How to Play Green Onions on an Organ

[Niles169]

Very good example of the technique.

[iLLBiLLsRoastBeats]

Righteous, Man!!!!

[kewlzo]

good playing? THIS IS EPIC!!!



[MaxxximusMaxxximus]

it just sucks

[fordpickup41]

GROOVY!

[m74074]

"afilaor" = the man who sharpens knives while playing a flute whistle...

sorry by joke...XD

[m74074]

Los acordes pasan, pero con la melodía tienes menos ritmo que el "afilaor"

de mi barrio :)

Al menos tienes de bueno que te molestas en enseñar detenidamente lo que haces, pero te falla el compás.

[MrTrip49]

the intro is totally wrong. you are playing the right chords for the most part but the rhythm is way off.

[hugleberthumperdink]

@MrTrip49 Amen. I'm suprised not many others have noticed that... It really is off.

[Saphireblue261]

thankyou for uploading this i hav been looking all over for a tutorial on green onions, my dad wants me to play it for him. hehe. thankyou for thiss! im in the middle of learning it :) xxx

[iloverush123]

I love this cover...but you need a Hammond my friend. :)

[rayray2207]

@iloverush123 pretty sure that is a hammond. it's just not on the right settings

[jbest55]

i dont think that this is correct. unless you are doing a different version that booker t.

[gedibanez]

brilliant always wanted to learn this song now i can im off for a bit of prctce,thanks ill post vid eventually

[toddtvl]

Excellent job. You play this much better than me. Congrats on keeping great music from the 60s alive! Love this song.

[DreiHundertftw]

Step 1. Get an organ. Step 2. Become Booker T and the MGs.

Step 3. PROFIT

[learjeff1]

Feel free to delete my comment below; I musta been in a bad mood!

This is a good start on this tune. What's missing is they syncopated grace notes (if you want to call them that) on the right hand. Listen to the original, the thumb plays a real quick F just before the first two of the 3 chords in each F and Bb measure. For the C measure, I believe these grace notes are E then G (still the thumb). This helps develop the groove.

[cattymanly]

This is a terrific lesson. Scott The Piano Guy and Carol Kaye have great piano, bass and music theory lessons. I have a few YouTube pop-rock music lessons as well. It is great to learn from a variety of folks. You did a very nice job here.

[learjeff1]

Not quite how Booker T plays it. Left hand syncopation is missing; voicing isn't quite right. Close, though.

[bluesharpblep]

could someone tell me what the right hand chords are in tabs

the first 3 chords are an ( Fcf ),( G#c d#) and a( F a# d )? is this correct

and what are the other six chords? please tab them out like i did above please i am stuck!!!!

[freethoughtmusic]

Thanks for the video. Also I love your Rattus Norvegicus T shirt. That is a favourite album of mine.

[brice3011]

VERY nice!! Thanks for sharing

[DonaldFranklin67]

@nathk123 I bought a Yamaha YGP-535 keyboard, which is the closest thing I could get to a piano or organ, at what I could afford, being on Soc.Sec. & SSI. It has the standard 88-note keyboard. I have no experience in playing, either. I want to learn to play, also. This sounds, just as good as a Steinway, even better, and can do more. BTW, who sez an apartment dweller can't have a piano!

[houseofnightfan55]

i just got an organ cuz my aunt was gonna throw it away and i wanted a piano but i got an organ and i didnt think there was any coolish songs you could play on it but u proved me wrong XtopeS

[madpat50]

This is complete bullsheet.The sound is bad,the notes are 20% wrong!!!

If you want to teach, just learn before!!

[gilbert20]

@madpat50 Sad, but true!!! As usual, them that do----do. Them that can't--teach.

[richmondphotos]

If i could do that i would be in 7th heaven (whatever that means)

[Th3Ch3m157]

thank you very much! this is very helpful for what im attempting to do, this is on my top 10 list of perfect music, i simply love the organ! if you where to have the program(which i dont know what its called) but have a ghost organ play it out, b/c your fingers are in the way! lol, or maybe i should learn how to read music.. with my tiny knowledge of reading and writing music. i usually just got off of ear, but this tune seems very complicated! thnx for upload fav'd it!

