Thanksgiving

We had a lovely time at my parent's for Thanksgiving. It was quieter this year with only my parents, my family and Grannie- a whole lot calmer than the Thanksgiving of my youth with me and my cousins running through Grannie's house, eating all the good nuts out of the mixed nuts bowl. But it was good all the same.

One of the sweetest moments came when my dad and ISH put on a concert for us (at ISH's request). ISH has been in piano since September a he combined his two memorized songs to make one lovely piece. The first video is their first run at it. The second is when Dad figured out a better way to play his part.





What was your favorite part of the Thanksgiving break?

Landslide Chords

I know it's been a long time since I've had time to get into the recording studio*, but I have been practicing- and I feel like it's really starting to come along. Though I know, I know-- if you're really good at guitar (or have been playing longer than 6 months) you don't need to tell me this still needs work.  I understand that.  But, I'm feeling more confident and was even brave enough to try a song that is all picking (I'll have to keep practicing before I post that one here).  So, here is one of the ones I've learned how to play- Landslide.  It's a bit more like the Dixie Chicks version than Fleetwood Mac's in that I play it faster and up on capo 5.

Here's what it sounds like so far:


And if you're interested, here are the chords:

C           G/B                 Am7  G/B
I   took my love, and I took it down

C           G/B                   Am7   G/B
I climbed a mountain and I turned around

      C       G/B              Am7          G/B
And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills

         C         G/B        Am7       G/B
Till the landslide brought me down

   C             G/B          Am7  G/B
Oh mirror in the sky: What is love?

        C           G/B        Am7  G/B
Can the child in my heart rise above?

      C                G/B      Am7   G/B
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?

      C          G/B     Am7   G/B
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

        C     G/B Am7
I don't know

D/F#  G         D/F#      Em7       Em7/open 4th
Well, I've been afraid of changing, Cause
  
     C        G/B         Am7 
I've built my life around you

D/F#   G              D/F#        Em7          Em7/open 4th
   But time makes you bolder even children get older

    C           G/B   Am7    G/B
And I'm getting older too

    C           G/B   Am7    G/B
Yes I'm getting older too.

     C       G/B                 Am7   G/B
So I took my love, and I took it down

  C         G/B                   Am7   G/B
I climbed a mountain and I turned around

           C      G/B               Am7 //          G/B //
And if you see my reflection in the snow // covered hills //

     C       G/B   Am7  G/B
Well maybe

     C       G/B   Am7  G/B
Well maybe

        C //           G/B //        Am7
The the landslide //   brought me//  down

*recording studio = my bathroom with the voice memo app on my iPhone. Yup, I'm high tech in these here parts.

Mercedes Benz chords

So this week in my guitar lessons I'm working on learning not just down strumming but up strumming too-- which is actually harder than I thought it would be. But before I move on to full guitar playing (or start taking the small steps closer in that direction), here's one of the other beginning songs I learned: Mercedes Benz by Janis Joplin.

Mercedes Benz is one of those songs I always saw myself playing when I would picture in my head what I'd look like as a guitar player, but it wasn't until I listen soooo closely to hear her strumming pattern that I realized, there's no guitar in the song!

But no matter! It's one I've always seen myself playing, so play it I will. And, because I've been playing this so much as I try to get better at it- the boys have learned the words and ISH will randomly break out into "Oh Lord won't cha buy me!", which I admit is way cuter than my version, so I've included it too (Geo sings with him in the recording as well because the moment I started recording, ISH declared he was shy).

The boys version:

Me:


And if you're interested in the chords, what I was able to find online other places didn't seem right when Derek was here helping me learn, so this is what he came up with:

   D                        G        D
Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
    D                            D           A
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
        D                       G            D
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
      D                        A        D
So oh lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?

     D                      G      D
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV ?
   D                    D             A
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
  D                      G          D
I wait for delivery each day until three,
      D                        A     D
So oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV ? 

   D                         G            D
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ?
    D                      D                   A
I'm counting on you, Lord, please don't let me down.
  D                        G             D
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
     D                       A            D
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town ? 

As performed by:


(oh and check this out if you've ever wondered what Dialing for Dollars is)

Lumina Chords

I chose Lumina from Joan Osborne's Relish album as my first song to learn because it's slow and it doesn't have too many chords. (The fact that Cadd9 and G are really close together helps too.) My tutor found the original chords online but I've clean their post up and added a few twists of my own.

And my sweet DH said to add me playing this on here. Be nice- I just had my 5th lesson today.


My notes:
Joan sings lower than I do, so I play this at capo 1, but if you want to sing along with the song you'll want it tune to your basic EADGBE

Joan plays this with a full down and up strumming rhythm, but I only know down strumming right now. However, I've been able to create a sound similar to what Joan does with a full down and up strum by using this pattern (D= down strum)

Chorus:
Cadd9  G     Cadd9  G
DD     DD    DD     D (PLUCK B PLUCK B) D
Lu-      mi- na
Cadd9          G     Cadd9  G
DD             DD    DD     D (PLUCK B PLUCK B) D
Come and wrap around me
Cadd9  G     Cadd9   G
DD     DD    DD      D (PLUCK B PLUCK B) D
Lu-      mi- na
Cadd9               G    Cadd9  G
DD                  DD   DD     D (PLUCK B PLUCK B) D
Take me through the snow

Repeat for the rest of the chorus chords

Verses:
D          Em     Cadd9      G
DD         D      DD         D
Eve take a train, Eve took a train
Cadd9           G   Cadd9  G
DD              DD  DD     D (PLUCK B PLUCK B) D
Went to see her man
D       Em      Cadd9   G
DD      D       DD      D
Melting inside, melting away
Cadd9              G   Cadd9  G
DD                 DD  DD     D (PLUCK B PLUCK B) D
Like butter in the pan

Repeat for the rest of the verses. Alright, so now for the chords.

Intro:/ Cadd9 G - / x8

Chorus 1:
Cadd9  G    Cadd9  G
Lu-     mi- na
Cadd9          G     Cadd9  G
Come and wrap around me
Cadd9  G    Cadd9   G
Lu-     mi- na
Cadd9               G    Cadd9  G
Take me through the snow

D          Em     Cadd9      G
Eve take a train, Eve took a train
Cadd9           G   Cadd9  G
Went to see her man
D       Em      Cadd9   G
Melting inside, melting away
Cadd9              G   Cadd9  G
Like butter in the pan

Repeat Chorus 1

D          Em     Cadd9       G
Eve took a fruit, Eve bit the fruit
Cadd9              G    Cadd9  G
Juice ran down her chin
D           Em  Cadd9           G
Babies will put things in their mouths
Cadd9          G   Cadd9  G
Never heard of sin

/ Cadd9 G - / x8

Chorus 2:
Cadd9  G    Cadd9  G
Lu-     mi- na
Cadd9          G     Cadd9  G
Open like the sea
Cadd9  G    Cadd9   G
Lu-     mi- na
Cadd9          G    Cadd9  G
Sing me in the dark

D          Em   Cadd9      G
Eve had to ask, Eve had to ask
Cadd9              G      Cadd9  G
What is wrong with this?
D           Em     Cadd9      G
Here is the place, now is the time
Cadd9            G    Cadd9  G
Let's invent the kiss

Chorus 3:
Cadd9  G    Cadd9   G
Lu-     mi- na
Cadd9          G     Cadd9  G
Come and wrap around me
Cadd9          G     Cadd9  G
Come and wrap around me
Cadd9          G     Cadd9  G
Come and wrap around me

/ Cadd9  G - / Cadd9  G (hold) /