is G minor _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ or [N] G minor 7.
So a G flat major chord or an F sharp major chord against that G minor chord sounds, you know, like it doesn't belong,
which is what Sting dug about it, I guess.
But there also sounds like there's a little bit more dissonance in the chord.
So I listened a few more times until I determined, well, I mean, actually what I decided was if I'm going to figure out the other note,
the fourth note, I'm going to need to do like a little science experiment.
_ _ _ [F#] _ _ [G#] _
_ [C#] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Well, [C] all right.
So my butt isn't as tight as Sting's butt apparently.
It's like it's not.
But _ [F#] really, if you're going to sit on a piano and you're going to hit these three notes,
[D#m] there's pretty much no way that you can avoid also hitting an E flat.
So, I mean, just by a little scientific deduction, we determined that this is the chord.
_ _ _ _ _ [F#] _
_ [D#m] _ _ _ This chord on its own, easy peasy.
G flat major 6.
[D#] Go back and listen.
Hum this note.
_ [G#]
It's very hard to hum that note while you listen to this.
[Gm] To hear all of those notes and then to actually hear the [G#] _ _ E flat in there, it's not easy.
But you get it right in your head.
_ [Gm] _
_ And then you listen to [F#] it.
_ It's [Gm] just barely in there.
I'm pretty sure that's what it is. _ _
_ _ _ _ [D#m] _ _ So that's what it is.
I mean, it's a G flat major chord in first inversion,
[N] which I'm sure is exactly what Sting meant to do with his left butt cheek, right?
_ Heck yeah.
And the only name for this chord, I think, is a slash chord.
We've got G minor 7 on the bottom, G flat 6 on the top.
And that's what we're going to call it.
At any rate, it's a pretty cool sounding chord.
I think that Sting has not only a tight buttocks, but a talented buttocks as well.
And I'm just going to give that _ behind of his all the credit for those notes over that intro on the amazing song Roxanne.
I hope you've enjoyed this.
Tell me about any happy mistakes you have ever experienced in your recordings.
I'm sure you've got some of them.
I'll see you next time on