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Finding Chords To Songs

Pogo 22 May 04 - 08:59 PM
GUEST,.gargoyle 22 May 04 - 10:16 PM
M.Ted 23 May 04 - 02:34 AM
McGrath of Harlow 23 May 04 - 12:36 PM
GUEST,Free Reed Rocker 23 May 04 - 04:17 PM
George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca 23 May 04 - 04:18 PM
Pogo 23 May 04 - 08:16 PM
GUEST 19 Jun 04 - 10:23 PM
John in Brisbane 20 Jun 04 - 03:35 AM
GUEST 10 Jun 10 - 06:32 PM
Geoff the Duck 11 Jun 10 - 05:29 AM
GUEST,Bill the sound 11 Jun 10 - 01:46 PM
GUEST 12 Jun 10 - 10:34 AM
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Subject: Chords and Lyrics and Tunes, Oh My!
From: Pogo
Date: 22 May 04 - 08:59 PM

A question here...I'm still a baby 'Catter and no musician, still orienting my way around the place so please pardon my ignorance on all accounts:) I've prowled around the database with the collection of song lyrics and the midi files...is there also a place here somewhere listing these same songs and their chords as well? Or do I have to just stick to placing chord requests?

The reason I am asking was that just today I was informed of a local bluegrass society gathering every Friday which is basically like a free-for-all jam session for both musicians and those who simply love the music. I told the fellow in charge of the whole thing about Mudcat and all the great information on folk music and bluegrass and whatnot it has to offer and said I'd try to find a few (non-copyrighted) songs and pass them along to interested musicians to add to their collection and well, who knows? perhaps learn to play them myself. So I was just wondering...Thanks:)


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 22 May 04 - 10:16 PM

It is a new group...and you are new to the group.

Stick to what you already know.

Don't offer anything but yourself, and your personal piece of the world.

Maybe.....a year from now....as things fall across your frets....offer to search for the unknown.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

My guess is....you will have so much good rolicking, frolicking, learning fun......"new tabs" will not be a concern of yours nor the group.


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: M.Ted
Date: 23 May 04 - 02:34 AM

Gargoyle is right--don't go into a group offering stuff unless you know it yourself--the old adage about "them that can't teach" definitely doesn't apply to music, of any kind--


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 May 04 - 12:36 PM

It might be better to respond to requests here - if someone wants the words of a song, you can get hold of it for them, and so forth.

But my experience of bluegrass players is that they seem to have an enormous number of songs tucked away in their heads. (Even if they all sound the same... Well, that's what the bluegrass crowd are always saying about Irish tunes.)


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Subject: Yet Another Digital Tradition Page
From: GUEST,Free Reed Rocker
Date: 23 May 04 - 04:17 PM

Yet Another Digital Tradition Page.

This is often called a "mirror" site, but it's more than that:
"Here's yet another index of the Digital Tradition Folk Music Database; you can read about the Digital Tradition at their main site at Mudcat. This version differs in that songs which have tunes have those tunes available as GIFs or PostScript scores. This version is currently using the Spring '02 version of the database. ... This site is completely unsupported. I maintain it for my private use; it is only publically available because it is easy to do so. You can try to contact me, but I can't promise an answer."
From the rest of the description, I infer that the publisher wrote some code to translate the midi files stored in the DT datbase into other formats.

Which is to say, requests for tunes not available as midi files in the Spring '02 (apparently the latest) version are futile at best, annoying (I suspect) at worst.

If you're a non-geek, or novice geek, printing pages from your browser may be the best way for you to quickly get hard copy to share with others, but you might want to drop by a copy center and enlarge the score portion (which is a low resolution image file) before passing it 'round.

The PostScript versions make nice crisp prints of just the scores. PostScript is a printer format (instructs a printer how to render a document) so you have to have a program that can interpret it.

I use GhostScript. It's free to obtain and use (GNU General Public License). You can preview PostScript files with it. I also sometimes use it to view Portable Document Format (.PDF) files, as it seems to load them quicker than Acrobat.

