Come Together

Same notes, different place on the neck- that's what makes the guitar one of the most useful/confusing instruments to play.

Playing this way is fine, although when using open strings you'll need to use some different right hand techniques to get the same sounds you would from fretted notes.

Keep practicing the spread though- use your index for the first note, your middle for the next note, and your pinky for the "shuffle" note. Keeping your thumb towards the middle of your finger spread (ie- line your thumb up between your middle and ring finger) will allow a slightly greater range for you fingers.

I know pics would help, but I'm not able to post any at the moment. I'll try later if no one else beats me to it.

OK, great. Thanks. :D

I know what you mean about the stretching and using the fingers that way. Currently I use my index finger on the "first" fret, ring finger on the "third" fret and pinky for the shuffle. But if I stretch my index and middle finger two frets, that will help.

I learned a trick of putting my right fist between my index and middle fingers, then between the middle and ring fingers, and finally between the ring finger and pinky, and holding the stretch lightly. But my teacher said don't do that between the middle and ring finger (I can already do a Vulcan greeting :lol: ). He said it's begging for tendonitis. :o

Yes gosurf is correct, I believe the original is played with the D at the 10th fret.

I have seen a version in D with the 6th string tuned down to D. Makes it easier

Hey lars that's cheating!!!

Yes gosurf is correct, I believe the original is played with the D at the 10th fret.

I downloaded a sheet from Sheet Music Direct and that is how it is written.

Min,

Hope you didn't have to pay for it I could have send you a copy

Meh, it was .99 cents. Thanks, however. I appreciate the offer. :wink: I don't use Musicnotes.com since they got uppity and fancy with Guitar Guru. Last year when I was first starting to play I ordered one sheet that was $4.95. Never again from them.

Seems you've been having trouble with those stretches for a while, Frank - I'm thinking back to "Werewolves Of London" and then I saw your video for "Sundown" - with those short fingers, you're going to really have to put some work in to make them flexible.

OR - you could always try something different. At least with this song. If I remember correctly, the chords used are D A G and Bm - all played as powerchords. The variations in the chords are sixths, and I don't think you need them on either the G or the Bm chords.

Try playing the D as xx0232, with your first finger across the top three strings. To play the D6, simply put your ring finger - or pinky, whichever's easiest for you - on the G string at the 4th fret. You can play as much, or as little, of this chord as you like - you can get away with the bare minimum of the D and G strings for two note powerchords. In which case, you can put your first finger on the 2nd fret of the G string, and add the sixth note at the 4th fret with whichever finger you wish.

Same with the A chord - put a mini barre across the D G and B strings at the second fret with your index finger. To add the sixth note, simply put your ring (or pinky) finger on the D string at the fourth fret.

Now you've reduced those four-fret stretches to a much more manageable two fret stretch....

For the Bm / A / G / A / D riff ("come together, right now, over me!) try this....

Bm - 221xxx (not strictly a Bm, but it'll do the job...)
A - x022xx (doesn't really matter if you hit the open bottom E string - the E note's part of an A chord, anyway.)
G - 320xxx
D - x002xx (an inversion of a D powerchord - there's an A in the bass, but that's part of a D chord anyway....)

Believe me, there's always a way to make the toughest songs manageable - the trick is in reducing the song to the minimal elements required. Bare bones, if you like. It's not always about the chords you play, it's about where you play them and which voicings you use....and if it sounds OK to you, it will probably sound OK to 99.99% of non-musicians!

:D :D :D

Vic

Seems you've been having trouble with those stretches for a while, Frank - I'm thinking back to "Werewolves Of London" and then I saw your video for "Sundown" - with those short fingers, you're going to really have to put some work in to make them flexible.

Heh heh Tell me about it. I can stretch three frets, and I can do 5th chords without a problem. In fact I was using them a lot tonight.
OR - you could always try something different. At least with this song. If I remember correctly, the chords used are D A G and Bm - all played as powerchords. The variations in the chords are sixths, and I don't think you need them on either the G or the Bm chords.

I found a Youtube video (don't I always?) that I used:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRUSZPz50A4&feature=related

I like the B5 (6x) G5 (4x) to A5 slide progression. It's not perfect and needs work, but for doing this the very first time tonight, and paying along with as much of the recording as I could keep up with, I was pretty pleased. :)
Try playing the D as xx0232, with your first finger across the top three strings. To play the D6, simply put your ring finger - or pinky, whichever's easiest for you - on the G string at the 4th fret. You can play as much, or as little, of this chord as you like - you can get away with the bare minimum of the D and G strings for two note powerchords. In which case, you can put your first finger on the 2nd fret of the G string, and add the sixth note at the 4th fret with whichever finger you wish.

Same with the A chord - put a mini barre across the D G and B strings at the second fret with your index finger. To add the sixth note, simply put your ring (or pinky) finger on the D string at the fourth fret.

Now you've reduced those four-fret stretches to a much more manageable two fret stretch....

For the Bm / A / G / A / D riff ("come together, right now, over me!) try this....

Bm - 221xxx (not strictly a Bm, but it'll do the job...)
A - x022xx (doesn't really matter if you hit the open bottom E string - the E note's part of an A chord, anyway.)
G - 320xxx
D - x002xx (an inversion of a D powerchord - there's an A in the bass, but that's part of a D chord anyway....)

Good tips, thanks. I'll give them a try also.
Believe me, there's always a way to make the toughest songs manageable - the trick is in reducing the song to the minimal elements required. Bare bones, if you like. It's not always about the chords you play, it's about where you play them and which voicings you use....and if it sounds OK to you, it will probably sound OK to 99.99% of non-musicians!

:D :D :D

Vic

Yeah, my teacher says there's always a way to do something a different way. He said it's not like John Lennon is going to come and whack me over the head and say "look bloke, ya got the bloody thing all bloody wrong!"

And once I get the basics down, I can always add a little embellishment.

The third tab was the most accurate but at the end just before the solo begins it goes

I------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------I
I------------------------------------------I
I-2-2-4-4-2-2-4-4-2-2-4-4-2-2-5-4----I
I-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0----I
I------------------------------------------I

And once I get the basics down, I can always add a little embellishment.

Yep, that's the way to do it. Learn the basic chords first, add to 'em later. For instance - the intro of this song, I play the Dm, across to Am, slide up to Cm, across to Fm then add a ninth - I'll tab it out tomorrow, maybe, that's just off the top of my head and I ain't got a guitar handy - but everyone I've ever played it that way to has said, "Hey, that sounds pretty good!"

Trial and error (and there'll be plenty of the latter before you're through, trust me!) and experimentation - never be afraid to try something slightly different - that's the way to go.

:D :D :D

Vic