[bid84]

thanks very much for tutorial! been at it for a while now and i'm getting there, have intro sorted but finding it hard to play melody and base notes at the same time, anyways much appreciated and nice organ ya got there,

[jimjim442]

what would the single notes be for an alto sax?

[jimjim442]

would these notes work on an alto sax?

[SVWillmer]

In the left hand single finger chords it sounds different to the bass guitar. As in the notes are futhur distanced... I am confused, is this a variant you have made yourself?

[cciemail]

this is maybe the right chords. but that's not how it's played.

[TheMojo3011]

Im startin a funk band with my buddies and i gotta learn this...you saved our band bro thanks!

[skkiittllezz]

to me it seems like your missing a note but maybe it's just me

[IneedMoneyHoney]

just respect ! youre amazing dude!

[QTwackoJ]

DAMN!!! That's some grooooooooovy shit, and I like it man !

[pinetoppedro]

Great video. You're a good tutor, and I like your comments at the end. 5*

[adamk270]

You can't buy the groove

[crockzy91]

yeah this version isn't even any easier it just sounds amateurish like you can't play different timings with each but never the less you can get the basic idea

[ramiejose]

cool

[ramiejose]

cool

[scheelman]

pretty awesome, 5 stars!

[minter011]

your not playin it right, the part thats supposed to b playyed by the bass is supposed to be 2 quarter notes of the same note ive learned to play a D the another quarter (F) then a eighth urs sounds off an a person who plays this every day hinthint nudgenudge can tell the difference

[soulrongang]

You can see exactly how Booker T Jones does Green Onions, his composition, in the video section of Keyboard Magazine's website - highly recommended to anybody who wants to get this right.

[Charl8DK]

Thanks for this :) im very close to be able to play it all after one day of intense practicing!

[nathk123]

I bought an organ yesterday,

i have no experiene in playing,

but i have to learn this,

i will. i must.

IT IS DESTINY

[phil698red]

Right or wrong its close enough for me and I'm going to have a go...when the Mrs stops giving me lists of things to do and the new baby stops demanding attention and I move the organ back upstairs nearer the computer of course. Thanks for putting this up its just right for me.

[djjayc1]

Does anyone know the key note for this?

[DrOetker14]

the bassline is supposed to come in earlier than the right hand but still..sweeet

[DANGQUOCNGUYEN]

thanks a ton!

[MRbonerproductions]

you r awsome.

[scarbouroughboys]

Yeah! Now I can play green oinions!

Slightly!

[collieman5]

Wish I could play like you.  I tried for 40 years to play the organ but just couldn't do it. You are great!! Thanks for sharing.

[XtopheS]

New video is made, just need to pop in on my computer, ...

with some luck somewhere next week.

thanx for all the feedback.

[gilbert20]

@XtopheS Excuse me, can you tell me why you chose to play this in the key of F instead of the original G?

[Belchmaster41]

@gilbert20 are you sure the song was originally done in G?

[gilbert20]

@Belchmaster41 You know, after checking an old kinescope of Booker T, I did see him playing in F. It's funny, because on another TV show, he was definitely playing in G. Go figure. And thanks for keeping it honest.

[Belchmaster41]

@gilbert20 it is what it is :)

[jtwoods41978]

try using a hammond organ patch on your keyboard. will sound a little closer to the real sound. Booker T was playing a hammond M3

[cky12qxz]

B3 not M3

[Highflyer1971]

no offence, but it doesnt sound much like how its meant to be played, sounds like but not its like, and I expected a choir to pop in at any time.

[hippiechick10113]

too bad your hand was in the way and couldnt see have the keys you were playing

[cky12qxz]

It's wrong so why try to learn it.

[johnnyostrawb33ry]

it would sound way better on a hammond and not on a pipe organ sound no offense.

