Friday, October 30th. I’m running a little late today because I was at a Halloween parade, and our 2½-year-old grandson showed up dressed as Mr. Conductor. Trains are big in our house right now.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s go.

New Lesson: Snowbird

Nesh brought us Snowbird by Anne Murray, which went live today. Like Sailing to Philadelphia last week, it’s a very fast fingerpicking song. One thing I love about Nesh’s lessons is that he presents songs in multiple keys. Snowbird works in A, in G, or with a capo wherever your voice sits best, and the picking is quick in every one of them.

One Shape, Many Chords

I heard something on a record this morning that got me thinking about how much mileage you can get from one chord shape.

Take the three middle strings (2nd, 3rd and 4th) of a G chord. Add the open high E and you have a G6, because E is the sixth note of the G scale. Slide that same shape down two frets and keep the open E, and it becomes an F add9. We say “add9” because there’s no seventh in it. The formula is 1-3-5-9.

It works again with an A shape. Play it at the fifth fret with the open E on top and it’s just an A chord, because E is the fifth. Drop it to G and it’s a G6. Drop it to F and it’s an F major 7. The open E never moves, and it does something different to every chord. That droning note is called a pedal point.

The same idea works in reverse. Beginnings by Chicago ends with an A major 7 shape moved up twelve frets, then dropped a whole step. Same shape, different place.

Figuring Out Happy Birthday

A while back a guitar player asked me for the chords to Happy Birthday. We don’t have a lesson on it, but you can work it out yourself by following the melody.

It starts with a pickup on the fifth note of the scale, and it’s in 3/4. From there, ask which chord contains each melody note. I tried it in G, A, E, D and C. G and A put the melody way up the neck, and D works better in Drop D tuning. C turned out to be the best guitar key.

The basic progression is I, V, V7, I, then a I7 as a secondary dominant, then IV with that odd raised-11th melody note, back to I, then V7. To end it, play the last C with G in the bass (a second inversion) and walk to a G7.

If a group of people wants to sing, pick the key for their voices first.

Getting A Pick Out Of Your Guitar

I found a pick rattling around inside my guitar yesterday. We have a small kleptomaniac in the house, and things don’t always go back where they came from.

Flipping the guitar over rarely works. Here’s what did: bounce the pick around until it sits right under the sound hole, avoiding the braces. Then put a long pencil with an eraser through the sound hole, press the pick against the back, and turn the guitar over while holding it there. It took me three tries on camera.

Today’s Mystery Song

I finished with a song I don’t know all that well. The acoustic version has unusual chords, and it settles on E minor, shifts to E major, then uses that E major to set up the chorus in C. I’ll leave it hanging.

Happy Halloween, everyone. See you next week.

— Neil