All Night Long | TAB
This isn’t a guitar song in the obvious sense — there are no fixed riffs to copy. Instead we study what’s happening harmonically and find improvised parts that sit with the band.
For the TAB lesson, I’ve written a bunch of parts I like and develop as I play them. Here’s the intro — try adding modulation effects and delays to make it more “floaty”.
Intro
This isn’t a strict quarter-note triplet because the last note bleeds into beats 3 and 4. Play along with Lionel to get the feel right.
Verse
I love playing this section — once you get into it there are lots of shapes to discover. Here’s one way you could play it, using quarter-note triplets.
Here’s another approach:
Start moving around the neck (not easy in this key) and see how many more variations you can invent for these chords.
Chorus
The same concept applies to the chorus: find different voicings and adapt to what the rest of the band is doing. On the record there are steel-pan drums — I doubt you have those in your band!
Here’s a simple starting point. Notice we play Ab → Ab6 to set it up, then move to Db or Dbmaj7 because the bass moves to Db once the chorus starts.
There is a guitar part on the recording; it goes like this:
I like that part, but without all the studio production it can sound thin, so I kept the rhythm and altered the notes slightly:
Middle 8
The big moment in this tune is the horn riffs — I transcribed them:
The final line of my arrangement is my own idea (it’s not on the record). The real question is: what will you play?
Return to the chords lesson and, using the chord chart, try lots of different ideas!
All Night Long Backing Tracks + TAB | Related Pages
All Night Long | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn how to play All Night Long by Lionel Richie using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Absus2 Ab | Gbsus2 Gb | Bbm | Ab |
Well, my friends, the time has come, to raise the roof and have some fun…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
