Tom Petty made it clear that you don’t
have to live like a refugee — and if you
follow Benmont Tench’s example, you
don’t have to play like one either.
Benmont’s B-3 work on the classic hit
makes the song soar, largely due to
strong-yet-simple chords that he uses to
lift up the chorus.
Power up your Hammond organ (or
the best clonewheel software or
hardware you can get your hands on),
check out this month's cover story with exclusive videos, and dial in some
ballsy drawbar settings just like Benmont
shows you. Then play through the examples
below to get a taste of the classic
“Refugee” chorus.
[Click on images for larger versions. -Ed.]
Ex. 1. Here’s how you play the first big chord for the chorus of “Refugee,”
an inverted F#m.
Ex. 2. The next chord is an inverted A triad. Notice how you only need to
move one finger to get to this chord from the previous F#m.
Ex. 3. You have to shift two fingers to get to the next chord, an
inverted E triad.
Ex. 4. Land on this satisfying F#m inversion to complete the “Refugee”
chorus chord progression.
Ex. 5. Put it all together and you have the whole progression, written here in traditional music notation.
Watch Benmont Tench play these chords — and
share his drawbar secrets — in our exclusive videos here .