Rory Gallagher - Whats Going On Chords & Tabs

Rory Gallagher / Taste - What's Going On

On the boards (1970)

h = hammer on
p = pull off
let ring ~ hold the note
:| = repeat


In this song licks and riffs often repeat during it and are sometimes played only
slightly different. 
If you are an more experienced guitarist or don't have much time just leave out the explanations.


The Intro:

In riff 1 you hold the 3(B string)  and the 2(G string) with your 
ringfinger and your forefinger. with your middlefinger you do the hammer ons and
pull offs (D string). you play the short riff 4 times then you play 2 times the D 
power chord (= D5).
You repeat this order 3 times. Then you play Lick 1 (practice!) and end it with a D chord.
 Listen to the song to get the right timing/rhythm/feeling...
       Riff 1                       D5           Lick 1                D
E|----------------------------------------[3x]|------------------------2-----------------|
B|---3 let ring----------------------3--3----o|------------------------3-----------------|
G|---2 let ring---play this 4times---2--2-----|--0-h2-p0---------------2-----------------|
D|---0-h2-p0-0-----------------------0--0-----|----------3-2-h3-p2-----0-----------------|
A|-------------------------------------------o|--------------------3---------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------|


Verse:

The verse begins with "Whats goin...". Guitar starts as Rory(or you) sings "on".
You play D , then A5(power chord = A5) , then Lick 2, then A5, then Lick 1 and D.
You repeat this then you play Lick 1 and D, then Lick 1 but instead of D you begin 
with the Bridge immediately.
If you know the song you won't have too many problems to memorize the order.
And listen to the song to get the rhythm of the D and the A5 chords.
    D              A5         Lick 2       A5           Lick 1               D
E|--2--2--2-2--2-------------------------------------------------------------2--[2x]|
B|--3--3--3-3--3---------------0-h2-p0---------------------------------------3-----o|
G|--2--2--2-2--2---2--2--2-2---------------2--2--2--2-2--0-h2-p0-------------2------| Lick1 + D ,
D|--0--0--0-0--0---2--2--2-2-----------3---2--0--0--0-0----------3-2-h3-p2---0------| Lick 1 +...
A|-----------------0--0--0-0---------------0--0--0--0-0--------------------3-------o|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|


 
Bridge:

The Bridge consists of 3 chords : Bb , C and D. You play these 3 Chords in sequence 4 times .
The first 2 times you only play some notes of the chords (Apreggio-like),
after this you strum the whole chords or parts of them. Listen to the song and read the tab 
to know what i mean. In this case the tab is only a rough suggestion of how the rhythm is played.
After the bridge the solo starts.



[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/r/rory_gallagher/whats_going_on_tab.html ]
   Bb      C        D              Bb    C          D              Bb      C       D
E|------------------------7--[2x]|-1-------3--3-------7-----7-7----1-------3-------5--------|
B|---3--------5------7---7-7----o|-3---3---5--5--5--7-7-----7-7----3-------5-------7--------|
G|------3------5-5----7-7---7----|-3---3---5--5--5--7-7-7-7-7-7----3-------5-------7--------|
D|--------------5------7---------|-3---3---5----5---7---7-7--------3-------5-------7--------|
A|-1---------3------5-----------o|-1-------3----3---5-----5--------1-------3-------5--------|
E|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|




Solo:

Rory plays the solo over the Bridge chords (Bb, C, D ). It would take me too long to tab the whole
solo, so just improvise or play the rhythm! The solo ends with a different riff 
(Bb5, C5, F5, E5, D5)
played by the solo guitar too.

Solo: the key is Dm!

Rhythm(Bridge chords): Bb  C  D (D)  repeat 8 times

Solo-ending Riff: 

  Bb5   C5  F5 E5 D5            Bb5   C5 F5 E5 D5
E|-------------------------[2x]|-------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------o|-------------------------------------------|
G|-3--3--5--10-9-7--7--7-7--7--|-3--3--5--10-9-7 let ring------------------|
D|-3--3--5--10-9-7--7--7-7--7--|-3--3--5--10-9-7 let ring------------------|
A|-1--1--3-- 8-7-5--5--5-5--5-o|-1--1--3-- 8-7-5 let ring------------------|
E|-----------------------------|-------------------------------------------|




Intro:
       Riff 1                       D5           Lick 1                D
E|----------------------------------------[3x]|------------------------2--------------|
B|---3 let ring----------------------3--3----o|------------------------3--------------|
G|---2 let ring---play this 4times---2--2-----|--0-h2-p0---------------2--------------|
D|---0-h2-p0-0-----------------------0--0-----|----------3-2-h3-p2-----0--------------|
A|-------------------------------------------o|--------------------3------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|




Verse:
    D              A5         Lick 2       A5           Lick 1               D
E|--2--2--2-2--2-------------------------------------------------------------2--[2x]|
B|--3--3--3-3--3---------------0-h2-p0---------------------------------------3-----o|
G|--2--2--2-2--2---2--2--2-2---------------2--2--2--2-2--0-h2-p0-------------2------| Lick1 + D ,
D|--0--0--0-0--0---2--2--2-2-----------3---2--0--0--0-0----------3-2-h3-p2---0------| Lick 1 +...
A|-----------------0--0--0-0---------------0--0--0--0-0--------------------3-------o|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|


Outro:
Like the bridge the outro starts immediately with Bb, but then you play Lick 1 again and 
play immediately after this C (3rd fret, see Bridge) and the same with D (5th fret, see Bridge)

...Bb, Lick 1 + C, Lick 1 + D let ring


Thats the song. Here an overview:

Intro 
Verse 2x 
Bridge 4x
Solo (Bridge Chords) 8x
+ Solo ending-riff 3x
Intro
Verse 2x
Outro

______________
Enjoy!
H.B.