I was a little dissapointed in M.Ted's response to the chord links. Not to say that M.Ted isn't a pretty fart smeller, he is correct as usual. Of course the position/fingering/inversion selected for a chord depends on the melodic line moving through it. But that determination is part of the art of musical accompaniment, the explanation of which goes way beyond the question without really answering it.

Tim doesn't say where he got the chord charts for the Chapin tunes but, as pointed out, it's common for music publishers to either be wrong about the intended chord or to misinterpret the nature of the music being documented.

Cluin is correct that Amos fingering should have been 022230 or perhaps more properly 02223x. And one wouldn't expect to see either a third or a flatted third in a suspended chord.

Gadd9 might be used to describe the spelling G,B,D,A as Gary noted but it might also just be a G9 (G,B,D,F,A) chord played without the dominant 7th. On guitar it's common to play inverted and partial chords but regard them as complete for the purposes of a lead sheet. It's only the computer/transcriber who, not hearing the F, tries to come up with a name that describes only the notes heard.

A7addB is just the standard spelling for an A9 chord (A,C#,E,G,B).

I imagine a notation like CaddG is just a first position C chord with another G added on the first string using the little finger. This is so common among guitarists that no mention of the G would normally be made except to show it as a melody or harmony note in the score.

The common progressions for many of Chapin's songs are available on the net. Try a Google search for “harry-chapin tab” and visit the more promising links. You should come up with better chords for most of the tunes you're trying to play.

      - Mark