Chords and lyrics charts ????

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rapsidy
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Wed Apr 07, 2010 7:44 am

Hi TG

I am looking at comfortably numb and the lesson gives the lyrics and chords but i have trouble knowing where the chords go on the lyrics as they are only shown above in measures.

How do you place the chords onto the lyrics in the right spot/ what is the trick.? I probably not explaining this too well. I like to try and sing and strum at same time so it comes together easier for me that way but struggle when I'm not sure where the changes are suppose to be on the lyrics.

hope u can understand what i'm trying to ask :unsure:

thanks
Brad


dennisg
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Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:13 am

Brad,

That's a good question. As someone who usually sings along with his guitar playing, I'll make these two observations: 1) I don't place the chords on top of the lyrics; I place the lyrics on top of the chords. Chords exist in a time signature and tempo, and lyrics have to somehow fit in there. But there's not just a single way to make them fit. Lyrics are subject to a singer's phrasing: that is, two singers listening to the same instrumental track might very well produce two entirely different versions of a song, introducing lyrics earlier in a measure, bunching some words together, adding extra pauses, bending notes, etc. -- and all of these techniques work. So (to repeat) there is no single way to put lyrics on top of music; and 2) If you want to understand how the original artist related lyrics to music, listen to the original artist over and over again. I can't tell you how many times I went to iTunes and listened to "Here comes the sun" and "Sad songs & waltzes" in order to understand the relationships between lyrics and music. As you listen to the songs, follow along on the chord chart and, if it'll help, make notes on the chord chart as to where the artist is hitting certain lyrics.

Hope this helps.


rapsidy
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Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:55 am

Dennisg

exxxxxcellent :P

That makes a lot of sense as i have always tried to make the chords fit the lyrics, that gives me some more freedom now cool, should make things a bit easier. Probably why Neil set it up that way.

Will do what u have suggested thanks

Brad


BigBear
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Wed Apr 07, 2010 12:14 pm

Brad- as usual my friend Dennis is spot on with his advice! I might add that Neil's method of showing the chords also helps show where they go in the song.

For example, on Comfortably Numb the song begins with a Bm and remains there for 2 full measures when it changes to an A. Neil shows this with slashes ( / ) or the chord itself.

On the next line there is a G for one measure, Em for one measure and Bm for two measures. This is where Dennis' advice is particularly good. The lyrics must overlay the music not the other way around!

Now this doesn't show you exactly where to place the chords but Roger Waters vocals give you a very good clue when to do the chord changes since he raises the inflection of his voice on the "...in..." in the first line for example. Of at the "...hear..." in the second line.

I love this song and play if frequently and the only way that I was able to get the chord changes right was simply by listening to the song many times and then using Neil's method for chord placement. When I finally figure it out I put a mark over the word in the lyric.

Good luck on this great song and you'll have the chords down in no time!!

Cheers! :cheer:


johnrfeeney
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Wed Apr 07, 2010 8:03 pm

can't agree more with what bear said


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