prac: Cycle of fifths

Cycle of fifths

Here's a prac I'm doing:

F
C
G
D
A
E
B
F#
C#
G#
D#
A#
and back to F

Start anywhere, work forwards or backwards back round to the same chord

Cat Stevens - Wild World

[Intro]:

[Am] [D/G] [Cmaj7/F] [Dm/E]

[Verse-1]

[Am]Now that I've [D7]lost every thing to [G]you,
You say you [C]want to start something [F]new,
And it's [Dm]breaking my heart you're [E]leaving, . . . baby I'm grieving.

[Pre-Chorus]

[Am]But if you want to [D]leave take good [G]care
Hope you have a [Cmaj7]lot of nice things to [F]wear
But then a [Dm]lot of nice things turn [E]bad out [G]there [G]

[Chorus]

[C]Ooh [G]baby baby it's a [F]wild world
[G]It's hard to get [F]by just upon a [C]smile
[C]Ooh [G]baby baby it's a [F]wild world
And [G]I'll always re[F]member you like a [C]child girl [Dm, E]

[Verse-2]

[Am]You know I've seen a [D]lot of what the world can [G]do
And it's [Cmaj7]breaking my heart in [F]two
Cause I [Dm]never want ot see you [E]sad girl, . . .Don't be a bad girl

[Pre-Chorus]

[Am]But if you want to [D]leave take good [G]care,
Hope you make a [Cmaj7]lot of nice friends out [F]there
But just re[Dm]member there's a lot of bad [E]and be[G]ware

[Chorus]

[C]Ooh [G]baby baby it's a [F]wild world
[G]It's hard to get [F]by just upon a [C]smile
[C]Ooh [G]baby baby it's a [F]wild world
And [G]I'll always re[F]member you like a [C]child girl [Dm, E]

[Instrumental Break]

[Am] [D] [G] [Cmaj7] [F] [Dm] [E]

[Pre-Chorus]

Baby I love you . . .
[Am]But if you want to [D]leave take good [G]care,
Hope you make a [Cmaj7]lot of nice friends out [F]there
But just re[Dm]member there's a lot of bad [E]and be[G]ware

[Chorus]

[C]Ooh [G]baby baby it's a [F]wild world
[G] It's hard to get [F]by just upon a [C]smile
[C]Ooh [G]baby baby it's a [F]wild world
And [G]I'll always re[F]member you like a [C]child girl

Bryan Adams - Summer of 69

Chords:

Bm - x24432
A - x02220
G - 320033 or 320003
D - xx0232
F - 133211
Bb - x13331
C - x32010

D* is the progression: Dsus - D - Dsus4 - D - Dsus - D (arpeggiated)
A* is the progression: Asus - A - Asus4 - A - Asus - A (arpeggiated)

Chord Patterns

Verse: D* A* x 4
Chorus: Bm A D G
Chorus2: F Bb C Bb

Intro:

D* A* D* A*

Verse (D* A*):

i got my first real six string
- brought it at the five & dime
played it til my fingers bled
- was the summer of '69

me and some guys from school
started a band and we tried real hard
jimmy quit and jody got married
shoulda known we'd never get far

Chorus (Bm A D G)

[Bm] oh when i [A]look back now
[D] that summer seemed to [G]last for ever
And if i had the choice
ya i'd always *wanna be there
those were the best days of my
[D*]life [A*]

Verse

Ain't no use complaining
when ya gotta job to do!
Spent my evenings down at the drive in
and that's when i met you

Chorus

[Bm] Standing on your mamma's porch
you told me that you'd wait forever.
And when i held your hand,
I knew that it was now or never

[Bm] those were the [A]best days of my
[D*]life - back in the summer of [A*]'69 [D*] [A*]

Chorus2

[F] man we were killin' [Bb]time,
we were [C]young and reckless - we [Bb]needed to
un[F]wind: I guess [Bb]nothing can last for
[C]ever...

D* A* D* A*

Verse

And now the times are changin'
look at everything that's come and gone
Sometimes when i play my old six string
I think about you, wonder what went wrong

Chorus

[Bb]Standing on your manna's porch
you told me it'd last forever
And when i held your hand
I knew that it was now or never
[Bm] those were the [A]best days of my
[D*]life - [A*] back in the summer of
[D*]'69 [A*]

(...continue on D* A*)

GreenDay - Time of Your Life

This is a good intro for finger-picking.

Chords

G: 320003
Em: 022000
Gmodal: 320033
C9: 032033
Dsus4: 000233
Em7: 022033

Chord Patterns

Verse:
Gmodal Gmodal C9 Dsus4
Em Dsus4 C9 Gmodal

Chorus:
Em G Em G
Em Dsus4 [G G C9 Dsus4]
(Note how we lose half a bar...)

Intro:

G G C9 Dsus4 x 2

Verse 1

[Gmodal] Another [Gmodal]turning point
a [C9]fork stuck in the [Dsus4]road
Time grabs you by the wrist
directs you where to go

[Em] So make the [Dsus4]best of these
[C9]days and don't ask [Gmodal]why
It's not a question but a
lesson learned in time

Chorus

It's [Em]something unpre[G]dictable
but [Em]in the end it's [G]right
I [Em]hope you have the [Dsus4]time of your
[Gmodal]life. [Gmodal] [C9] [Dsus4]

Verse 2

So take the photographs
and still frames in your mind.
* Hang it on a *shelf
In good *health and good *time.

Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial.
For what it's worth,
it was worth all the while.

Chorus (repeating)

It's something unpredictable
but in the end it's right.
I hope you had the time of your life.

