6,301

(23 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

It changes daily, but today my favorite to play on acoustic is "Ain't No Sunshine". 

I play on an electric exactly the same way as I play on an acoustic, but some songs just sound better amplified.  I've been working on "What I Like About You" on electric, but last time I got together with friends, they stuck in "My Sherrie" lyrics and it worked great.  So we had a good time playing and singing both songs at once, first one chorus and then another verse and wherever it flowed.

- Zurf

6,302

(17 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Stinking B chord.  I'll play the song, but with an "arrangement" that avoids the B.  Just because it's you Russell, I'll leave in the Bm (unlike other 'arrangements' I've done).  Love the lyrics, love the pace.  I've always had a soft spot for folks who get addicted to drink - one of those "There but for the grace of God go I" things perhaps.

- Zurf

6,303

(22 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Spend some time listening to Andy McKee and Leo Kottke and also jump back a few decades and start arranging big band jazz tunes to acoustic guitar - Take the A Train would be a good one.

6,304

(23 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

I always liked Pink Floyd's 'Animals', though there have surely been many other good ones named here as well. 

- Zurf

6,305

(7 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Daddycool - One of the songs I learned to sing as a lullabye is James Taylor's "Sweet Baby James".  It starts out with the lyric "There is a young cowboy..."  My kids know Sweet Baby James and request it by one title "The Cowboy Song", so your title caught my attention immediately, and now the lyrics have caught my imagination.  I shall give this one a try and see if I can put a melody to it.  Thanks so much.

- Zurf

I beg to differ SouthPaw41L.  I am quite certain that your socks are a public matter and that we should advise you daily upon them.  Tomorrow you should wear argyle.   Friday is hiking sock day, the kind with the thick heel and toe.  Gray is preferred, but black is acceptable. 

As far as faith, I am completely in agreement that each person's decision is his/her own.  However, in that faith is often an important part of a person's personality and individual makeup, it can be difficult to dissassociate it from all conversation.  That said, while I may from time to time present my own thoughts on the matter, I would never presume to force a particular decision upon another.   That is fair and within the realm of civil conversation, I think.   

- Zurf

6,307

(12 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

If you've got to cheat, cheat death.  Thanks to God that you did.  It isn't the same place without your participation.  I'm glad you're back.   

I've got esophogitis and know what it's like to have the constant pain in your stomach and throat and the inability to take a deep breath or sometimes even to swallow and have nothing but sympathy for your condition that is far worse than mine ever was.  Thanks to God and a good gastro-intestinal specialist, I am well mended with the condition under control and pray that you will be too. 

- Zurf

6,308

(77 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

42.  Been playing guitar since November of 2006.  This time, that is.  I've attempted the instrument many times before.  I've been playing bass (this time) for about ten years, but lately all my practice time is on guitar.  I haven't given up bass so much as my buddies gave up jamming and it's hard to have interesting bass practice when not accompanying a melodic instrument.  For me, anyway.   

I have enjoyed Chordie a great deal, and especially enjoy the practical theory assistance that has been passed along by my favorite mutant Russell and Jerome (who shows every indication of being a mutant but is too modest to claim it).   I have also greatly enjoyed the original music Chordians have shared on the Songwriting forum.  I'm no song-writer and am impressed by everyone who shows that talent, but the songs I've added to my personal repertoire have come from Selso, James McCormack, and Lone Rebel, so I extend a special thanks to each of them.   

- Zurf

6,309

(3 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Is F#m the right chord to play as a relative minor in lieu of Am when playing C with a capo at 3?

- Zurf

6,310

(12 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

If the Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me

Just Stopped By to See What Condition My Condition Was In

Flushed From the Bathroom of Your Heart

Dad's Got That Look

- Zurf

6,311

(4 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Breedlove is good.  Check out Blue Ridge as well.  They have models made specifically for bluegrass fingerpicking.  If you're not familiar with bluegrass finger picking, it's very, very fast.  Also, they sound terrific and probably will not eat up your entire payout, leaving you with some change to get you a guitar and maybe a digital recorder.

- Zurf

6,312

(32 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Great line Alexpress!  The next line fits it perfectly, and a lot of us have been there, "I drive it forward, but you push me back"

Here's one I heard on the radio this morning from Pickup Man, sorry I don't know the artist.

"You can set fire to my truck and roll it down a hill,
and I still wouldn't trade it for a Coupe deVille."

Gosh, there's a lot of good lyrics out there.  Lots of really dopey ones too, but so many good ones. 

