I need some help to read this........

Hi.........here is a question on chords and the way they are written in song books......I just don't understand it....the following is an example of a chords taken from one of these books..............

The trouble with Chord cheat sheets like this or TAB for that matter, is that it gives you no sense of the rythm of the song. Song sheets written out like this let you know how the chord changes co-ordinate with the Lyrics - you change to the new chord as you hit the word below the Chord identified - but your not given any idea of timing. This kind of song sheet assumes that you know the song to begin with. Only thing I can suggest is finding a recording of the song and listen to it for the rythm.

thanks for that......so I will have to research each song that I want to play, get the music and do it that way I guess.....

I saw a busker in the mall the other day playing his guitar and singing a variety of songs....not tooo bad, then I watched and listened more closely and realised that he was virtually playing the same chords all the time and just changing the strum pattern and lyrics....seems that people get attracted by the lyrics and the rest becomes sort of background and if it sort of losely fits the song then nobody really seems to mind........I have found that the words add the finish and can and do cover the chords when they are not the right chords.........would you say that's a fair observation??.....not that I am anywhere near being able to sing and play at the same time yet but maybe in another 6 months or so......

Kev

its amazing what different strummings can do to a few chords eh...

........I have found that the words add the finish and can and do cover the chords when they are not the right chords.........would you say that's a fair observation??.....
Kev

Well, when you consider that so many rock, pop, and blues songs contain a simple I, IV, V chord progression, you can play an awful lot with a simple G, C, D or A, D, E progression. If the focus is on the lyrical content and the guitar is providing simple rythm only, you can do alot with very little.

Well, when you consider that so many rock, pop, and blues songs contain a simple I, IV, V chord progression, you can play an awful lot with a simple G, C, D or A, D, E progression. If the focus is on the lyrical content and the guitar is providing simple rythm only, you can do alot with very little.You are 100% right Burgermeister, even though I can't sing worth a @#$% when I blurt out a few words on a song it is amazing how quickly people comment on great the song sounds even though in my mind it is terrible since I know I am either faking it or don't have the pattern right.

I guess that means my bad voice makes my playing sound good :lol:

Kev59

That looks like one of the songs from the Easy Song Database. Myself and others have posted many songs there. The problem is that on the computer it changes the spacing badly. I had a big problem with this on
many songs. I forget who did this tab, but the dots were an effort to get the spacing correct. It was Vic and others who showed me to hit "Code" above before pasting in a tab. Then the spacing comes out correct.

When you see versions of songs like this, it is assumed the person generally knows the song by ear. The person pretty much knows how the strum sounds. You try to put the chord changes directly over the syllable in the lyric where the change is. This also assumes the person pretty much knows the phrasing of the singing. A person may write out "today", where when you sing it, it is more like "to-----da---y". I hope you understand what I mean.

The spacing was a little off on that. It is not the writer, it is the computer. See if this helps.


D A G D
I see a bad moon a-risin'
D A G D
I see troubles on the way
D A G D
I see earthquakes and lightning
D A G D
I see bad times to-day

CHORUS:
D G D
Well don't go round tonite, it's bound to take your life
A G D
There's a bad moon on the rise


Writing time is my weakness, but this should be close.


Verses

G / / / / / / / D / / / / / / /
1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a 1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a


Kev,

I've had the same problem with tab and trying to figure out the stumming pattern.

To me it would just be better if the tab was written G/C/D with each assuming one full measure of 4 beats. And maybe like G/C-G/D to denote that the middle measure is two beats C and two beats G. Then I could work out my own strumming patterns.

Spacing out the chords over the words doesn't work for me even when I know the song.

This is the fundamental problem with Buskers' books - they don't show you the timing so if you don't know the song you're going to struggle.

Raid your friends' CD collections for current songs. Raid their parents' collection for old songs and plug away at as much of it as you can. It pays dividends - one day you'll be looking at a Buskers Book and you'll strum a few chords and suddenly realise you've got "one-of-your-favourite-song-but-you-didn't-know-its-name" in front of you.

Best,

A :-)

Yes, you play some chords longer than others, that is why they are not spaced evenly.