Guitar chords?

[Vanya]

Has anyone here got some good source websites please?

Over the weekend I realised I have forgotten most of the chords to The Cougars' Saturday Night at the Duck Pond.

I have done a fair bit of google trawling and other than an intro tab I am coming up empty.

It has to be said, I've forgotten quite a lot of my other favourites too but they are less obscure, if obscure is the right word.

Any help is appreciated.



V.

[Meteor Madness]

www.ultimateguitar.com

mainly in tab format, but most songs show the chords too.

[jbudgie]

Your link seems a little suspect .!!

[Animal]

Try www.ultimate-guitar.com

[Meteor Madness]

oops !

[Vanya]

Thanks guys.

That Ultimate Guitar site pretty much comes up within the first three results on a google search.

It has the intro tab and that's it.
Oh yes, you can also eventually find the entire bass guitar tab too for Duck Pond thru' that site.

Is there anywhere else I could try at all?

I do vaguely recall it took me and a very much more experienced lead guitarist more than a small amount of time to work out the chords in the first place.
We jotted it out on a handy scrap of paper that I committed to memory.
The rest is history, along with that part of my memory.

[Justin Cyder]

By ear, I would say it's pretty much nailed on Am, Em, with the middle eight running to Gmaj. Not a very complex tune chordally.

[Vanya]

Justin Cyder said:

By ear, I would say it's pretty much nailed on Am, Em, with the middle eight running to Gmaj. Not a very complex tune chordally.

Thanks Justin, not very complex I'm sure to the tuned or experienced ear.

My ear however is rusty just short of seized and hobby-ist at best and needs help!!!
We're going back to early 90's here when I was doing this sort of stuff.

I vaguely recall I may have kicked off in Bm in the recording I had of our lots' practice sessions. This is what I used to play along to. Chordally!
Well it seemed to work for the lead and bass.

The key I used may be more to do with the low tech equipment like cassette recordings etc!

[Foofighter]

Almost completely O/T

I used to be a member of a big bass guitar forum in the States. The site featured its own 'Tab' area where members could upload and distribute tabs for their own or other artists works. There always used to a rift between the hardcore players who hated the idea of it being a section on the website, and the new comers who would post request for tabs.

For the OP, I would say that looking for chords or tabs is a last resort sort of method on learning how to play something or indeed learning it. They have their place, tab and chord websites, but ultimately, nothing beats sitting down with a guitar and figuring out the sequence yourself. You may get it wrong the first couple of times, or struggle with little sections here and there, but its all about educating yourself and learning how someone composed that sequence. After a while you'll soon be able to figure out where the piece is going before you get to it, and know which chord to play. This transition marks the point at which you go from saying you play the guitar, to being a musician.

All of the above is my opinion so please don't flame me, just my two pence worth.

[Justin Cyder]

Not to knock a rusty musician, but the progression in a song like that is predictable in the sense of brushing up on the way tonic, subdominant & dominant notes/chords fit together. A little theory is always worth a review if you're coming back to music.

[Gaspode]

Foofighter said:

For the OP, I would say that looking for chords or tabs is a last resort sort of method on learning how to play something or indeed learning it. They have their place, tab and chord websites, but ultimately, nothing beats sitting down with a guitar and figuring out the sequence yourself. You may get it wrong the first couple of times, or struggle with little sections here and there, but its all about educating yourself and learning how someone composed that sequence. After a while you'll soon be able to figure out where the piece is going before you get to it, and know which chord to play. This transition marks the point at which you go from saying you play the guitar, to being a musician.

I pretty much agree with you, Foof, but I would point out that in the real world it can sometimes be pretty tricky to hear exactly what's going on in a song, and a reference to tabs/chords can frequently be of help - although often of course the tabs are wrong as well!

Think for example about a relatively simple song like Layla. Imagine sitting down to learn it the first time. First bit, dead easy, it's in Dmin, strictly pentatonic, no problem, that riff is nice and straightforward, although technically sliding that Powerchord shape smoothly up and down the frets can be tricky at first. Then what happens? fk me, it switches to C#m. But now he's singing the bloody chorus, there's drums, bass, Duane waddling away like mad, and you have to figure out what chords our Eric is playing in amongst all that. Actually, of course, it's pretty simple, the lazy bugger has just dropped the whole chord pattern down a fret, apart from when he moves the root to get from C#m to Emaj momentarily, but quick google of the chords could only help in such a circumstance, surely?

[Foofighter]

Gaspode said:

Foofighter said:

For the OP, I would say that looking for chords or tabs is a last resort sort of method on learning how to play something or indeed learning it. They have their place, tab and chord websites, but ultimately, nothing beats sitting down with a guitar and figuring out the sequence yourself. You may get it wrong the first couple of times, or struggle with little sections here and there, but its all about educating yourself and learning how someone composed that sequence. After a while you'll soon be able to figure out where the piece is going before you get to it, and know which chord to play. This transition marks the point at which you go from saying you play the guitar, to being a musician.

I pretty much agree with you, Foof, but I would point out that in the real world it can sometimes be pretty tricky to hear exactly what's going on in a song, and a reference to tabs/chords can frequently be of help - although often of course the tabs are wrong as well!

Think for example about a relatively simple song like Layla. Imagine sitting down to learn it the first time. First bit, dead easy, it's in Dmin, strictly pentatonic, no problem, that riff is nice and straightforward, although technically sliding that Powerchord shape smoothly up and down the frets can be tricky at first. Then what happens? fk me, it switches to C#m. But now he's singing the bloody chorus, there's drums, bass, Duane waddling away like mad, and you have to figure out what chords our Eric is playing in amongst all that. Actually, of course, it's pretty simple, the lazy bugger has just dropped the whole chord pattern down a fret, apart from when he moves the root to get from C#m to Emaj momentarily, but quick google of the chords could only help in such a circumstance, surely?

Don't disagree at all! I merely suggest that anyone has a stab at it. You could be miles off the first couple of attempts, but by at least having ago, you're learning. I remember when I first started playing, I relied on Olga.net and as it was Ultimate-Guitar in its infany. But soon I realised I could work this stuff out for myself quicker. Oh and all of Blink 182's songs were based around one sequence, just remembering where up the neck to play it.

As for how to work out something by ear, first start with the bass notes. Most songs the bass will be following the chord sequence to some degree. From the root notes you can figure out the chords, and from the temperament you can work out the Maj, min. Fine tune until you get it sussed. Then you can compare your workings out to what others have done. Once you get it licked you'll often find someone else has made a mistake online.

[Vanya]

Thanks guys, all comments are valid and true.

I was being lazy, but only from the point that I'd already been down the road and nailed it.

With the interweb being what it is today, I thought I'd play it smart and see what was out there, and there is alot.

Oh well, back to the scraps of paper and pencil behind the ear!