Ye Elders of Israel

This song is lots of fun to sing. The challenge was making it fun to play, without either oversimplifying or making it too complicated. I hope you’ll think I’ve succeeded.

General

The song begins in the key of A, because that’s the one key that is easy to play this melody in on the guitar. There’s lots of repetition. Each verse consists of a melody phrase of two lines, repeated exactly in the next two lines. Then, the same phrase is repeated once again in the chorus. The first and second verses are identical. To add a little variety to all this repetition, I have used a pattern pick in the chorus, and used mostly chords in the verses. There are only four chords used in the first two verses, and all four are dead easy to play.

At the end of the second chorus, there’s a key change to C. It’s not technically difficult to make the change, but you may find it mentally difficult to go from one key to another in the middle of a pattern pick. It’ll also blow the minds of your audience, so practice the key change until you can do it without any change in tempo. The trick is to not think of it as a key change, but as just another chord change, which, in fact, it is.

The verse part of the third verse continues the pattern pick, right on into the chorus, still in the key of C. But the third verse chorus is repeated as a bass line, leading up to the final four measures of chords. These are still easy chords. In fact, there’s not a barre chord or a difficult chord in the song anywhere. That doesn’t mean the song is easy, though. The 88 beats per minute tempo is pretty fast, considering that the pattern picks are all eighth-notes. If you’re not used to playing pattern picks, be careful! The pattern changes a lot to bring out the melody, and may not be apparent at first. You’re going to be doing a lot of left hand movements to hit the right notes, including lots of ligados (hammer-ons and pull-offs and slides), right from the beginning.

The Chords

Yeah, there are twelve of them, but that’s not as bad as you may think, as you probably already know almost all of them, by one name or another. Specifically, the first two verses just use A, E, E7, and D. If you want, you can just play the whole song in this key by repeating the verse and chorus a third time. Duck soup easy, but not terribly impressive.

For those who are a bit more adventurous, play the third verse as tabbed, in the key of C. Here’s where the majority of the chords come in. There’s C, F, and G7, of course, plus a couple of “added fifth” chords for flavor, and a couple of alternate ways of playing C, F and G. Those last two are actually easier to play than the normal way. 

Added fifth chords (a bit of chord theory)

In playing CaddG, you are just adding the fifth note of the C scale to a normal C chord. In playing G7addD you are adding the fifth note of the G scale to a normal G7. That’s why they are called “added fifth” chords. These extra notes are actually part of the normal chord structure, but are added in again to emphasize that note. For example, a C chord contains the notes C, E, and G. That’s the definition of a “C Major” chord. But, as normally played on the guitar, it comes out: x32010, or [blank] C E G C E. If you want to emphasize the G note, or if the G on the open 3rd string is too low for the melody, you can add in a higher G by fretting the 1st string in the 3rd space: x32013, or [blank] C E G C G. Chords like this are usually called “added fifth” chords, and are usually written Cadd5 or Gadd5. Frankly, I find this more confusing than helpful, but I don’t want to just call them C or G, (which would technically be correct) as they are played differently. So I specify the added notes in the chord name: CaddG and GaddD. Please don’t just play an ordinary C or G. In this song, the added notes are needed to carry the melody or an important harmony. 

Alternate bass chords are similar-- you’re just using a different note of the chord than usual for the bass note. Such chords are written like this: C/G. Technically, this chord would be called “C with a G bass,” or something similar, but most guitarists just call it “C over G”. Pianists and other guitarists know what they mean, and who else cares? C/G is played by adding a bass G on the #6 string, 3rd space with the pinkie. If you have a very small hand and a very wide guitar neck, this might be hard for you. You can substitute a normal C chord, if you wish. G/C is even easier. You just play it like the first three strings of an F, only in the the third space (Third Position). Easiest of the lot is F/C. That’s another three-string chord, played exactly like an ordinary D chord, only in the Fifth Position (5th fret), as shown in the tab and the chord charts.