[waziammm]

nice vid, but its a bit confusing having the camera where it is. It should be from the perspective of the player so the keys aren't backwards for the viewers

[hungrydave1977]

no, the first chord is on just the second beat not on beats one and two. Also use the quaver pick up in left hand - |: dum dum dum dum - d :|

1 2 3 4 (and) 1 2 3 4 (and) etc

[allusernamesweretake]

good playing but it does sound like a church organ

[MrXY45]

i liked everything about it except the feeling. the organ sounds very well and the track in the background is good too but your playing sounds kinda like a MIDI-file.... get a bit more ease into it and it'd be perfect!

[djkopel]

thank you for slowing it down and really showing how to play it,,,

[KeyboardGez]

Hey That's great. I'm gunna learn that and play it on my wurlitzer. Gunna sound awesome hehe!

[zepfan5486]

where is the feeling? the song isn't straight 4s.....bass playing in the left hand is just as important as hitting the chords...good effort though....

[organman2dave]

Great stuff! Thanxs for putting this on U-tube! I've listened to the music for years and just couldn't seperate it out, you've done a brill job here, it's a great help to see it actually played like this! Thanx

[pman668899]

can you please give me the sheet music thnks

[misvans]

hey bro can you give the tabs please?

[techsl12102]

Tuuuuune! Fantatic! Thank you! Sounds like me in my parents house 2 years ago! lol!

[ReDRuM868]

Well played but the sound your using sounds like a baseball park organ.

[XtopheS]

I will take this in consideration thnx next tile I will change sound. :-)

[ORUPRANKSTAZ]

Indeed. This was played on the ultra-famous Hammond B3. Also, try not to make it sound so quantized. It's supposed to be loose and free. Feel the organ...

Great video though!

[jritschard]

This song was famous for being played on the M3. Booker t played on that organ.. not the B3

[notraep]

i think it was the other way round

[jritschard]

look it up on wikipedia... booker t recorded that song on a m3 with a external leslie... do your research

[sammyshoeshine]

Well played, Do you read music? Or learn to play by ear?

[XtopheS]

No, I don't read music when learning new songs.

Though I have some very basic skills is music reading, which I learned from playing it first, and correcting it later on. :)

Playing the first chord twice, is what is mentioned in the sheet music.

[XtopheS]

Hue, ....

Only standard Drums and Rithms, nothing programmed at all, even the BASS is played manually on the pedals.

Once I master the second part in the variant well enough I will put it online, perhaps this will suit you better, and is also closer to the original though playing it as good as this one will be difficult.

If the weather is bad this weekend, I will try to finalize, otherwise later on

/Xtophe

[XtopheS]

Mainly by ear, ... , reading music is not my strongest point at all, I never followed any music reading lessons.

[ORUPRANKSTAZ]

It sounds quantized.. TOO perfect.. the whole charm of the song lies in its humanness... its devotion to a swung beat and imperfection.

[cmyersguy]

This tutorial is great. However, I suggest you listen to the song a slight bit more, because while the chords are right, you are playing the right hand rhythm wrong. For instance, at the very beginning of the song, you play that first right hand chord twice each time, but it is only played once.

[XtopheS]

I know, this is what will be in the variant, ..., also the left hand will change to have the correct sound

[XtopheS]

I'm working on an variant, which resembles much the first original radio version.

Chords on lower manual, and chord accents on the upper manual are slightly different. will post this in somewhere in two weeks from now.

/Xtophe

[chentebi3]

thanksssssssssss

[luiscarloseiras]

Thanks a lot!!

[main3ventx92]

thank you sooooo much

[boomboomdrums]

Very nice. I've been wanting to learn this song for a long time. Figured it wasn't very hard and even tried to figure it out a few times with no success. Thanks for showing all the parts slow. I think i might even be able to learn this now. Off to the woodshed ...

[XtopheS]

you're welcome

[JTcheatwood]

Thank you for posting this video. It was very helpful!