Van Morrisson - Brown Eyed Girl

Here's another classic that needs just 4 easy chords. Just make up the lalalala stuff when you get to it!

Notice how I'm being careful with the spacing eg
[G] Down in the [C]hollow,
'Down' is just after the beat, whereas 'hollow' is smack on.

I sometimes use * to indicate a half-beat, and later count through individual beats if its tricky

Chords

[C] = x32010
[G] = 320003
[D7] = 2120xx
[Em] = 022000

Chord Patterns

Verse:
G C G D7 x 4
C D7 G Em
C D7 G D7

Bridge: D7
Chorus:
G C G D7 x 2
G D7 G G
C D7 G D7

Verse 1

[G]Hey, where did we [C]go,
[G] days when the [D7]rain came
[G] Down in the [C]hollow,
[G] a'playin a [D7]new game
[G] a'Laughin, and a [C]runnin, hey, hey.
[G] a-skipping and a [D7] jumping
[G] in the misty [C]morning fog,
[G] * with our [D7]hearts a thumpin' and

[C]you, [D7] my brown eyed [G]girl [Em]
[C] You, [D7] my brown eyed [G]girl [D7]

Verse 2

Whatever happened?
Tuesday went so slow ..
Down in the old mine
With a transistor radio

Standing in the sunlight laughing
Hiding behind a rainbow's wall
Slipping and a sliding
All along the waterfall ...

...with you, my brown eyed girl
You, my brown eyed girl

Bridge

[D7] Do you remember when............. we used to

Chorus

[G]sing Sha*lalalala [C] lala *la-la
[G]la lala*la te [D7] da Just like that
[G] Sha-la *lalalala[C]lala *la-la la
[G]lalalala*la-te[D7]da *la-ti

[G]da 2 bi 4 [D7]day 2 la-ti-4
[G]da 2 3 bom Da 2 3 bom [G]Da 2 3 bom Di di di di
[C]buum 2 3 buum 1 2 da 4 [D7]buum *bi da
[G]buum -buum da [D7]yabbadabba-diddi-bay

Verse 3

[G] Now I'm getting [C]older
[G] Now that I'm all [D7]on my own
[G] I saw you just the [C]other day
[G] and My, how [D7]you have grown
[G] Cast my memory [C]back there Lord ...
Some[G]times I'm overcome [D7]thinkin' 'bout it
[G] A-laughing and a [C]kissing hey, hey
[G] Behind the [D7]stadium

with [C]you, [D7] my brown eyed [G]girl [Em]
[C] You, [D7] my brown eyed [G]girl [D7]

Chorus

Do you re[D7]member when.... we used to

[G]sing Sha*lalalala [C] lala *la-la [G]la lala*la te [D7] da Just like that
[G] Sha-la *lalalala[C]lala *la-la la[G]lalalala*la-te[D7]da *la-ti
:
:

Levellers - Julie

Julie (Levellers)

This song is beautiful. 3 chords, and it is complete! This is a great song to start with!

Listen on YouTube

Chords

(fingerings from low E string)
D (xx0232)
G (320003)
A (x02220)

Chord pattern

Verses: D G
Choruses: D A G
Bridge: D A D G D A G
Coda: A D G A

(voice starts on high D in the D chord: the 3 in xx0232)

Verse 1

[D]Julie was a lonely [G]girl
Said she was born that [D]way
She always felt that [G]way

She left home at age sixteen
Got a job, what you're supposed to do
That's what you gotta do

She fell in love and settled down
In a council place out
... on the edge of town

Chorus:

[D]She'd feel a[A]lone in a crow[G]_ded room
[D]Cry when she [A]heard a [G]happy tune
[D]Julie was a lonely [G]girl
Said she was born that [D]way
She always felt that [G]way

Verse 2

Well it would be nice to holiday
'Till they took her job away
They just took her life away

Doing nothing isn't fun
... when you've nothing from which to run
Yeah, you've nowhere left to run

She'd visit the social every day
Every time be turned away
Every time be turned away

Chorus:

She'd feel alone in a crowded room
Cry when she heard a happy tune

Bridge:

D A D G D A G

Verse 3

A hundred stairs to her new room
Over glass and blackened spoons
Children grow old so soon

Past the kids who gather there
Pain masked by narcotic stares
But no-one really cares

Chorus 2

[D]Her dreams were [A]cut up and bled [G] dry
A [D]million [A]voices [G]in her cry

Coda

[A]Julie waits, her [D]world is [G]her win[A]dow
And [A]Julie hates, she [D]hates the [G]world be[A]low
And [A]Julie hates just [D]what she [G]doesn't [A]know
But [A]Julie loves, she [D]loves too [G]much to [A]know...

Learning guitar

Learning guitar
I picked up guitar last time I was in India. Started playing on Caoru's guitar. Caoru is another Kalari student, and Kalari is a yoga-like martial art from India that is currently spreading through the west like wildfire.

I learned off the net - sites like justinguitar.com and chordie.com, googling songs and chord-shapes, sticking on an mp3 and jamming along, trying to pick out the vocals. Learning to sing.

"If you wish to play, you must first learn to sing"

Chopin

I wasted years on the piano ignoring this guy's wisdom. So, in this blog, over the next few months - I'm going to be putting up my favourite songs, starting with easy ones - it's possible to play loads of songs with only 3 or 4 chords!

Recently I have damaged my left wrist, so I took the strings out, turned the bridges round and restrung it leftie-style. I'm surprised - I prefer it this way! It's taken a couple of weeks to toughen up my hands and transfer the finger-memory. But I am learning better the second time around!