"Ghostscript is the name of a set of software that provides:
  • An interpreter for the PostScript (TM) language and the Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF -- sometimes confused with Acrobat, Adobe's PDF browser/editor product)
  • A set of C procedures (the Ghostscript library) that implement the graphics and filtering (data compression / decompression / conversion) capabilities that appear as primitive operations in the PostScript language and in PDF."
If you're comfortable with installing programs on your system, the cost of your time to download, configure, and get familiar with it will be steadily offset with each tune you print.

The score images and PostScript files are melodies only - no chords displayed above the lines. You may not need more than that if you can read key signatures. The PostScript files are all I need, so I haven't looked into the programs that read the other formats (ABC, SongWright, Lilypond) and can't tell you if those programs can render chords from the melodies.

Cheers, and good luck to you!


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: George Seto - af221@chebucto.ns.ca
Date: 23 May 04 - 04:18 PM

Some chord sites are:

Harmony Central - O.L.G.A.
COWPIE
5 Irish Rebel Songs & Chords
Goodwin Music
Bacharach Lyrics & Chords


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: Pogo
Date: 23 May 04 - 08:16 PM

Thanks all...both for the links and the honest advice :O) I appreciate it.

It's about as informal a gathering as it gets. I asked the fellow " Does it cost anything to get in? " and he looked thoughtful for a moment and then said " Well I'm thinking about charging a can of food at the door. "

So I'll at least bring a can {O) and meself. And the Mudcat's website address. From what I understand it's a gathering from rank amatuers (like me who simply likes listening and singing along) to hopeful locals just getting into things to perhaps some who are hitting the circuits. One of those " music for music's sake " kind of things. I'm really looking forward to it.


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jun 04 - 10:23 PM

tennesee stud


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: John in Brisbane
Date: 20 Jun 04 - 03:35 AM

This message is not necessarily directed to Pogo - I would agree with much of the advice above - but to anyone who needs help with chords.

(1) I hope to shortly commence a collaborative project to add the chords to some of the songs at Mudcat, maybe just a couple of hundred so that beginners have something to start. So I won't be looking for Girl From Ipanema, but good basic standards like Wild Rover or Will The Circle Be Unbroken.

(2) There are at least three items of PC software which will generate chords. ABCMUS is my top pick, followed by Mudcatter Pavane's HARMONY - this prog is improving at a great rate and should become the equal of ABCMUS in this regard. MusicEase is a long way behind and I wouldn't recommend it. Don't expect the results to be perfect, but for beginner's songs they do a pretty good job. Don't even think about using them for jazz or ragtime tunes.

(3) There is probably no such thing as the 'right' chord, but in many cases for folk music you can be 'right enough' by analysing the notes in a particular bar. Hence if the notes are C, E and G, then it's a fair bet that the chord is C. From this simpllest case the analysis get's a bit more complex, but at the end of the day you will need to rely on your ear (or musical convention) to make the decision.

(4) I've had occasions in my past where we've deliberately chosen the 'wrong' chord simply because the vocal harmonies we'd worked out sounded better. I'm an intuitive chord player so I sometimes find it hard to play (say) an Em so match the vocals, when my brain tells me to play G major.

Regards, John


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Jun 10 - 06:32 PM

does anyone know the chords to stars by warpaint? thank youx


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: Geoff the Duck
Date: 11 Jun 10 - 05:29 AM

GUEST - If you want info on a specific song/tune, you are better off starting a new tread with the song/tune title. The thread starting process allows you to specify if it is a request for Chords, Lyrics, or Tune. People who know the song/tune are more likely to spot the request.
Quack!
Geoff the Duck.


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: GUEST,Bill the sound
Date: 11 Jun 10 - 01:46 PM

I have had more luck than I expected by asking google-
ask for--
Chords for "song title "


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Subject: RE: Finding Chords To Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 12 Jun 10 - 10:34 AM

http://www.guitaretab.com/r/rush/16684.html
http://www.guitaretab.com/r/rush/16684.html


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