A Tale of Serendipity

Posted by Clydesdale Jogger at 9:43 PM

Over the holiday weekend I spent some time going through our church hymnal. I was trying to work out melodies and even some chords here and there. I got a itch at one point to play I Bind My Heart This Tide. I was feeling rather melancholy that afternoon and this hymn is written in D minor--perfect for my mood. The melody, harmonies and the lyrics are rather powerful and I just needed to play it.

I did a quick search via google and clicked on one of the first hits which happened to be a blog. There I found the chords and lyrics, albeit in A minor. No biggie and not a hassle to transpose using the Nashville system. Anyway, I got to reading the author's blog and realize it was a fellow English major and alumna from my days in college. I read through much of her writings and decided to drop her a note. I wasn't sure if she'd remember me since, though we had several classes together, we didn't really get to know each other. But she did, at least the name even if she couldn't put a face to it.

To cut a long story short, I'd like to introduce Alkelda the Gleeful at Saints and Spinners. She is a professional storyteller in Seattle and posts many creative stories that are a delight to read. She also posts occasionally about her personal life and what not. But the best part is that she also picked up the guitar in, shall we say, later young adulthood(?), and posts about her trials and achievements with her instrument. She also likes to write songs and transpose familiar songs which she posts with accompanying chords. So, while she doesn't write a guitar blog per se, it is certainly worth your time to check it out.

Next week, how a guy somewhere in Colorado encouraged me to start blogging again--even though he didn't realize it.

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11 Comments:

  1. Saints and Spinners said...
    5/29/08, 11:09 AM  
    Thanks for the shout-out! Transposing to D works fine, though I've got to admit I avoid the F chord whenever I can, despite renewed resolve to get comfortable with it. I've got a couple of alternative F chords if you ever want them. "The Water is Wide" played in C is good for all that practice-- I'd like to play that with Travis picking someday.... successfully, that is.
    Clydesdale Jogger said...
    5/29/08, 6:03 PM  
    So thats what a shout out is! I feel so old these days. My kids constantly tell me how uncool I am.

    I usually try to play F by fingering x33211. It's essentially a barre in the E shape without the low string. I only barre the first two strings with my index finger, not the whole fret. Its not the easiest but I really like the voicing and I'm set to move to C, G, or Dm7. The only problem is you gotta use the pinky on the D string and then Doug catches ya...
    Saints and Spinners said...
    5/29/08, 10:49 PM  
    I play that F too, though I will often drop the 1st string too and only play strings 2-5. For really quick chord changes, I'll just play 2-4. The arpeggios for "House of the Rising Sun" works for that three string F. But I do want to learn to play a proper F with the full voicing. Oh, F, you are elusive. A blog friend of mine feels that way about B7, and I just love that B7.

    Parents are supposed to be uncool. If they're cool, they embarrass their kids in a different way than when they embarrass their kids by being uncool.
    Clydesdale Jogger said...
    5/29/08, 10:59 PM  
    Try xx2120. I have no idea what it's called but it is my current favorite, seconded by Cadd9.

    Yeah, I'm uncool now, but I've done my damage. My three kids were raised on a steady diet of Monty Python, Vicar of Dibley and Red Dwarf. My son started reading Bloom County in second grade...and "got" it. Of course, it wasn't good when he started singing a certain MP song at my more conservative mennonite branch family reunion........
    Saints and Spinners said...
    5/30/08, 3:45 PM  
    Did that certain MP song have the word "sacred" in it?
    Clydesdale Jogger said...
    5/30/08, 4:01 PM  
    Um....no. I suppose the most innocuous phrase would be "tell me that you love me." You can b/c me if it's still a mystery. :^)
    Clydesdale Jogger said...
    5/30/08, 4:05 PM  
    I will say in my defense as a father that I didn't know the song was on any of the cds he was listening to or that he knew it as he'd never sung it before. Whoops.
    Saints and Spinners said...
    6/1/08, 10:47 PM  
    Aha!

    In your defense, it's a good song. Quite catchy.
    Saints and Spinners said...
    6/1/08, 10:53 PM  
    P.S. I just played that Cadd9 (what does "add" mean anyway?), and realized that it's a chord for the opening of "Dust in the Wind." If you're interested in Travis picking at all (I am!) it's supposed to be the quintessentially lovely beginner's song. Here's a link to the accurate chords:http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/dustinth.htm (I think Cadd9 is also Csus2).
    Clydesdale Jogger said...
    6/2/08, 4:47 PM  
    This comment has been removed by the author.
    Clydesdale Jogger said...
    6/2/08, 4:54 PM  
    To add a ninth is to add the 9th note in an octave. Yeah, it doesn't make sense but that's what my theory teacher taught me. The ninth tone would be the D nine tones above the root or C -> C + D. Csus2 would be when you add the D just above the root: x3001x (note there is no E).

    Yes, I am struggling through the travis picking including Dust. I'll check your link as my teacher scratches on TAB can leave a lot to be desired.

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