How Firm a Foundation

Happy New Year!

In line with new beginnings and all that, I decided to publish a song about foundations, which are the beginnings of things, and about the One true foundation of all good things, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Enjoy!

This may be the easiest tab you will learn during the coming year. It's in the key of C, but without the troublesome barre chords. Even the F chord leaves out the barre. What's not to love?

There are only four chords in the whole song, but two of them may look strange to you. should be read as, "F with a C bass." It's a normal F chord, but with the C note added in the bass (on the 5th string) to bring out the melody. You can also leave out the F note on the 1st string altogether, as it only distracts from the melody line, incidentally making a nice-sounding chord that's really easy to play. G/D is exactly the same chord, played two frets higher. So there are really only three chords in the song.

The chord changes are very easy. In fact, there almost aren't any, as the melody can be worked in from the C hand position, without actually changing chords, most of the time. For this reason, I've left out most of the chord changes. Even the next-to-last chord, the G7, is only played once, and you can safely leave out the F note on the 1st string, as it distracts from the melody.

This is a great song for beginners to learn tab reading and hymn playing. It can be strummed with the thumb or with a flat pick, for a more brittle sound. Strum ALL chords, even if they only have two or three notes. This helps pick up the rhythm, which is "built in" to the tab. If you know the song, don't worry about the rhythm; just think about the song and strum along. It'll come out right "automatically."

I like to add the slide and pull-offs where shown, but they are not strictly necessary. If they give you trouble, just play the notes and forget the slide and pull-offs until you get a bit more experience with them. It's a good way to start the year with LDS solo guitar music.