- Zurf

SouthPaw - Nobody needs religion.  Salvation is a different matter, but you'll not get salvation from getting religion.  Religion is just rules.  Plenty enough rules to go around.  I'm a firm believer in Jesus, but I don't ascribe to any given denomination.  When I read Scripture, and about the life of Jesus, there's example after example after example of the Big Guy breaking all the rules.  Now, he followed the Commandments, but the rules and the rulemakers were given the consideration they deserved, which is none.   You'd be hard pressed to come up with a person more anti-religious than Jesus.  I've never understood how someone could read the New Testament, put their faith in Jesus, and then come up with a bunch of rules to make up a religion.  It boggles my mind. 

- Zurf

6,314

(27 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

badeye wrote:

Thanks GSE, He will be missed, Nice to see you have a playing partner, you can really make some good music with another person and guitar.

  Jam on... Badeye.

Dang buddy, I hate to see that.  I'll say a prayer for him, and another for you too.  Not sure what more I can do for you at this point.  The limits of only knowing someone through letters on a screen.  Makes us feel so helpless when one of our own is hurting.

6,315

(32 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

From Dire Straight's Industrial Disease

"Two men say they're Jesus.  One of them must be wrong."

Also, "The watch dog has rabies, the foreman has fleas.  Everyone knows that it's Industrial Disease." 

It's a great song, and just about everyone who was living and understood what having a job meant (or at least a vague notion) at the time it came out had a bad case of Industrial Disease.

I told you!  It's the B chord.  If you let it in, sooner or later 'you know who' shows up.   

In all seriousness, though.  It's worth thinking about.  I don't take internet tests just because of the potential for abuse of information, but thinking about the hereafter is worthwhile. 

- Zurf

6,317

(17 replies, posted in Songwriting)

If you let me in on the secrets of the ancient and lost civilization of mutants, I will endeavor to improve my attitude towards the B.  Nevertheless, I am content for now to continue my existance in sub-par mediocrity.

- Zurf

6,318

(17 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Russell,

I think you misunderestimate my ability to imitate an ostrich! 

I'm still working on F, F#m, and Bm with any alacrity whatsoever.  Some day.  According to Deathday.com, I've got another 40 some years of practice to get it right before I kick the bucket.  Maybe one of these days I'll play a B.  Probably just after I grow the sixth and seventh fingers on my right hand...

You know, I was feeling pretty good about using an E-shaped barre chord for G in a song that has the chorus move back and forth between F#m and G, but those B's - they're just evil.  Face it.  I'm absolutely certain that if it weren't for those B chords, Satan wouldn't keep popping up on the right side of the screen asking about my eternal fate.  But there he is, every time I visit Chordie.  (Please tell me you guys get Satan too, please...)

- Zurf

6,319

(17 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Holy schmoley, you are a mutant.  How do you even draw those chords?  I like the lyrics, but you gotta know right now I'm never even going to try and play that! 

- Zurf

Don't mind!?  Shoot, I'm honored!  Have fun with it.  You surely won't hurt my feelings. 

I haven't been on Songwriting for a while, so I'll go look for the one you mentioned.  I've been working on a song for a buddy of mine titled Bigger, Badder, Balder, Better.  We'll see how it goes.  My first real effort in this regard.   It will almost certainly be written in G and I can personally guarantee that it will not have a B chord in it.

- Zurf

6,321

(4 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Professional piano tuner.  I think we paid $150 to get a piano we got in much the same circumstances as you did tuned up and ready. 

- Zurf

6,322

(13 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

I would avoid "Send In The Clowns".   

I learned "Forever and Ever Amen" to play to my wife on our 20th anniversary, and then also "Flesh and Blood", which fits because she sometimes gets jealous of my outdoors time and that song has the line 'Mother Nature is quite a lady, but you're the one I need.' 

Maybe one of those would fit, depending on your sister's musical tastes and singing ability. 

- Zurf

Russell_Harding wrote:

Zurf  even the evil "B' chord

big_smile

Shhhhhh.  Don't mention the 'chord that must not be named.'  It'll hear you and sneak into your favorite songs, rendering them unplayable.  Only certain mutants (long live the mutants) have learned the wary secrets of the Chord of Evil and forced it into submission. 

I guess B7 and Bm are OK.  They're only partly evil. 

- Zurf

Classical guitar is extremely useful for other styles of music.  They don't use a lot of chords, but they use a huge number of arpeggios, which will help her to UNDERSTAND chords far better than just knowing their shapes.

Also, she'll learn to count, which is huge.  Knowing how to count out a passage is terribly useful for hearing rhythms and patterns. 

She'll also learn about variations on a theme, something that apparantly Lenny Kravitz never bothered to learn.  Variations on a theme makes music far more interesting and intrigueing. 

I'd say that she will be well served by a foundation in classical music. 

As far as classical guitar, she will learn proper posture and good left hand and right hand patterns and techniques.  All of which is directly applicable to any style of music she likes and chooses to play in the future.

- Zurf

6,325

(19 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Welcome back.  I don't know Oasis or Blur and guessing that I don't care to, but I'm pleased to see you've decided to return.

- Zurf