Sparks chords

How to play Sparks

This Sparks chart uses standard tuning, capo 1 and C-family shapes, sounding in Db. It is a simplified accompaniment based on the chord changes in GuitarTuna’s easy version. The boxes give each chord a full 6/8 practice bar. They are exercises for the changes, rather than a transcription of every recording bar or Chris Martin’s original guitar voicings.

Choose the standard-tuning version

Keep the guitar at E–A–D–G–B–E for the diagrams and playback here. The shapes C and Am sound as Db and Bbm with capo 1. Removing the capo lowers the accompaniment one semitone, so it will no longer sit at the same pitch as this Db-centred version.

Carl Brown’s original-style Sparks lesson uses E–A–D–G–B–D and capo 6. That lowered first string is part of a different set of voicings. Moving the capo from 1 to 6 while retaining our shapes would raise everything five more semitones; it does not convert this chart into that guitar part. Choose one setup before starting.

Count six eighth notes in two groups

Count ONE-two-three FOUR-five-six, with one gentle downstroke at the start of each group. The six grid positions are eighth notes. Empty positions still take time: D . . D . . contains two attacks across the whole bar, not two consecutive quarter-note strums followed by a pause.

The section setting is quarter-note BPM 72. Three eighth notes last one dotted-quarter pulse, giving 48 of those pulses per minute. A full practice bar lasts two of them. Musicnotes’ piano/vocal/guitar edition specifies 6/8 and a dotted-quarter marking of 48; the player setting expresses that marking in its own quarter-note unit. Other versions may use another speed or grouping, so compare the beat unit as well as the number.

Keep D major and D minor distinct

Both appear in this simplified chart. The chorus-change exercise uses D major, while the verse-return exercise uses D minor. The printed D grip is x-x-0-2-3-2; Dm is x-x-0-2-3-1. The high E note changes from F# to F, and the fingers need repositioning. With capo 1 these chords sound as Eb major and Eb minor.

Start both sweeps on the fourth string. Letting the low E or A ring adds a different bass note. In the chorus exercise, also keep E major distinct from Am: E’s G# makes it a major chord, not another spelling of the A minor harmony. Practise each pair separately before connecting Am–E–Am–C–D–F.

Practise the Caug passing colour

The catalog Caug grip is x-3-2-1-1-0, compared with C at x-3-2-0-1-0. The open G moves to G# while C and E remain. In the shown fingering, the middle finger makes a small barre across G1 and B1; the ring finger holds D2 and the little finger holds A3. Keep the high E open and pluck each string to check that it rings.

At capo 1 the resulting chord is Dbaug. It differs from C major by its raised fifth, not by a change to a minor third. The later-verse exercise includes C–Am–Caug–C–Dm–C–C; isolate the Caug-to-C release if that change interrupts the pulse. The ending exercise returns to C after the C–Am alternation. Chord choices and the capo-1 setup follow GuitarTuna’s simplified Sparks chart; the even bar lengths here are for practice, not a complete song form.