Music, to my way of thinking, has to be expressed by chord sequence, tabs or music score. They are recognised ways, just as writing is, of passing on information in a convenient form or helping one remember the structure of a piece.

However, when it comes to playing a song, or an instrumental, there is no way of expression how it is done. Performance involves emotion and feelings. The same notes are played of course, but slight variations in volume and note length make the world of difference and these cannot be expressed execpt from the heart.

It is the same with strumming. To learn a new song I normally will play a simple strum to get the melody and chord changes sorted but then as I practice it I will use finger picking, thumb, fingers, flesh, nail or pick with  strokes which are difficult to describe to convey the feeling I am trying to put across.

Any music or song played as it is writtten with a standard strum pattern, or note for note as it is written, will sound regimented and flat. What is needed to make the piece something that others want to hear cannot be put on paper.

Roger

Thanks Russ I will give that a whirl later. I must admit I was trying to be lazy and not have to work it out for myself. I am quite happy to work in Eb and I would not re-tune my guitar because, stubborn old fool that I am, I beleive that anything other than standard tuning is a cheat.

Tanks again,

Roger

Hi Russ,

I have had a listen and want to have a go but as I am not the best wordsmith in the world I am struggling a bit. If it is not against the rules can you possibly post a bar by bar chord progression which will help me and maybe others too?

Roger

Wonderful work Phill and I can add little to the praise that has been said by everyone else, it has well crafted, thought provoking lyrics and chord sequence.

I do hope that a recording will appear soon on your MySpace.

Roger

Jerome, I for one would be fascinated to hear your interpretaion of this. I know you have the equipment to do so, if you have the time, is it possible for you record this the way you envision it? As it appears that your version would be in stark contrast to what has been done it would make very interesting listening.

Roger

Hi Flash,

Thanks are not neccessary but they are appreciated. I, and the rest of the Administators, are only too happy to assist whenever we can.

Roger

You can post them in the Songriting Forum but you cannot add them to the main index if that is what you were wanting to do.

There is a 'Sticky' at the start of the About Chordie section that explains this.

Roger

I was particulary impressed with these words as I stated earlier so after reading them I threw some chords at them and recorded for Buvvy to hear. As he seems quite happy with them I have posted them here.

I have to add that from reading the words to sending the recording to Buvvy it took less than an hour as I was only wanting to show him what can be done but I have decided to upload the rough recording to Friends of Chordie anyhow: http://www.myspace.com/friendsofchordie

SOUL COMPANION Words - David Butler; Music - Roger Guppy

Hi Buvvy,

I love the words you wrote for SWAMBO ('She Who Always Must Be Obeyed' for the uninitiated) but then again I am a big romatic fool so I love songs are my thing.

Roger

I love Eva's work.

She is the the only person, out of the many that have tried to, to perform "Over The Rainbow" better than Judie Garland. I prefer her version of "Fields of Gold"  to Sting's also.

It is a tragedy that one so talented should have died so young.

Roger

Some years ago my partner, getting fed up with me saying "Hey, pardon" or "Say that again" and then answering her question, made me go for a hearing examination. Yes I was partially deaf in my left ear from years of using a 12 bore shotgun. The few seconds it took to say "Repeat that" gave me time to make sense of what I bit I heard and work out the rest.

I was issued with a free of charge, National Health Service hearing aid, which I got along fine with. It was an analogue one but a couple of years later it was change for a 'much improved' digital one. Unfortunately it picked up so much background noise that I found out I was better off without it. Now I have not worn it for three years.

I think that this is a subjective matter, it depends on how much loss of hearing one has and the quality of the hearing aid that is being used. The individual has to decide whether his hearing is better with or without an aid.

My hearing is slightly impared I am happier without it, someone with a more chronic hearing problem will no doubt be better off with one.

Roger

Hi Jeff,

This sound to me as though this is the story of a young American boy and a Japanese girl who meet, fall in love, and live happily ever after.

A great song that flows well and is easy to find a melody for. Thank you,

Roger