“The Joy and the Song” is available in the Spanish language hymnal Himnos, but not in the English language hymnal. The original hymn, with English words, is from a songbook called Zion’s Praises (1st Edition, 1903), copyrighted by The Re-Organized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which is known today as The Community of Christ. This church was formed by Latter-Day Saints who stayed in Nauvoo, and did not take part in the exodus to the west. Emma Smith, wife of the prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., was a founding member of the church, and Joseph Smith III, son of Emma and Joseph, was its first president. Zion’s Praises was their hymnal from 1903 to 1933.
It was amazingly hard to find the original hymn online. The original hymn, with English words, was written in the key of Bb,which is nearly impossible to play on the guitar without using a capo. The Spanish version, as found in Himnos, has been somewhat re-arranged and transposed into the key of G, which is perfect for the guitar. If you are unfamiliar with it, and would like to hear the song, you’ll need to open it on your tablet or phone, as the laptop/desktop version doesn’t have a player function. The tablet/phone version does. Go figure! Because it’s only the Spanish version that’s readily available, I’m including the Spanish lyrics and title, as well as the original English lyrics and title.
I’m also including a Spanish language version of this tab & post, under the Spanish title “A Dios ofrecemos gozosa canción”. Apart from the preferred language of the lyrics, the only difference between the two is that the Spanish one follows the “sol-fa” format of chord naming: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti (or si in some countries), instead of C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. In English, this system is sometimes called solmization. A discussion of this format, with equivalency charts, can be found in the entry “Chord Theory” in The Tabs section of this blog.
Actually playing this song is easy. There are no hard chords or transitions. There are hammer-ons, and pull-offs, shown by underscores between the notes, and slides, shown by slashes between the notes: forward slashes indicate a rising tone, backslashes indicate a falling tone. Where it is necessary, or even helpful, to change the left hand position to Second Position, or back to First Position, I have placed Roman numerals above the staff. First Position means you fret the notes in the first space with the index finger, those in the second space with the middle finger, and those in the third space with the ring finger. Second Position means you slide the left hand “up” the neck of the guitar (toward the bridge) one fret, so the notes in the second space are fretted with the index finger, those in the third space with the middle finger, and those in the fourth space with the ring finger.
There are two kinds of chords called out in the tab. Pinched chords are played by plucking the bass note of the chord with the right thumb, and the other notes with the appropriate fingers. In this song, all chords not otherwise marked are to be pinched. Chords that are to be strummed are marked with a wiggly, vertical line to the right of the notes to be strummed. For those not familiar with the song, I’ve included counting numbers below the lyrics.
It’s a pretty song, well-beloved by our Latin brothers and sisters. The lyrics are as close to a perfect translation of the original English lyrics as it’s possible to get. I don’t know why it’s not in the English language edition of the hymnal.
Showing posts with label easy chords and techniques. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easy chords and techniques. Show all posts
We Are All Enlisted
Only four chords to this song, and they’re all super easy! Not only that, but fully half of the twenty-four measures are repeats. You only have to learn these measures, and you’ve got the whole song: [1], [2], [3], [4], [7], [9], [10], [11], [12], [15], and [16]. I’m not counting [8], which consists entirely of a single, strummed C chord. The only place where the repetition is not exact is in the last line, where the notes are picked separately, without hammer-ons or slides.
There are no hard chords or difficult transitions, but the tempo is FAST, so I added a change of pace in the middle. It’s slower than the rest of the song, but still not exactly SLOW. Remember, the metronome numbers are for quarter-notes, not eighth-notes, and the song is arranged in 8/8 time, so each beat of the metronome counts for TWO “counting numbers,” not one. If you want to count each counting number separately, double the metronome speed.
Nearly all the G7 chords in the tab are really Gs, but there’s no need to kill your hand making fast chord changes. The #1 string is not played in any of these G chords, so the difference is academic. It’s easier to hit the melody notes from a G7 hand position, so I’ve called them all G7. You can play G the “right” way if you like, but your hand will get mighty tired.
In measures [7] and [23], do the hammer-on with the ring finger, leaving the middle finger free to do the slide which follows. The last note of the measure is an open e-string, giving you time to position your hand for the following C chord strum.
