Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David McQueen on January 10, 2014 at 2:02pm

What are you playing in? Open G? I have a bunch of songs I play in open G on PDF and I have a chord chart. It is for a 4 string, but just knock off one string if playing 3 .

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Permalink Reply by Reeds Taylor on January 10, 2014 at 2:55pm

Here's a great site with everything you need. http://www.learncigarboxguitar.com/

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on January 10, 2014 at 4:55pm

You can also try http://www.cigarbox101.com/essential-chords.html

You can also search CBN using key words like "3 chord songs", and again using Google (or your favorite search engine). If it is a 6-string guitar song with chords, you can still try it with the 3- and 4-string (note) chords available of 3- and 4-string CBGs. If you don't hear the melody when you are playing the chords, it's because you are not singing along. Be sure to practice your singing when practicing the chords for a song.

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Patrick Curley on January 14, 2014 at 7:16pm

Thanks Reeds, I have a stack of songs on there but haven't added anything new in a while. I've been focusing on video lessons because I thought that was what people wanted. If there's enough demand I'll get some more up, it's a lot easier than doing videos.

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Permalink Reply by t-belly johnson on January 10, 2014 at 3:34pm

This may help :

http://www.cigarboxnation.com/profiles/blogs/diy-easy-peasy-music-s...

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Permalink Reply by Uncle John on January 10, 2014 at 4:17pm

Micheal, I often have chords and lyrics for the songs on my videos.  

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on January 10, 2014 at 5:17pm

If you are suggesting that we (CBN) put together a collection of easy 3-chord CBG songs, then I'd recommend choosing those 3-chord songs which incorporate the melody into the chords to such an extent that you can hear the melody when you play the chords. The reason I suggest this is that I have heard a few songs played chordally and can hear the melody. Other songs I can't hear the melody, so I think the key for beginners is being able to hear the melody in the chords selected to play the song. Any song suggestions along this line would  be greatly appreciated. The one song I remember where the chords incorporated the melody is "Boil Them Cabbage Down". I'll have to check my notes to see what those chords were. My version was for a diatonic 3-string dulcimer.

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on January 10, 2014 at 5:51pm

Here's "Boil Them Cabbage Down", diatonic version.

1.) Basic Melody:

Went up on a moun-tain
2 2 2 2 3 3

(To)give my horn a blow, blow.
2 2 2 2 1 1

Thought I heard my true love say,
2 2 2 2 3 3 3

"Yon-der comes my beau."
2 2 1 1 0

Chorus:

Boil them cab-bage down, down.
2 2 2 2 3 3

Turn them hoe-cakes 'round, 'round.
2 2 2 2 1 1

The on-ly song that I can sing is
2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3

Boil them cab-bage down.
2 2 1 1 0

2.) Accompanyment (Chords)

For fret/note:

  0 Use chord "000"
  1 Use chord "101"
  2 Use chord "002"
  3 Use chord "013" or maybe "113"

So, when you want to play the song chordally, where ever a fret (note) number is called out substitute the 3 digit fret name. For instance, if the song uses "fret 3", instead of stopping just fret 3 on string 1, stop string 2 at fret 1 and stop string 1 at fret 3, leaving string 3 open. Hopefully you can follow my meaning. To adapt this to Chromatic, you will have to figure out which diatonic fret numbers correspond to the chromatic and substitute those numbers into the lyrics and chord names I gave above. Too bad I'm barely started using chromatic.

(And too bad HTML filers out tabs a spacing, you will have to insert them using Notepad or some such)

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Delp on January 11, 2014 at 6:46am

I'm using open G tuning and I think I'm confused by my inability to ask the proper question, since I am a non-musician. What I'm really looking for is a book with song lyrics and the I IV an V chords above the words...not notes, just the words and the chords. Snything like that any of you know of? I thought there was such a site or link last year, but when I click on it, it does not work. Thank you for your replies, though. One of these days, perhaps I will catch up to some of you.

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Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on January 11, 2014 at 1:24pm

Well, if you are looking to purchase a book, you might try searching Amazon.com. Use as search criteria words like "3 chord guitar song book". The hits you get will be for standard tuning 6 string guitar, but these books are still usable if you tune your CBG to G-B-e (or D-G-B-e for 4-stringers). If you want to use another tuning, then you will need a chord chart for that tuning and figure out the equivalent fingerings for each song. You could also try adding the tuning as part of your search criteria, and you might get lucky. Then, using features built in to the Amazon website you can view sample pages, and you may find a book with the right combination of songs, chord notation and music arrangement to suit what you're looking for. Many of the books includes useful reviews. As a test, I got 24 hits. Here's the URL for the Amazon search results I got. Here is another search I did. Hopefully these results will still be valid when you read this reply.

I seldom spend money for books these days as most of the information can be found by hunting around the Internet, but then many people are busier than me. Usually, by the time the information gets published in book form, it becomes too comprehensive and you (the novice) are hit with a big wall of information. You might also try less restrictive searches like "3 Chord arrangements" and this might lead you to some (for instance) beginning piano song book that include chords which suits your needs. A lot of the music I play come from children's song books (that I bought years ago) as the music arrangements are easy to read and adapt for CBG or dulcimer. Good luck and happy hunting.

-Rand.

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Permalink Reply by PAUL LAWRENCE WALDRON on October 4, 2016 at 4:48am

I NEED A SONG BOOK THAT SHOWS ME WHICH FRET TO PRESS TO PLAY A SONG I NEED HELP WANT TO LEARN BAD LOVE PLAY FOR MY GRAND CHILDREN I AM 70 YEARS YOUNG PHONE NUMMBER IS 606 3935631 ASHLAND KY GOD BLESS YOU

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Permalink Reply by David McQueen on January 11, 2014 at 8:16am

Here is a one page Chords in open G - Shows you what all of the chords are as you go up the neck and also how to make minor chords. With this you can get any song done in tabs (shows the chords over the words) and play. The diagrams are a schematic of the fret board.  Horizontal lines are frets and vertical lines strings. The dots are where your fingers go.

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