SongBench

Racked & Stacked

The Brains of the Unit – This year, I noticed the slightest buzz in my Hartke HA3500 350W head. It’s a great amp, with both [single] tube AND solid-state preamps built in, and it’s been doing all of the work for the past couple of years. But I talked to a fellow bassist in Nashville, and he showed me a couple of one rack unit sized power amps… Yamaha made them a while ago. I liked the idea of a smaller amp, and had been toying with buying a preamp/modeler, so I started looking around.

I ended up purchasing an ART SLA2 Studio Amplifier from Sam Ash (after trading some other gear for store credit) – 200W per channel, 560W bridged mono (although I’m not convinced on the bridging). It’s exactly as loud as I need, and no louder. I’m now driving this with an Ampeg SVP-Pro tube preamp (see my post here about obtaining this awesome piece of gear), and together they are the bomb shizzle. I recently picked up an ART 341 stereo eq, and that’s currently in the rack too, although I used to use it as a crossover, since I got the pre I’m pretty much leaving the EQ flat – it’s there to adjust for the different rooms we play in. The top of the rig is a Korg DTR-1000 tuner (which, in addition to being an accurate and attractive tuner, is slim enough to leave the tube vents exposed so the preamp doesn’t overheat!). The Pre, EQ, and tuner were all Craigslist finds.

Bottom Line – I think it’s true that some speakers can be the secret weapon to a bassist’s sound… although speakers pretty much only spit out what you give to them, some do it cleaner than others, and the right combination of cones can really make a big difference to getting a deliberate tone. For example, I’ve owned several Peavey bass cabs in 410TX and 210TX configurations – and will go to my death convinced that they do the absolute best job reproducing what the amp sends.

However, I only played an arena one time, and my vehicles don’t always fit the Peavey 1820 cabinet I had back in 1995, much less your average 410. I’ve always thought aluminum speakers looked like the bomb, and they sounded pretty crisp in the kickback combos I’ve owned, so I’ve invested in a few Hartke cabs. I’ve got a 115, 410 and a 210, all in the Transporter series. They sound great, stack well, and your back will thank you. Mine does. Plus, at 24″ x 24″ x 15″ for both the 115TP and the 410TP, they fit just about anywhere you want to stick them. For the kinds of gigs I play, these three allow any setup necessary (although I almost solely use the 410 when playing upright/coffeehouse shows – it’s enough).

Here’s a current list of instruments, rigs, and pedals that I use for various occasions.

Covering The Basses

Vantage VP-710B – The guitarist in the garage band I was in in High School had a Vantage electric guitar with double humbuckers that I coveted until last year – no kidding. I tried to get him to sell it to me for the longest time – it broke my heart when he took it to college with him and turned it into an art project. Last year I found one on eBay and snatched it up. Then I bought this fellow to go with it – nearly-matched set.

This one’s my Old Gentleman. A late 70′s Matsumoku set-neck passive bass. He’s quite handsome, and the pickups have plenty of old-school thump. I had a Korean bass that looked similar to this one back in the day, although it didn’t sound anywhere near as good. I took the Korean to Europe in 1985 – the bandleader was not enamoured, as “pretty” was less important to him than sound. I wish I had owned this instrument at the time. Very round notes. Seriously delicious for jazz, funk, or what-ails-you.

Eminence Upright – I discovered this 10 year-old beauty on Gruhn’s website 5 days after it got posted as a consignment item. It was a little out of my price range, but some of the music I was playing was calling for an upright sound (versus my fretless), and one of the groups I’m in was morphing from electric-rock to acoustic. So the timing was right, and it wasn’t going to last long, even at the price (which was STILL less than half of the new cost). So I went downtown and poked around upstairs, playing an aluminum upright made in Kalamazoo, and a couple of other double basses… but finally walked over to the lady I had been staring at across the room and introduced myself. Good thing I got over my shyness. We go dancing a couple of times a month.

Bonus - when they brought the original packaging down, we discovered an LR Baggs acoustic preamp/DI in the case. The Gods were smiling. So was American Express, but that’s another story…

Ibanez 5-string Basses - I purchased an Ibanez SR905 at Sam Ash on Sean-the-bass-guy’s recommendation. The neck on the SRs is slim, which makes the 5-string very navigable, and the active Bartolini’s were a godsend over the junk I had been playing (which I traded to Sam for a good discount on the 905). I immediately started getting compliments from bandmates on the new sound – it was alive and sparkling.