Some chords are pinched, some are strummed, and some are played as arpeggios. If you are using finger-picks, be sure to play the arpeggios with the fingers, leaving the thumb and thumb pick free to strum the next chord. If you try to strum the arpeggios, you may have difficulty getting the thumb back into strumming position in time. You will either have a choppy rhythm, or you may hit the strings with the thumb pick on the way up.
A couple of tips:
-- the pull-offs on the third string are easier to do quickly as push-offs. Instead of pulling the string away from you to pluck it with the middle finger of the left hand, push it toward you to pluck it. This may seem a bit unnatural at first, but it’s not hard to do.
-- in measures [7] and [23], fret the A note on the third string, 2nd space, by briefly flattening the middle finger across the string, instead of moving it from the fifth string. It’s a bit faster, where speed really counts.
It’s not actually necessary, but I like to end the song with a C/G chord, which is just a normal C with the G note added with the little finger on the #6 string. It gives a fuller sound than a normal C chord, but contains all the same notes. If you’re following the tab, your finger will already be there, but if you have trouble hitting it in tempo, just play a normal C, as tabbed.
In this song, tempo is king. It sounds terrific when played at speed, and it’s not hard to do. With a little practice, you can sound like a fretboard wizard.
There are no hard chords or difficult transitions, but the tempo is FAST, so I added a change of pace in the middle. It’s slower than the rest of the song, but still not exactly SLOW. Remember, the metronome numbers are for quarter-notes, not eighth-notes, and the song is arranged in 8/8 time, so each beat of the metronome counts for TWO “counting numbers,” not one. If you want to count each counting number separately, double the metronome speed.
Nearly all the G7 chords in the tab are really Gs, but there’s no need to kill your hand making fast chord changes. The #1 string is not played in any of these G chords, so the difference is academic. It’s easier to hit the melody notes from a G7 hand position, so I’ve called them all G7. You can play G the “right” way if you like, but your hand will get mighty tired.
In measures [7] and [23], do the hammer-on with the ring finger, leaving the middle finger free to do the slide which follows. The last note of the measure is an open e-string, giving you time to position your hand for the following C chord strum.
Some chords are pinched, some are strummed, and some are played as arpeggios. If you are using finger-picks, be sure to play the arpeggios with the fingers, leaving the thumb and thumb pick free to strum the next chord. If you try to strum the arpeggios, you may have difficulty getting the thumb back into strumming position in time. You will either have a choppy rhythm, or you may hit the strings with the thumb pick on the way up.
A couple of tips:
-- the pull-offs on the third string are easier to do quickly as push-offs. Instead of pulling the string away from you to pluck it with the middle finger of the left hand, push it toward you to pluck it. This may seem a bit unnatural at first, but it’s not hard to do.
-- in measures [7] and [23], fret the A note on the third string, 2nd space, by briefly flattening the middle finger across the string, instead of moving it from the fifth string. It’s a bit faster, where speed really counts.
It’s not actually necessary, but I like to end the song with a C/G chord, which is just a normal C with the G note added with the little finger on the #6 string. It gives a fuller sound than a normal C chord, but contains all the same notes. If you’re following the tab, your finger will already be there, but if you have trouble hitting it in tempo, just play a normal C, as tabbed.
In this song, tempo is king. It sounds terrific when played at speed, and it’s not hard to do. With a little practice, you can sound like a fretboard wizard.
Lord We Ask Thee Ere We Part
George Manwaring was a self-taught pianist, organist, and poet who emigrated with his family to Utah Territory when he was seventeen. He was one of more than 1300 Mormon polygamists imprisoned under the infamous Edmonds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882. He died of pneumonia less than a month after his release in June of 1889, at the age of thirty-five.
During his short life, George Manwaring was a prolific writer of poems and hymns. Five of them are found in the current (green) edition of Hymns. Besides this one, he is also credited wth:
Joseph Smith’s First Prayer
Sing We Now at Parting
Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love
We Meet Again in Sabbath School
The music was composed by Ebenezer Beesley, an early conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Twelve of his tunes are currently in the LDS hymnal, including (besides this one):
High on a Mountain Top
What Glorious Scenes Mine Eyes Behold
The Happy Day At Last Has Come
God of Our Fathers, We Come unto Thee
Great Is the Lord
Sing We Now at Parting
Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love
Reverently and Meekly Now
Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words
Welcome, Welcome, Sabbath Morning
We Meet Again in Sabbath School
Beesley was a prolific composer of hymn tunes. I have been unable to learn any stories about his composition of this one, which is relatively short and simple.
