Nearness Of You
“Nearness Of You”, Hoagy Carmichael in F at 95 BPM. PDF chord sheet linked below.
Thinking In Numbers
Looking for a nifty New Year’s guitar-playing resolution?
Try thinking in numbers!
As a new Year’s resolution, how about adopting a new way of thinking about what you already do? Adopting a numeric system for understanding how to move easily around the neck might be useful for you.
Let’s start with a core pattern that we can play over a chord progression. We can start with (1/5/6/5) played over (1/4/5) as a foundational exercise for numeric thinking.
Key Insights:
We will be using numbers to refer both to the strings (1,2,3,4,5 and 6) and the numeric value of notes in an octave (1,2,3,4,5,6,7 and 1). This can be confusing so please be patient.
The guitar’s coursed strings allows for playing the same note in multiple locations, enabling the use of identical numeric patterns in different positions.
The (1 5 6 5) pattern works on string pairs 5-6, 4-5, and 3-4. It requires adjustment on pairs with the B string (2nd string) due to […]
“All My Exes” Part 1
“All My Exes” part 1 introduction, chords and notation
Caught somewhere in time
introduction. This piece speaks to our focus on the Em scale, which is the relative minor for G. You can consider this tune to be written in either G or Em, as they both have one sharp.
The G major scale: G. A. B. C. D. E. F#. G
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8/1
If you check the intervals you’ll see that this follows the pattern of WWHWWWH
Now, if we leave the scale as-is and shift the beginning note to the 6th degree (E) something wonderful happens. We are playing the relative minor of the G Major scale, so starting and ending at 6. This is the pattern for playing any scale modally, btw- play the scale, starting and ending on a number other than 1. Here we start on 6 (E) and that gives us the relative minor.
1-2: whole step
2-3: half step
3-4: whole step
4-5: whole step
5-6: half step
6-7: whole step
7-8: whole step
E F# G A B C D E
6. 7. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6
See? All we did was to start counting from 6 instead of one. The intervals are the same. They don’t change, only the note we start on. This is the 6th mode of a major scale, also called the “Aeolian” mode. Very handy for rock music based in classical theory!
Here is the introduction and we’ll look at what’s happening here […]
After You’ve Gone
After You’ve Gone” was recorded by Marion Harris on July 22, 1918, and released by Victor Records.
The song became so popular that the sheet music was later decorated with tiny photographs of the 45 men who made the song famous, including Paul Whiteman, Rudy Vallée, B.A. Rolfe, Guy Lombardo, and Louis Armstrong.
The chorus adheres to a standard ABAC pattern but is only 20 measures long. There are four 4-bar phrases, followed by a 4-measure tag. The song is harmonically active, with chord changes in almost every measure. The opening four notes to the chorus are identical to the opening notes of “Peg o’ My Heart” (1912) — at the time songwriters often borrowed the first few notes of a hit melody. “after you’ve gone” chords, notation and lyrics
Danny Boy
Download the lead sheet with lyrics, chord diagrams, tabs and notation below.
“Danny Boy” is an Irish folk song with lyrics written by English lawyer Frederic Weatherly in 1910, and set to the traditional Irish melody of “Londonderry Air” in 1913.
In 1910, in Bath, Somerset, England, the English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly initially wrote the words of “Danny Boy” to a tune other than “Londonderry Air”. One story is that his sister-in-law Margaret Enright Weatherly (known as “Jess”) sent him a copy of “Londonderry Air” in 1913, and Weatherly modified the lyrics of “Danny Boy” to fit its rhyme and meter. A different story has Jess singing the air to Weatherly in 1912 with different lyrics. Yet another story is that Frederic did not set the poem to any tune, but that, in 1913, Margaret, who, with her husband Edward Weatherly, was living at the Neosho mine near Ouray, Colorado, in the US, set it to the “Londonderry Air”, which she had heard as a child in California played by her father and other Irish railway workers.
Weatherly gave the song to the vocalist Elsie Griffin, who made it one of the most popular songs of the new century. Ernestine Schumann-Heink produced the first recording of “Danny Boy” in 1915.
Jane Ross of Limavady is credited with collecting the melody of “Londonderry Air” in the mid-19th century […]
silver bells
“Silver Bells” is a Christmas song composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans.
It debuted in the motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid (1951), where it was started by William Frawley, then sung in the generally known version immediately thereafter by Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell. The first recorded version was by Bing Crosby and Carol Richards on September 8, 1950, with John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra and the Lee Gordon Singers. The record was released by Decca Records in October 1950. When the recording became popular, Hope and Maxwell were called back in late 1950 to re-shoot a more elaborate production of the song.
History
“Silver Bells” started out as “Tinkle Bells”. Songwriter Ray Evans said: “We never thought that tinkle had a double meaning until Jay went home and his first wife said, ‘Are you out of your mind? Do you know what the word tinkle is?'”
This song’s inspiration is the source of conflicting reports. Several periodicals and interviews cite writer Jay Livingston stating that the song’s inspiration came from the bells used by sidewalk Santa Clauses and Salvation Army solicitors on New York City street corners. However, in an interview with NPR, co-writer Ray Evans said that the song was inspired by a bell that sat on an office desk that he shared with Livingston. Evans’s hometown of Salamanca, New York has taken […]
People are Strange
“People Are Strange” is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It appears on the band’s second studio album, Strange Days, released in September 1967. The song was written by the Doors’ vocalist Jim Morrison and guitarist Robby Krieger, although all of the band are credited on the sleeve notes.
The track was first released with “Unhappy Girl” as the B-side. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.The song’s composition started in early 1967. According to Doors drummer John Densmore, he and guitarist Robby Krieger, who had then been roommates, were visited by Jim Morrison who appeared to be “deeply depressed”. At Krieger’s suggestion, they took a walk along Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles.[5] Morrison returned from the walk “euphoric” with the early lyrics of “People Are Strange”. Intrigued by the lyrics, Krieger was convinced that the song was a hit upon hearing the vocal melody:
[Morrison said] “Yeah, I feel really good about this one. It just came to me all of a sudden … in a flash – as I was sitting up there on the ridge looking out over the city.” His eyes were wild with excitement. “I scribbled it down as fast as I could. It felt great to be writing again.” He looked down at the crumpled paper in his hand […]
I Saw Mommy Kissin’ Santa Claus
Demo Videos for technique, tools and generally, having fun playing guitar. “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” is a Christmas song with music and lyrics by British songwriter Tommie Connor and first recorded by American singer Jimmy Boyd in 1952. The song has since been covered by many artists, with the Ronettes’s 1963 and the Jackson 5’s 1970 versions being the most famous.
The original recording by Jimmy Boyd, recorded on 15 July 1952, when he was 13 years old, reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in December 1952, and on the Cash Box chart at the beginning of the following year. It later reached number three in the UK Singles Chart when released there in November 1953. The song was commissioned by Saks Fifth Avenue to promote the store’s Christmas card for the year, which featured an original sketch by artist Perry Barlow, who drew for The New Yorker for many decades.
The song describes a scene where a child walks downstairs from his bedroom on Christmas Eve to see his mother kissing Santa Claus under the mistletoe. The lyric concludes with the child wondering how his father will react on hearing of the kiss, unaware of the possibility that Santa Claus is merely his father in a costume.
PDF notation and chords […]