When I made the decision to invest in a fretless, I started looking around for a match for the 905. I’d fallen in love with the slim neck, and I also wanted the fingerboard scale to match for muscle memory purposes.  Further, I was hoping to find those lovely Barts. To my great horror, I discovered that there wasn’t a fretless option on the 905… Ibanez’s custom shop is only open for endorsing musicians (seriously, I’m there guys… give me a call), and you had to drop several levels to the 300s to find fretless as a standard option on any of the SR series. But at that level, the bart pups weren’t an option… in fact, active pups weren’t available at all with a fretless in the SR series.

Yeah. I cried. I gnashed my teeth. I sent emails. But finally I bought a Rob Allen mb-2. Damn that was a nice bass, but though it was incredibly powerful, it felt a little fragile. It was lovely for recording… but I was just afraid to take it to some of the places I played. But then I read that in ’94, at NAMM, Ibanez had come out with a fretless that closely matched the SR series!

I searched some more, and discovered (through his music and website) Gary Willis, a terrific jazz bassist with groundbreaking technique. Gary, it turns out, has been an Ibanez endorser for years, and with them designed and developed a 5 string fretless with a special, active Bartolini pickup. With the help of Brian at The Low End Shop in Murfreesboro and the Guitar Center in Mobile, I turned the new mb-2 into a used Ibanez GWB1 fretless (although the dude at GC thought he was selling me the 105 with it’s cheaper ebonol board and screwed-in ramp – but when I received it, it turned out to be the original). White ash, off-center dots on a gold-lined ebony fingerboard, stacked knobs, black hardware (and the coolest damn tuners EVER) – she’s a beauty. There is a newer model (quite a bit more expensive), but the one I picked up is nearly perfect. I’m going to rewire the battery housing – it pops a bit when I start digging in (a method very contrary to the way Gary plays – he’s all about the light touch). I put La Bella tapewounds on it because I really, really like those strings for fretless.

I’ve got some other stringed items, but these are the basses that do the heavy lifting for me. Lately I’ve been enjoying thumping on Vance quite a bit, and he’s coming (without a backup) to the next few non-acoustic gigs. I just put La Bella flats on him (760 FL), and wowser. Who needs a ’72 Gibson Les Paul Signature semi-hollowbody, anyway?

Had a great time at IBMA this year and saw a number of great performances, both on stage and in the hallways. John Lawless captured a number of great moments on “the red carpet” over at The Bluegrass Blog.

The high points for me included:

An excellent Teacher’s Seminar, where 5 young kids from a band called Green on the Vyne opened the seminar with a number of excellent songs; the Northern Indiana Bluegrass Association (who also hosted a GREAT picking room earlier in the week), with the help of 30+ Deering Goodtime Banjos, taught us how to roll; Valerie Smith brought a couple members of her band Liberty Pike – guitarist Ernie Evans and bandleader Becky Buller – and they taught us how to sing bluegrass harmony; and The Special Concensus gave us a feel for demonstrating bluegrass to school systems (I’ve been an Ashby Frank fan since I saw the Mashville Brigade perform at the Station Inn a few years ago, and I’m always a fan of music in schools).

Meeting and speaking with Gary E. Bartig, who designed and built the Eminence Portable Upright Bass. We talked about my L.R. Baggs preamp, and he gave me some suggestions for dialing in a clearer sound from my Realist pickup. He also told me that my Emma is one of the early “Cleveland” models (which I purchased from the original owner a few years ago), constructed before manufacturing was moved overseas. Then I found this label on the carton when I cleaned the attic out this week. Love it.

The Life of a Song session with Melanie Cannon, Buddy Cannon, Chris Stapleton, and Ronnie Bowman, including an acoustic performance of Never Wanted Nothing More. That hour was worth the price of admission for that day.

I really, really enjoyed meeting the G2 Bluegrass Band at their booth and chatting with Jimmy about his Eminence setup (L.R. Baggs preamp, among other things), especially after hearing their tight performance at breakfast one morning.

I captured it with my iPhone – not the best video (okay, pretty much the worst video), but the live sound will give you an idea about the quality of this group. I’ll be following them a bit, and I’ll let you know when they report on US distribution for their music!