Play the tablature just as written. There are no special instructions needed. Strum chords where indicated by a wiggly, vertical line to the left of the chord. Where there is no such indication, the chords are to be pinched. Ligados (hammer-ons and pull-offs) are indicated by an underscore between the notes. The length of the underscores has no significance; it is determined entirely by the need to fit the lyrics in below. A pull-off that takes up six spaces of type to print is played exactly like one that takes only one space. Slides are indicated with a back slash between the connected notes.
Musically, the first and fourth verses are identical; only the lyrics differ. They are very easy to play, and use mostly standard chords. The two “non-standard” chords are very simple variations on standard C and G chords. CaddG is formed by adding the G note on the first string, third space, with the left little finger. The non-standard G chord is even easier. Just fret the second string in the third space instead of the first string, and do not play the first string. This chord “inversion” actually contains all the same notes as the normal G chord, but in a slightly different order. Playing G this way emphasizes the D note on the second string, to bring out the melody. You could actually play both these chords as standard C and G chords, but you would lose the melody, to no advantage.
The second and third verses contain the same melody and chord structure, but with different picking patterns, for variety. They are not actually necessary, but the song is so simple, it gets boring hearing all four verses played identically. The third verse has a different time signature. I could have kept it in 4/4, but the counting would have come out, 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & for every measure. Since all the notes in this verse are eighth-notes, I elected to use 8/8 time instead, counting: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 for each measure. The time signature makes no difference in the way the verse is played, just in how it is written.
This hymn is in the Public Domain.
During his short life, George Manwaring was a prolific writer of poems and hymns. Five of them are found in the current (green) edition of Hymns. Besides this one, he is also credited wth:
Joseph Smith’s First Prayer
Sing We Now at Parting
Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love
We Meet Again in Sabbath School
The music was composed by Ebenezer Beesley, an early conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Twelve of his tunes are currently in the LDS hymnal, including (besides this one):
High on a Mountain Top
What Glorious Scenes Mine Eyes Behold
The Happy Day At Last Has Come
God of Our Fathers, We Come unto Thee
Great Is the Lord
Sing We Now at Parting
Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love
Reverently and Meekly Now
Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words
Welcome, Welcome, Sabbath Morning
We Meet Again in Sabbath School
Beesley was a prolific composer of hymn tunes. I have been unable to learn any stories about his composition of this one, which is relatively short and simple.
Play the tablature just as written. There are no special instructions needed. Strum chords where indicated by a wiggly, vertical line to the left of the chord. Where there is no such indication, the chords are to be pinched. Ligados (hammer-ons and pull-offs) are indicated by an underscore between the notes. The length of the underscores has no significance; it is determined entirely by the need to fit the lyrics in below. A pull-off that takes up six spaces of type to print is played exactly like one that takes only one space. Slides are indicated with a back slash between the connected notes.
Musically, the first and fourth verses are identical; only the lyrics differ. They are very easy to play, and use mostly standard chords. The two “non-standard” chords are very simple variations on standard C and G chords. CaddG is formed by adding the G note on the first string, third space, with the left little finger. The non-standard G chord is even easier. Just fret the second string in the third space instead of the first string, and do not play the first string. This chord “inversion” actually contains all the same notes as the normal G chord, but in a slightly different order. Playing G this way emphasizes the D note on the second string, to bring out the melody. You could actually play both these chords as standard C and G chords, but you would lose the melody, to no advantage.
The second and third verses contain the same melody and chord structure, but with different picking patterns, for variety. They are not actually necessary, but the song is so simple, it gets boring hearing all four verses played identically. The third verse has a different time signature. I could have kept it in 4/4, but the counting would have come out, 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & for every measure. Since all the notes in this verse are eighth-notes, I elected to use 8/8 time instead, counting: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 for each measure. The time signature makes no difference in the way the verse is played, just in how it is written.
This hymn is in the Public Domain.
