1. Black Magic Woman Chords Video Lesson
2. Black Magic Woman Chords Fleetwood Mac

Santana Black Magic Woman Guitar Chord Lesson. Learn the Barre Chords that make this great song! Get a FREE Ebook and more - Start a FREE trial for the best Guitar Learning System. Black Magic Woman Chords Highlighted Show chords diagrams #-PLEASE NOTE-# #This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the # #song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research.

Yeah, yeah - I put it as a Santana song (it's a Fleetwood Mac song) because his version is more widely known! But I prefer the Fleetwood Mac one personally! :)

This is a Minor Blues and we'll be exploring more about soloing over Minor Blues progressions in a future lesson, this lesson is all about the chords and a couple of approaches to playing the rhythm part - you gotta know this before you think about taking solos! :)

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'Black Magic Woman' is a song written by British musician Peter Green, which first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1968, subsequently appearing on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums English Rose (US) and The Pious Bird of Good Omen (UK), as well as Vintage Years.^[1]

In 1970, it became a hit by Santana, as sung by Gregg Rolie, reaching No. 4 in the US and Canadian charts, after appearing on their Abraxas album.

The song was also covered by erstwhile Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch on his 2006 album His Fleetwood Mac Years and Beyond, Vol. 2. Although Welch was not a member of the group at the time of the original recording, he had performed a number of Peter Green's songs during his time with them.

• 1Fleetwood Mac version
• 2Santana version

Fleetwood Mac version[edit]

Although not as popular as Santana's arrangement two years later, 'Black Magic Woman' nevertheless became a fairly popular blues rock hit peaking at No. 37 in the UK Singles Chart. It was featured in Fleetwood Mac live set-lists even after Green had left the band when it was often sung by Danny Kirwan, and during concerts in the early 1970s it would form the basis for long mid-concert jams. The song has the same chord structure, guitar breaks, and even a similar melody to Green’s “I Loved Another Woman” from the band’s 1968 debut album, and may have evolved out of the earlier song.

Structure[edit]

Set in the key of D minor, the verse follows a twelve bar chord progression alternating between D minor⁷, A minor⁷, and G minor⁷, and the instrumentation consists of vocals, two guitars, bass guitar and drums. It is homophonic, the voice and lead guitar taking the lead roles. The song is set in common time (4/4), with the rhythm 'pushing' on the upbeat, then breaking into a shuffle beat root -chordjam after the final verse.^[2]

Black Magic Woman Chords Video Lesson

D minor ⁷ D minor ⁷ A minor ⁷ A minor ⁷ D minor ⁷ D minor ⁷ G minor ⁷ G minor ⁷ Dm ⁷ - C ⁷ Bb ⁷ - A ⁷ D minor ⁷ D minor ⁷

The original recording by Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featured guitars that were slightly below standard pitch. For most performances, it is played in standard. The D minor triad from the 17 fret is played out on one guitar, and a slide guitar playing the same chord is faded in over the top.^{[citation needed]}

Santana version[edit]

Background[edit]

Santana's version, recorded in 1970, is a medley with Gábor Szabó's 1966 instrumental 'Gypsy Queen', a mix of jazz, Hungarian folk and Latin rhythms. The song became one of Santana's staples and one of their biggest hits, with the single reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1971. Long time no siege. Abraxas reached number one on the charts and hit quadruple platinum in 1986, partially thanks to 'Black Magic Woman'.

'Gypsy Queen' was omitted from 1974's Santana's Greatest Hits album, even though radio stations usually play 'Black Magic Woman' and 'Gypsy Queen' as one song.

Structure[edit]

While the song follows the same general structure of Peter Green's version, also set in common time, in D minor and using the same melody and lyrics, it is considerably different, with a slightly altered chord pattern (Dm₇– Am₇–Dm₇–Gm₇–Dm₇–Am₇–Dm₇), occasionally mixing between the Dorian and Aeolian modes, especially in the song's intro. A curious blend of blues, rock, jazz, 3/2 afro-Cuban son clave, and 'Latin' polyrhythms, Santana's arrangement added conga, timbales and other percussion, in addition to organ and piano, to make complex polyrhythms that give the song a 'voodoo' feel distinct from the original.^[3]

Black Magic Woman Chords Fleetwood Mac

The introduction of the song, which was adapted from Szabó's 'Gypsy Queen', consists of simple hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides on the guitar and bass, before moving into the introductory guitar solo of 'Black Magic Woman.' After the introductory solo, which follows the same chord progression as the verse, the song moves into an eight-bar piano solo in D minor, and proceeds to two verses sung by keyboardist Gregg Rolie. Two verses of guitar solo follow the two sung verses, which are then succeeded by another verse, before moving into a modified version of the 'Gypsy Queen' section from the beginning of the song to end the piece.

There is also a single edit that runs for 3:15. On some radio versions, the piano solo is omitted, and 'Gypsy Queen' is sometimes omitted. Other longer versions have since been released, including one which runs for 8:56.

References[edit]

1. ^'Here's the 'Real' Fleetwood Mac Playing 'Black Magic Woman' in 1974'. Paste. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
2. ^'Black Magic Woman - Fleetwood Mac Song Info'. AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-05-15.
3. ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2005-11-27. Retrieved 2006-09-24.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)

External links[edit]

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics