Arpeggiating Am, Cm and Gm from the 6 string is a cool, spooky-sounding exercise that can also help us be more deliberate about finger position. These chords all have different relationships, depending on which of them is the tonic, but for me it’s enough to hear that eerie, floating musical idea they can produce. Here’s a chart illustrating the theoretical relationships though, if you’re interested:

pdf sheet for this lesson with tabs, chord charts and instructions is available […]

Paper Roses

Anita Bryant’s version of “Paper Roses” was originally released in 1960 as a single, backed with “Mixed Emotions” (Carlton 528). Monty Kelly provided the orchestrations. It was the opening track on her 1961 album Hear Anita Bryant In Your Home Tonight! (Carlton STLP 12/127), recorded in “Provocative Stereo.” “Paper Roses” was Bryant’s biggest hit on the Billboard Pop chart, peaking at No. 5 in 1960. Bryant continued to release singles following “Paper Roses”‘ success, and although some reached the Top 40, she never had another hit as big as “Paper Roses.” Tabs, notation and chord diagrams available at https://paulelwood.com. First online lesson is free! Paper roses chords and lyrics

In Spite of Ourselves

In Spite of Ourselves is the 13th studio album of John Prine, featuring duets of classic country songs with various well-known female folk and alt-country vocalists, released in 1999.

The album was Prine’s first release since successfully battling throat cancer. The female duet partners include Iris DeMent, Connie Smith, Lucinda Williams, Trisha Yearwood, Melba Montgomery, Emmylou Harris, Dolores Keane, Patty Loveless, and his wife, Fiona Prine. In spite of ourselves chords and lyrics

Rhythm Changes
Eb rhythm changes! an excellent exercise to work out your improvisational chops.

Rhythm Changes

The Rhythm changes is a common 32-bar jazz chord progression derived from George Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm”. The progression is in AABA form, with each A section based on repetitions of the ubiquitous I–vi–ii–V sequence (or variants such as iii–vi–ii–V), and the B section using a circle of fifths sequence based on III⁷–VI⁷–II⁷–V⁷, a progression which is sometimes given passing chords.

This pattern, “one of the most common vehicles for improvisation,” forms the basis of countless (usually uptempo) jazz compositions and was popular with swing-era and bebop musicians. For example, it is the basis of Duke Ellington’s “Cotton Tail” as well as Charlie Christian’s “Seven Come Eleven,” Dizzy Gillespie’s “Salt Peanuts,” and Thelonious Monk’s “Rhythm-a-Ning”. The earliest known use of rhythm changes was by Sidney Bechet in his September 15, 1932 recording of “Shag” (two years after the first performance of “I Got Rhythm” on Broadway) with his “New Orleans Feetwarmers” group.

In pop culture, “Meet the Flintstones“, (c. 1960, Curtin/Hanna/Barbera) is based on the rhythm changes, thereby being a contrafact of “I Got Rhythm”.

Playing over rhythm changes is a great way to build your chops and listening skills! Rhythm Changes in Eb