DAVE & HIS GUITAR PART SIX
So far, the chords you have learnt to play have all been clustered around the first three or four frets on the guitar. These are because the chords you have been playing are what is known as 'root position' chords. If you look at where my hands are on the neck of the guitar when I'm playing on stage, vou'li see that they're not down that end of the fretboard very often, but concentrated more on the middle and upper reaches! This is because you can play every chord in more than one position on the fretboard. Every chord has what is called 'inversions'. The root of the chord of C major is the three notes C, E and G. But you can play E, G and C, or even, G, C and E and you are still playing C major, only not the root chord but the first and second inversions!
In the space of this article, I can't possibly show you every inversion of every chord. At this stage, i think you should definitely buy a chord book, if you haven't already invested in one, and spend some time learning the different inversions of chords which show you around the fretboard a bit more. There's no reason at all why you can't stick to the root chords you already know, but I do think that a few chords played high up the fretboard add a bit more interest to your playing.
Some of you at this stage might be thinking about leaving the acoustic guitar and going electric. This is a very important and exciting decision to make, but it also involves a lot more expense, because if you're buying an electric guitar, you'll need to buy an amplifier, too. As with acoustic guitars, which electric guitar you choose depends on your individual tastes. There is a bewildering selection on the market, from relatively inexpensive Japanese made ones, to the big names like Gibson and Fender. I wouldn't recommend that you splashed out on a £250 job straight away. You'll be better off buying a second-hand one and seeing how you get on with it first.
Electric guitars make a lot of noise! So check with your family that they don't mind or you might find yourself banished to the garden shed. There are several handy little amplifiers, as they are called, to distinguish them from stage size ones, and any good guitar shop will explain the advantages of different makes to you. As you did with your acoustic guitar, check for a warped neck etc. before buying.
Magazines like Melody Maker and Beat Instrumental are useful because as well as reviewing different instruments and equipment, they also print lists which give you some idea of what different models of guitar cost. Once you've bought your first basic guitar and amplifier, the sky's the I imit as to what you can add by way of effects. It'll all come with time, money and experimentation! Meanwhile, you'll find that you won't be satisfied long with playing your electric guitar and singing to yourself, so now's the time to get together with some friends and think about starting your first group!
If you prefer quieter music and wish to remain as a solo singer and guitarist or even write your own songs, you'll find your acoustic guitar will be a friend for life. Once you've got your fingers mobile.mough to play fingerstyle, you can get into it still more by listening to records and through understanding the scope of the instrument, you can develop your own individual style of playing.
What! want to do in this last chapter is to take one of our songs, 'Everyday', and show you how you can play it to a fingerstyle accompaniment. I wouldn't suggest you sang it like this all the time, because if you strum it, you'll get the real rock feel of it, whereas if you pluck it, it will sound more folky. It's interesting to try songs out in different ways like this.
It the song is too high "for you, try singing it an octave lower. if this is still not right for you, I've worked out the chords in the key of C as well and these are in brackets after the normal chords. You can easily learn the tune from the record!
First of all, however, here are the extra chords you'll need for both versions of the song.
if you've got the sheet music in front of you, you'll notice that the version I'm giving you here is slightly simplified from the original. But as Soon as you know all these chords off pat, you can get to work learnin£ the more difficult version!
G (G) Bm (Em) Em (Am) G(F)
Every day when I'm away I'm thinking of you
GIG) Bm(Em) Em/Am) F)
Every one can carry on except for we two.
C7(F7) G(G) G7(F7) G(C)
And you know that our love and you know that I
G7(F7) G(G) D7(G7)
And you know that our love won't die
Em (Am) G(G) C(F) G(G)
And it won't even show and no-one will know:
Em/Am) G(C) C(F) G(C) One little wave to say you'll behave.
EM(Am) G(C) C(F) G(C)
it won't even show how far love can go.
What I want you to practise now is this - use a combination of plucking with your thumb and plucking a three note chord with your 1 st, 2nd and 3rd fingers on the top three strings. leave out the bottom string for now and concentrate on strings one to five. I've made you out a little chart, which i hope you can follow. 'Th' refers to thumb and 'ch' refers to that three note chord you pluck. Underneath these letters are the strings which you should use.
Th Th ch Th ch
5 4 (3,2,1) 4 (3,2,1).
The strings for the chord should all be plucked at the same time and you'll find that as this song has three beats to a bar, the first Th coincides with the first beat and the two ch's with the second and third beat. When you come to chords like F7 which miss out the bottom two strings, you'll have to adapt it so that you use your thumb on strings 4 and 3 and only pluck a two note chord with fingers two and three.
You can work this up into a 10llely finger picking rhythm and perhaps combine it with strummed chords on the part of the song which begins, "And it won't even show". Once you've mastered finger picking it's up to you to find your own variation for ellery single song. So just carry on - the guitar's all yours now!
Hello:
Alison and Linda, two devoted Slade fans would like to make a presentation book for the boys and would like fans to send them letters, pictures of themselves etc to be included in the book. So if you are interested you can write to them at:
59 lessingham Avenue, Wigan, Lancs.
By now you all will have heard the new single "Lets Call It Quits" released on the 30th January. The new album called "Nobody's Fools" will be out on the 5th March so start saving that pocket money now.
The boys fly back to the States on 15th February for more American dates.
If any of you would like the sheet music to the new single it will be available from the fan club at 20p including postage and packing, remember if you are an overseas member, it will be 5p extra for postage.
Record Mirror are having a Slade competition in the middle of February and the prizes include the new Slade album. Also look out for other competitions in other magazines in the next few months.
The boys would like to thank those of you who sent them presents for Christmas and John and myself would like to thank you for the cards that you sent us.
This issue is the last of Dave's guitar lessons, in the next Siademag we start the first of Don's drum lessons, which should please all the budding drummers in the fan club.
Thanks to David Kemp of Hampstead for the letter published in Record Mirror.
NEWS IN BRiEF
i\lod has seen Cabaret 10 times, so when American TV screened it, Nod taped it on a video machine. He can now watch it whenever he likes. He also taped The Wizard of Oz when it was shown on Christmas Day ... Thieves broke into the premises of John Birch Guitars and stole instruments worth £4,000, among them a EB3 Gibson and a John Birch guitar belonging to Jim. Shaw Taylor highlighted the theft on the Midlands Police 5. A reward for information leading to the successful recovery of Jim's guitars is being offered ... Nod has just bought a house in Chelsea. Who said they were leaving the country? ... Jim's fave group at the moment is Queen ... Chas has just formed his own record label, 'Barn Records', so all Siades' releases will now appear under this name.
ANY QUESTIONS
A lot of fans have been writing to me and informing me that they are unable to obtain the paper-back "Slade in Flame", It is published by Granada in their Panther series, and should be available from any retail book shop. If you have difficulty in obtaining a copy you may send for it by mail-order from:
PANTHER CASH SALES PO Box 11 Falmouth Cornwall
Price 60p plus 1Qp postage and packing (overseas members 25p P&P)
LET'S CALL IT QUITS
You keep me straight I'll keep you narrow
You got the magic that can chill me to the marrow
But I got something here that's big enough for two.
You want me sweet I want you pretty
You got some funny lines that make you sound so witty
But I got something here that's big enough for two.
Chorus
Let's call it quits Let's call it quits
Before we break one another into bits Let's call a tie
Let's call a tie
Before we make one another start to cry.
You got the why I got the wherefore
You got me trapped hook, line and sinker and so therefore
I still got something here that's big enough for two.
© Copyright 1975 by BARN PUBLISHING LTD.