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Follow where your ears lead. Work on a chord sequence of three or four chords. Then start  replacing a root chord with a "fancy " chord with the same root note till you get something interesting.

Try playing the fancy chords with the same one root note - eg G7, G11, G13, Gsus2add4 - whatever - just to see how they all connect to each other.

Start off in one key, choose a note within that key and see how many fancy chords have that note within them - it can be endless, but your ears will pull you through.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the comments - I appreciate them.

Corn stalk braids would be like these corn dollies (http://maddy2001-ivil.tripod.com/corndollies/id5.html ). although I'm really thinking of simpler ones along the line of this St Bridget's cross ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMj7RJDwp8U ).

Lena picked up on the innocence of plaiting straw or rushes.

Sorry, but I have to agree with you, Russell. Doubts and worries.

16 is too young for this. What parent would let their 16 year old head off across the ocean, risking capsize and death, for 5 months on their own ? At 18 you can make your own decisions.

My daughters sail, Belfast people always have. When they were learning they had a class trip across the bay. I went out to the headland to watch them sail (and to fish, I must admit ). The eldest daughter capsized ( turtled ) in front of me and took a long, long time to come up. She was only 60 yards out. But there was nothing I could do.

Will the next "record" be a 14 year old - and when does that become abusive ?

Follow the money !

Hi Jim,

This is a great song. A lot of my songs start from the same place - a few words that make you think. My problem is that I'm going deaf and a lot of what I hear is only half what people say most of the time - still, the confusion  can be fun !!

Mind you, your neighbour's wife is now looking at you with different coloured spectacles.

Think about your posture - are you twisting yourself around the guitar, are you tightening your shoulders,arms, wrists, fingers etc. If so, you could try shaking yourself loose before you play, deliberately thinking about loosening the muscles that you are tightening before you play. you can also shake your fretting hand loose while you play - for instance hitting open strings within the chord - it will often give your muscles the break they need.

Another thing is your breathing. many people stop breathing while they play, and gasp breaths whenever they can. Try finding a breathing pattern that matches the strum pattern. It all reduces the stress level.

Hey Daddy.

Takes me back to saturday morning TV as a kid,every episode a horse chase, every programme a baddie who looked the same.

Lena,

Well I had never heard of MR Barry and Mr Holland until you mentioned it. Very interesting stuff.

One of Mr Barry's contemporaries - John Paul Jones - knocked a few stones off the top of Carrickfergus Castle - about 20 minutes drive away from where I sit.

MKM.

I very much agree, although you have to understand that, being Irish, we have to have a real fight, and therefore join both sides to make it more even !

Just a few years before, a few Irish guys got into a scrap while fighting against the Mexicans. They were called Bill Travis, Jim Bowie and a certain David Crockett. (OK don't hang me, their people were Irish.)

I met a descendant of Davy Crockett around twenty years ago. her name was Alessie McCrossan ( Nee Crockett) she was a great, great, great whatever grand-daughter. She was a feisty lady, involved in her community and in politics. They named a local Community facility after her.

"you couldn't take the pain of what has past.
Then you laughed,
Such a]pretty laugh."

Heart breaking, ken. Wonderful lyric. I like the detail of "the long stem red rose".