Try A Little Tenderness

Words & Music by Harry Woods, Jimmy Campbell & Reg Connelly
Recorded by Bing Crosby, 1933


A           F#m      D9          E7
She may be weary -- women do get weary

 A         C#m7-5        F#7  
Wearing the same shabby dress.

D9             E7/6   E7 D9    Bm7-5  Cdim  E7     A   F#m D9 Dm6  E7
And when she's wear - y, try a little ten - der - ness.


A             F#m       D9       Dm6       Cdim  E7
You know she's waiting, just an - ti - ci - pa - ting

A             C#m7-5    F#7  Gdim  F#7
Things she may never possess;

Bm           Bm/A         D9    Bm7-5  Cdim  E7     A   D9 BbM7 A A7
While she's without them, try a little ten - der - ness.



Bridge:

     D       Fdim        C#7
It's not just sen - ti - men - tal,

F#m         Bm7       F#m
She has her grief and care,

       D          Cdim      F#7
And a word that's soft and gentle,

         B7       Cdim B7  E7
Makes it ea - si - er  to bear.


A   G#m     F#m         D9    Dm6       Cdim Bb9
You won't regret it -- women don't for - get it;

A   Cdim     C#m7-5 Bm7-5       F#7  Gdim  F#7
Love is their whole  hap - pi - ness.

Bm  Bm7-5   E7/6 E7    D9    Bm7-5  Cdim  E7     A   D9 BbM7 A6
It's all so ea - sy -- try a little ten - der - ness.


This one's an experiment in basic improvization. The three verses are not played identically, yet each plays quite comfortably with the melody. One of the great things about playing this kind of music is that you can simplify or elaborate, depending on your mood at the moment.

The basics of chord substitution are discussed at length at Reed Kotler's excellent site, www.justjazz.com



 
The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.