That’s IT. There are NO BARRE CHORDS and NO HARD CHORDS in this song. NONE!

Specifics:

In measure [2], starting from a normal A-Shape position, move the left hand DOWN the neck of the guitar (toward the nut) to fret the Ab on the 3rd string, 1st space, then slide right back to the 2nd space. You’ll have to lift the fingers off the strings going down to avoid scraping the string, but don’t change the hand shape, as you’re going to need it again immediately. Next, the ring finger gets a workout, fretting and releasing the 2nd string, still without changing the chord shape. Fret the 2nd string in the 3rd space with the pinkie, still maintaining the chord for the three-string pinch in the 4th measure. Move up to Second Position (shown by Roman numeral II) for the pull-off, going back to the A chord for the next two measures.

Continue to play as shown throughout the second line, with one exception: in measure [8], you don’t actually have to change chord shapes with your left hand. From the E7, you can just flatten the fingers across the strings to hit the A chord, then go right back to the E. In the last measure of the line, it’s best to actually change to the A-shape, as you’re going to let the notes ring. Measures [10] through [17] are played exactly like [2] through [9], except that the last three chords are strummed instead of being pinched. All the notes are identical.

Pattern picks

The chorus is a modified pattern-pick. Calling the right hand fingers Thumb, Index, Middle, and Ring, with an asterisk indicating a left hand ligado, and separating measures with slashes, the chorus pick looks like this:

/ MTIM *TRM / RTIR *TRM / RTIM RMRI / RTIM RMRM / 
/ RTIM   RIRI  / RTIM   ITIT  / RTIM RTRT / MTIR MTIM  /

The pattern doesn’t repeat exactly, but it’s not completely random, either. Play this chorus, exactly the same, after each of the first two verses. Then, change chords to the C chord that begins the third verse. Since you’re now playing in a different key, the pattern pick must change also. The pattern  for measures [26] - [33] is:

/ MTIM   *TMI  /  RTIM  RIRM  / RTIM (III) RM (I) RM / RTIM  RMRM /
/ RTIM  RMRM /  RTIR  MTMT / RTIR          *T        RT / MTIR  M T I T / 

IMPORTANT: These patterns do not indicate which strings to play with the right hand, only which fingers to use!  They have been worked out to avoid situations where you might have to play the same string with the same finger in twice succession, which would cause you to mess up the rhythm. However, this is a personal preference. If a further modification suits you better, by all means use it.

Measures [34] - [37] are played exactly like [26] - [29], but the next line is NOT an exact duplicate of the second line, as you might expect. Measures [38] and [39] are:

/ RTIR  RT*T /  RTIR  MTMT /  but next is a measure of pinches, followed by a strum.

The chorus of the third verse (measures [42] - [49] inclusive) is exactly like [26] - [33], except for the last note, which is a bass G on the 6th string, 3rd space, to lead into the chorus reprise. This reprise, comprising measures [50] - [57], is basically just the melody line of the chorus, played on the bass strings, up until the C chord in measure [53].  The two notes on the open G string in [55] give you plenty of time to move your hand to the Fifth Position (5th fret) for the F/C chord. Slow down a bit as you change positions for the other two chords of the measure, just enough for emphasis, but not so slow that it looks like you are having trouble reaching them. I like to end on a C/G chord for a fuller sound, but if this shape is too hard to reach quickly, just play a regular C. No one but you will notice the difference.

History:

A wonderful family history entry about Cyrus H. Wheelock, who wrote the words, can be found at this link:  https://familysearch.org/photos/stories/2965374.  The tune, called “Babylon”, was adapted from the song, “Long, Long Ago”, written in England by Thomas H. Bayly in 1833. It was a nostalgic tune that immediately became quite popular in England, and was also popular in the United States by 1844. Brother Wheelock could scarcely have helped hearing the song, as he served three missions to England, and was writing hymns in Utah during the period of its greatest popularity in the US, but we have no information about the date the poem was written, or who adapted the tune to it. 

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.