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

2,852

(11 replies, posted in Recording)

OK Sir,

Just this once, and bowing to your better judgement,  I will for the very first time de-tune my guitar. smile

Roger

2,853

(11 replies, posted in Recording)

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

2,854

(2 replies, posted in About Chordie)

Hi DitteMilo,

If you go to the song in question and look at the bottom of the page, on the right, in green, it says 'Correct Song'. If you click on this it takes you to a page where you can edit and add to the song. When you have corrected the song it will appear with a message that you have improved the song.

I would always recommend that you add the song to your Songbook first and do all the editing and additions there. This gives you the time to check that all your changes are correct and to see how your changes will appear to everyone else. When you are happy you can 'copy' your corrected version from your Songbook and 'paste' it to the one with errors from the listings.

Roger

2,855

(11 replies, posted in Recording)

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

2,856

(6 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Hi James,

A great song but I am afraid I no longer visit libraries. I have a terrible affliction, if I read a book and really like it I do not want to return it. I want to keep it to read and re-read it every few years. Not only that if I find an author whose work I like I want to read every book that they have written. It costs me a fortune and gives me severe storage problems.

Roger

2,857

(16 replies, posted in Songwriting)

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

2,858

(24 replies, posted in Recording)

Helena, your words, as usual, are thought provoking and well crafted. Kenny, your music is great, the bagpipes and bell toll were an inspiration to compliment and enhance Helena's words. Phill your spoken voice is perfectly modulated and it's timbre fits the piece perfectly. Ark the mixing is spot on and Russ your slide show adds the finishing touch to this wonderful recording.

Well done to all of you.

Roger

2,859

(24 replies, posted in Recording)

jerome.oneil wrote:

So, please don't throw any rocks, but when I read that in my head, the voice soon turned into Eminem rapping it.  It really does work in an urban context!   It's got that whole class warfare thing happening in it.  Rich vs poor, everyone dies.

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

2,860

(0 replies, posted in Songwriting)

The 'Poems' discussion has been temporarily moved to the private Moderators section. When a final decision has been made it will be moved back.

Please be patient, we will be as quick as we can.

Roger

2,861

(3 replies, posted in About Chordie)

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

2,862

(19 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Hi Jerome,

A well written and chorded song and I am looking forward to hearing your recording of it next week.

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

2,864

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

Christmas 1958, my brother and I got our first guitars. They were a plastic, four string 'Elvis Presley' ones with an 'autochord', a plastic box that was strapped on the fretboard which had buttons on that pressed the strings to make the chords, but it meant that we could get a song out of it straight away. They came with a set of pitch pipes and a simple song book and I remember that we drove our parents nearly crazy playing 'Home on the Range' over and over.

It did not take long for the 'autochord to break and I had to start pressing the strings myself and soon after the the plastic frets wore down to make playing it impossible. I then progressed to a proper guitar but I cannot remember what that was I'm afraid.

Roger

2,865

(8 replies, posted in Songwriting)

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


[C][Am][F][G]


.


.


[C]To be the [Am]woman,


[C]To see the [Am]man,


[F]How can we [G]feel,


[F]All that is [G]good.


.


.


[C]The mind is [Am]free,


[C]The soul is [Am]kind,


To the [F]woman of my [G]mind


Of my [F]soul, easy and [G]free.


.






[F]The woman of [G]mine,


[C]The spirit of [Am]style,


[F]The soul of kindred [G]spirits,


[C]Who is forever [Am]mine,


[D]The body is fine,


The mind is [F]fr[G]ee.


.


.


[C]The spirit is [Am]good,


[C]Kind, easy and [Am]free,


[F]How much my [G]woman,


[F]I love [G]thee,


I love [C]thee.



2,866

(2 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Hi Buvvy,

Nice words again but you will have to get some chords/music to them to make them into songs.

Roger

2,867

(8 replies, posted in Songwriting)

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

2,868

(15 replies, posted in Songwriting)

buvvy wrote:

Hey Roger Lord Of The Rings by Magna Carta was a very unique piece of music. It was in a class of it's own for the time.

In that case I am honoured. I do not remember the song and as Lord of the Rings is one of my favourite novels (and now of course a favourite film trilogy) I will go and see if I can find it on YouTube. Thank you.

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

2,870

(9 replies, posted in Recording)

Russell your mind is working on overtime again lol.


A kilt has no pockets so a sporran is the (often furry) bag that a Scot wears around his waist to keep his loose change and ciggies in.

Here check this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sporran

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

2,872

(15 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Hi Buvvy,

Thank you for you comments. I am not quite sure about the Magna Carta reference though, should I be pleased or insulted? I know I am old but not quite that old yet!!

Thanks too Fatstrings for your comments also. It is Helena's gift as a wordsmith that make the song.

Russ and Scott. I have great sorrow for you Americans who have not had the pleasure of pulling a cracker at Christmas. As kids we always looked forward to that, and the squabbling afterwards over who would have what out of the adult's crackers.

Roger

2,873

(5 replies, posted in Songwriting)

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

2,874

(8 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Not ever having heard this song before I went and found it on YouTube and I have to say it is a great song and well worth learning.

There are two versions of the song on Chordie, one in Gm which has some rather awkward chords and the other in Am which is relatively simple to play. You might have guessed, chords in the version of the song I heard was in Gm. In  this key the starting note is G (your 3rd string played open). If you are playing it in Am the the starting note will be A (your 3rd string played on the second fret).

Short of coming along and singing it with you lol this is the best help I can give.

By the way Ps. I'm not a boy... I'm a girl.. makes a great signture I think you should use it.

Roger

2,875

(11 replies, posted in Recording)

lone-woodwose wrote:

Autoharp looks like fun. But I have enough instruments to work with now with mandolin and banjo; I really want to get a concertina though. I just finished building a Lyre too, 7 strings and made of maple its fun to play around with.

Are you offering your services to record your instruments to help others complete or enhance their recordings? If so Russ will add you to list in the 'Sticky' at the start of this section..

Roger