Chord Voicings - "Figure Eight"

One of the best ways to get acquainted with your mountain dulcimer, diatonic or chromatic, is to figure out songs on them, trying as hard as you can to perfectly match the chords. As many dulcimer players well know, this can be pretty difficult with a diatonic dulcimer, as there are notes missing.

That's one of the reasons that I got into chromatic dulcimer - wanting to maintain a relative ease of play (the chord shapes for dd-A-D tuning are the same, you just have to adjust for an additional fret space here and there) but eager to perform and write songs without having to do a whole bunch of "leaving out" or "fudging" of chords. I'm currently working on a method book for the chromatic dulcimer which will include examples of how to discern not only standard chords (Majors, minors and sevenths) but also so-called "extension" or "color" chords (the term "chromatic" comes from the latin root "chroma" which means "color") like 6ths, 9ths, Major and minor sevenths, minor sixths, augmented, diminished, etc.

This is yet another very simple look at figuring out chords on chromatic dulcimer, in the same vein as our looks at "Wichita Lineman" and "Her Diamonds." Chords for both of those songs are readily available online as guitar tablature. Trouble with that is sometimes the author of the tab gets it wrong. Another problem with that is if it's anything more than chord symbols, you're going to have a time transposing guitar tablature to dulcimer tablature due to the different tuning. One of the best reasons for coming up with your own chord charts, lead sheets and tab is that if you trust your ear, you're bound to come up with the truest version of a tune that anyone could find.

That certainly goes for this tune, beloved by many, which has haunted me ever since early childhood. "Figure Eight" is the somewhat dark and classical ditty that has helped millions of kids learn their 8 timetables through that bastion of whimsical and entertaining education "Schoolhouse Rock!" "Figure Eight" and "Little Twelvetoes" were two of my favorite songs due to their complex chords, beguiling melodies and nifty arrangements. As I learned while sussing out the chords for "Figure Eight", this tune's a real workout when it comes to the changes.

Figure Eight
Music and Lyrics by Bob Dorough


Cm                        C#
Figure eight as double four,
          G                Cm

Figure four as half of eight.
                               C#

If you skate, you would be great
              G               Cm 

If you could make a figure eight

           Fm               G             Cm 

That's a circle that turns 'round upon itself.

Cm                            C#
One times eight is two times four.

           G                 Cm

Four times four is two times eight.

                       C#
If you skate upon thin ice,
 
         G                   Cm  
You'd be wise if you thought twice

Fm              G              Cm
Before you made another single move.


C                  G/B   Gm/Bb               F/A
One times eight is eight, two times eight is 16,
Fm/Ab               C/G  Am6/F#              Fm6

Three times eight is 24, four times eight is 32,
    C/E        Cdim    Dm7  G    C

And five times eight is 40, you know.

C                  G/B Gm/Bb                F/A
Six times eight is 48, seven times eight is 56,
Fm/Ab               C/G  Am6/F#              Fm6

Eight times eight is 64, nine times eight is 72,

    C/E        Cdim    Dm7  G    C

And ten times eight is 80, that's true.

Em                     F      D7/F#                 G
Eleven times eight is 88, and twelve times eight is 96.
               D   

Now, here's a chance to get off
         G    
On your new math tricks.
           D          

'Cause twelve times eight is the same as
 
           G
Ten times eight plus two times eight

                  G7

80 plus 16 ... ninety-six!

C                  G/B   Gm/Bb               F/A
One times eight is eight, two times eight is 16,
Fm/Ab               C/G  Am6/F#              Fm6

Three times eight is 24, four times eight is 32,
    C/E        Cdim    Dm7  G    C

And five times eight is 40, you know.

Cm                        C#
Figure eight as double four,
          G                Cm

Figure four as half of eight.
                               C#

If you skate, you would be great
              G               Cm 

If you could make a figure eight
           Fm               G             Cm 

That's a circle that turns 'round upon itself.
  
Ab                                        Fm           C
Place it on its side and it's a symbol meaning         Infinity...

As with the other two songs (and many other arrangements you'll want to explore), one of the most memorable aspects of this tune is its descending bass line that runs through all of the chords in the chorus. Starting with the root note "C" at the bass of a C Major chord, the descending notes are:

C - B - Bb - A - Ab - G - Gb - F - E - Eb - D and then a resolution with the chords entering G and then C.

The trick in listening to the tune (no tablature for this tune on the web, at least not where I looked) and figuring out the chords is to maintain that bass line structure or the song just doesn't sound the same. I've done the hard work - now can you figure out how to play these chords? Can you see the pattern? Can you discover which inversion you would need in order to play these chords so that they sound correct?

Let's revisit the concept behind inversions or "slash chords":

A basic 1-3-5 or 1-b3-5 chord is going to have the root note on the bottom, the middle note in the middle and the fifth at the end or top. Using different chord voicings can change the fundamental sound of a chord, even though it uses the same notes, by rearranging the order of the notes. For example, changing the order of notes so that the third is on the bottom, acting as the bass or root - it becomes a first inversion.

So, a C major chord: C - E - G would become E - C - G.

Now, make the fifth the bottom or root note, and you have a second inversion.

G - C - E

When you write out a chord symbol for an inversion, it's often called a "slash chord." You'll see the chord symbol and then a slash and then another note. The note after the slash indicates that this is what the root or bass note should be. So, a first inversion C chord would look like this: C/E

A second inversion C chord would read: C/G


Here below are some chromatic chord shape charts. What I've done here is simply laid out the shapes for chords coming out of the key of D. By moving these shapes up and down the fretboard, paying close attention to the location of the root, you can play in any key. I keep the chromatic tuned to dd-A-D for the time being.

If you haven't already, it's a good idea to learn where all of your notes are on the fretboard. Once you've got that and the fundamental chord shapes, you can play anything!

A key to reading these charts, if you're not familiar with them. First, the number on the left side represents the fret number that it's sitting next to. For this purpose, I'm counting frets like a guitar, numbering 1-12 for an octave, no half-frets here. The numbers on the notes themselves reflect the scale degree of the note (R = root, b3 = flat or minor third, etc.) Sometimes you'll see a chord shape that doesn't include the root, in which case there's normally a trick to suss out what the root is (in the case of the minor 6th, it's three frets up from the "6th" note.)

Have fun!