We’ll Sing All Hail to Jesus’ Name
Not much information about the author (Richard Aldridge), composer (Joseph Coslett), or history of this hymn, but it’s a pretty one, popular in Sacrament Meetings, and not hard to play.
Basically, there are only three chords: C, F, and G7, plus a couple of easy variations. For example, F/A is just a regular, four-string F chord, but you also play the open A string. F/C is similar, but you have to fret the A string in the third space with your pinkie, to include the bass C note. C/G is a regular C chord, with the pinkie fretting the G note on the bass E string, third space. Not a hard one in the lot!
There are a few spots in the tab where the techniques are not dead obvious. The first occurs in the fourth measure. Unless your hands are unusually flexible, it’s going to be much easier to PUSH OFF the ligado on the third string, than to pull it off. This technique is not difficult, but may be unfamiliar to you. Repeat in the fourth measure of the second line.
In the first measure of the last line, you’ll have to play the F/C chord, then immediately release it, to play the sequential pull-offs on the second string. In the third and fourth measures of that line, strum the notes indicated, for a ligado effect. Pinch the chord in the next-to-last measure, for contrast, and end with a strummed chord.
You don’t have to strum or pinch the chords as shown, of course, if changing between strumming and pinching seems difficult. The song will still sound good if you just strun, or just pinch. But this is an instrumental solo, and it’s an easy way to add interest to the music, without having to learn any new techniques or chords.
The last note of the song is shown in parentheses (0) because you only play it if you are going to repeat the verse. It replaces the first, partial measure of the next verse. The final time, you do not play this last note, but just let the chord ring.
This song is in the public domain.
Basically, there are only three chords: C, F, and G7, plus a couple of easy variations. For example, F/A is just a regular, four-string F chord, but you also play the open A string. F/C is similar, but you have to fret the A string in the third space with your pinkie, to include the bass C note. C/G is a regular C chord, with the pinkie fretting the G note on the bass E string, third space. Not a hard one in the lot!
There are a few spots in the tab where the techniques are not dead obvious. The first occurs in the fourth measure. Unless your hands are unusually flexible, it’s going to be much easier to PUSH OFF the ligado on the third string, than to pull it off. This technique is not difficult, but may be unfamiliar to you. Repeat in the fourth measure of the second line.
In the first measure of the last line, you’ll have to play the F/C chord, then immediately release it, to play the sequential pull-offs on the second string. In the third and fourth measures of that line, strum the notes indicated, for a ligado effect. Pinch the chord in the next-to-last measure, for contrast, and end with a strummed chord.
You don’t have to strum or pinch the chords as shown, of course, if changing between strumming and pinching seems difficult. The song will still sound good if you just strun, or just pinch. But this is an instrumental solo, and it’s an easy way to add interest to the music, without having to learn any new techniques or chords.
The last note of the song is shown in parentheses (0) because you only play it if you are going to repeat the verse. It replaces the first, partial measure of the next verse. The final time, you do not play this last note, but just let the chord ring.
This song is in the public domain.
The Iron Rod
I had thought to fancy this up, with cool chords and lots of fill, but after trying to do so, I decided this simple and easy version sounds better. This is one of the easiest hymns I've ever published. It's in the key of C, so you can easily transpose it into D, as shown in the hymnal, just by using a capo in the 2nd space, which makes it even easier to play. There are no barre chords, and only three basic chords, though a couple of times you'll want to alter the C chord to a C/G by adding the G note on the #6 (bass) string with your pinkie.
There's also an alternate G7 chord voicing labelled G7*, which requires you to add the F note on the 4th string, III fret. If you're not used to it, and you're not using a capo, this may be slightly difficult for you. If so, you can play it as a three-finger chord by not playing the #1 string, which isn't needed for the melody at that time anyway. In the chord diagram, I have shown this by printing the 0 on the first string in light-face type, and placing an X above the nut over that string. Musically, there is no difference between the two ways of playing this chord; use whichever is easiest for you.
Other than those two slight differences, there are no unusual chords at all. My only other departure from my usually tabbing is to list "strum all chords" at the beginning of the tab, then leave off all the "strum" signs as unnecessary. Let's keep it simple!
