Changes In Latitudes Changes In Attitudes Chords

The actual chords for the America track

People always ask about this one because it sits awkwardly in standard tuning. The chord shapes are deceptively simple but the voicings create a specific shimmer that people miss when they try to simplify them into basic open chords. The progression is essentially D / D/F/ Em7 / F#m7 / Bm7 / A / Bm7 / A/G / D. Play through it slowly and you'll notice the bass line moves stepwise: D up to F#, then down through E, D#, D, and C. That descending line in the second half is what makes it sound like it's drifting rather than driving. I'm not going to tell you to use capos or simplified shapes unless you need to sing along at the original key. The real version uses full voicings. Here's what I mean:

• D — standard open D, finger 2 on G string 2nd fret, finger 3 on high E string 2nd fret
• D/F# — bar your first finger across strings 1–3 at the 2nd fret, then add ring finger on A string 4th fret. That's your Fbass note. Don't skip the bar, it cleans up the G string
• Em7 — just drop your third finger from the D chord. One fingering change gets you there
• F#m7 — bar second fret across strings 2–6 with your index, leave high E string open. You're voicing something like F#m7 without the root, which is intentional
• Bm7 — standard B minor shape, bar second fret strings 1–5. Ring finger on D string 4th fret, pinky on A string 4th fret
• A — open A, straightforward
• A/G — play A shape but bass it on G by muting the low E and letting the G string open ring

Here's the thing nobody warns you about: the transition from Bm7 back to A/G is where most people mess up. Your hand has to release the Bm7 bar, drop into A shape, then immediately reposition for the G bass. I used to fumble this every time. What actually works is lifting your pinky and ring finger together from the Bm7 and letting them land directly on the A shape while keeping the index bar in place for the low G string. It takes about a week of slow practice to make it seamless. Tempo sits around 112 BPM. strumming pattern is mostly down-down-up-up-down-up per measure, though the chorus opens up a bit. Don't rush the Em7 to F#m7 transition. That space is where the song breathes. If you're trying to sing at the original pitch, you'll want a capo on the 2nd fret and play the shapes as written above — that raises you a whole step into the key of E, which is closer to Gerry Beckley's range. Some people put it on the 3rd fret and it works if you have a higher voice, but 2 is the safer starting point.

One edge case worth mentioning: if you're playing this on a steel-string acoustic with a bright pickup, the D/Fto Em7 shift can sound muddy because those two voicings share a lot of same-position notes. I solved this by slightly arpeggiating the D/F— brush the bass note first, then the upper strings a split second later. It costs you about half a beat but it stops the chords from blurring together, especially at the original tempo. The song structure is verse-verse-chorus-verse-verse-chorus-outro. No bridge. The outro repeats the chorus progression and gradually fades, so learning one chorus cycle effectively covers the entire arrangement. Resources to find this are scattered. You'll see it on site like or or in the America Greatest Hits tablature collections. The official sheet music sometimes lists it as "Changes in the Latitude, Changes in the Attitude" and the chord annotations are usually accurate but sometimes print the F#m7 as a plain F#m, which loses the characteristic seventh. Trust the sevenths.

Play it through at 75% speed first. The song sounds easy because the chord changes are sparse, but the fingerings require clean release and precise bar positioning. Once you lock in the transitions at slow tempo, full speed comes naturally and usually within a couple weeks of daily practice.