There are a couple of techniques that make the song easier to play and nicer to hear. There are a few slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs. These are not strictly necessary to play the melody. You could play them as individual notes, but they sound very much nicer as written. And, unless the techniques are just impossible for you, they actually make the song easier to play. One is written a little strangely. In the first measure of the Refrain, the second note (over the word, "to") is plucked and allowed to ring briefly, before hammering-on the next note. This follows the normally sung rhythm,
"Hold__to__the-rod__...." It shouldn't take much practice for you to get it right, as even children have been singing that rhythm for years.
There's also an alternate G7 chord voicing labelled G7*, which requires you to add the F note on the 4th string, III fret. If you're not used to it, and you're not using a capo, this may be slightly difficult for you. If so, you can play it as a three-finger chord by not playing the #1 string, which isn't needed for the melody at that time anyway. In the chord diagram, I have shown this by printing the 0 on the first string in light-face type, and placing an X above the nut over that string. Musically, there is no difference between the two ways of playing this chord; use whichever is easiest for you.
Other than those two slight differences, there are no unusual chords at all. My only other departure from my usually tabbing is to list "strum all chords" at the beginning of the tab, then leave off all the "strum" signs as unnecessary. Let's keep it simple!
There are a couple of techniques that make the song easier to play and nicer to hear. There are a few slides, hammer-ons, and pull-offs. These are not strictly necessary to play the melody. You could play them as individual notes, but they sound very much nicer as written. And, unless the techniques are just impossible for you, they actually make the song easier to play. One is written a little strangely. In the first measure of the Refrain, the second note (over the word, "to") is plucked and allowed to ring briefly, before hammering-on the next note. This follows the normally sung rhythm,
"Hold__to__the-rod__...." It shouldn't take much practice for you to get it right, as even children have been singing that rhythm for years.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Just BARELY in time for Thanksgiving-- sorry for the delay. Anyway, here it is. I’ve never performed it before an audience, but it’s easy enough to play, fingerstyle or flat-picked. It’s short enough that you may prefer to use it as an introduction to a vocal accompaniment. There are NO difficult chords or transitions, and you can leave out the hammer-ons and pull-offs if they are hard for you. The only unusual chord is GaddD, but it’s very easy. It’s played EXACTLY like G, but the ring finger is on the 2nd string instead of the 1st string, which is muted or not played.
HISTORY
Originally called “Wilt heden nu treden,” (We Gather Together), the hymn was written by Adrianus Valerius in 1597, to celebrate the Dutch victory in their war of liberation against Catholic Spain. Under Spanish rule, Protestant Dutch were forbidden to gather for worship, hence the title. The lyrics and title we now know were written by Edward Baker in 1894. These lyrics do not actually translate the Dutch, but they do preserve the internal rhyme scheme and much of the sentiment of the original.
The tune is an old, Dutch folk tune. An orchestral score was first published in 1877 by Eduard Kremser, who also translated the lyrics into Latin and German. For this reason, the tune is often called, “Kremser.” The hymn became popular in the United States during World War Two, when “the wicked opressing” was understood to refer to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
In the United States, this hymn is usually associated with the Thanksgiving Day holiday, but in other parts of the world, and especially in Europe, it is more often considered a hymn of liberation from military conquest. The hymn is in the public domain.
HISTORY
Originally called “Wilt heden nu treden,” (We Gather Together), the hymn was written by Adrianus Valerius in 1597, to celebrate the Dutch victory in their war of liberation against Catholic Spain. Under Spanish rule, Protestant Dutch were forbidden to gather for worship, hence the title. The lyrics and title we now know were written by Edward Baker in 1894. These lyrics do not actually translate the Dutch, but they do preserve the internal rhyme scheme and much of the sentiment of the original.
The tune is an old, Dutch folk tune. An orchestral score was first published in 1877 by Eduard Kremser, who also translated the lyrics into Latin and German. For this reason, the tune is often called, “Kremser.” The hymn became popular in the United States during World War Two, when “the wicked opressing” was understood to refer to Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.
In the United States, this hymn is usually associated with the Thanksgiving Day holiday, but in other parts of the world, and especially in Europe, it is more often considered a hymn of liberation from military conquest. The hymn is in the public domain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)