Be free,

Jeff

Had a great time picking at Larry’s Grand Old Garage last Saturday! Here’s a partial list of the songs from that night:

Sittin’ On Top of the World – Bb
Old Joe Clark – A
Lovin’ Another Man – A
On My Mind – D
Cryin’ – G
Kentucky Mandolin – Gm
Bury Me Beneath the Willow
Blue Grass Special (break song) – G
Nine Pound Hammer
Ship of Jesus
Rollin in my Sweet Baby’s Arms
A couple Meryl Haggard songs
Remington Ride (closer)
Antioch choir (after)

Inspired by one of my teachers, Linda Newby, and Tweep @flatpick650,
I'm going to work out Amie in it's entirety. I've done some tab for it
in the past, primarily trying to capture all the parts for solo guitar.
But I'm going to break down the individual parts as if I needed to be
able to show a bluegrass band how to play and sing it. I think I would
have a hard time finding a band who hadn't heard/played a version of this,
but the assumption is that I need to start from the ground up. Sort of.

Here's my first installment - the intro to the song.
Guitar tab on top, lyrics/chords below.

Amie (Intro)
The Pure Prairie League
Part 1, Transcribed by Jeff Elkins

INTRO TAB (4/4): (play pattern x2 first no words, then,)

 Fmaj7
e|-------------------------0-----------------0----|
B|-------------6-----------------6----------------|
G|-------------------5-----------------5----------|
D|-------7----------------------------------------|
A|-0----------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
   1  e  +  a  2  e  +  a  3  e  +  a  4  e  +  a
                 line 1: More than  I    could
                 line 2: Touching    what is
                 line 3:    All my mind is
                 line 4:        Carolina's

 Gadd6
e|-------------------------0-----------------0----|   ||
B|-------------8-----------------8----------------|  o||
G|-------------------7-----------------7----------|   || Play
D|-------7----------------------------------------|   || X4,
A|-0----------------------------------------------|  o|| then
E|------------------------------------------------|   ||
   1  e  +  a  2  e  +  a  3  e  +  a  4  e  +  a
   feel...
   real...
   reelin' round...
   feelin' down...

 A                 Aadd6 A
e|------------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------7----^5~~~-------------------|
G|-------------6----------------------------------|
D|-------7----------------------------------------|
A|-0----------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
   1  e  +  a  2  e  +  a  3  e  +  a  4  e  +  a
                                           4: to-day...

A tempo...
 A                       D
e|-------5--------5--x--x-------------------------|    ||
B|-------5--------5--x--x-----------3~~-----(3)-x-|   o||
G|-------2--------2--x--x--------2--------2-(2)-x-|    ||Repeat
D|-------2--------2--------2-^4--------------4--x-|    ||
A|-0----------(x)-------------------------------x-|   o||
E|------------------------------------------------|    ||
   1  e  +  a  2  e  +  a  3  e  +  a  4  e  +  a 

(similar pattern on chords, or)
 Asus2
e|----------------7-----------------------5-------|
B|----0-----------------------0-------------------|
G|----------6-----------6-----------6-----------6-|
D|-------7-----------7-----------7-----------7----|
A|-0-----------0-----------0-----------0----------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
   1  e  +  a  2  e  +  a  3  e  +  a  4  e  +  a
   Fallin'     in    and   out   of 

 G/A                     Dsus2/A
e|----3-----------------------------------0-------|   ||
B|----------------0------------0------------------|  o||
G|----------4-----------4-----------2-----------2-|   ||Repeat
D|-------5-----------5-----------4-----------4----|   ||  X3,
A|-0-----------0-----------0-----------0----------|  o|| then
E|------------------------------------------------|   ||
   1  e  +  a  2  e  +  a  3  e  +  a  4  e  +  a
   love             with  you...

 Asus2
e|----------------7-----------------------5-------|
B|----0-----------------------0-------------------|
G|----------6-----------6-----------6-----------6-|
D|-------7-----------7-----------7-----------7----|
A|-0-----------0-----------0-----------0----------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
   1  e  +  a  2  e  +  a  3  e  +  a  4  e  +  a
   Fallin'     in    and   out   of 

 D
e|----2-----------------------2-------------------|
B|----------3-----3-----------------3-----3-------|
G|-------2-----------2--2--------2-----------2--2-|
D|-0-----------0-----------0-----------0----------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|
   1  e  +  a  2  e  +  a  3  e  +  a  4  e  +  a
   love...

INTRO CHORDS & LYRICS

Fmaj7    Gadd6  :|

VERSE1:
Fmaj7                Gadd6 
More than I could feel
Fmaj7        Gadd6  
 Touching what is real
Fmaj7        Gadd6  
 All my mind is reelin' round
Fmaj7  Gadd6              Aadd6 A
'Cause Carolina's feeling down... today

A    D    A    D

A                     G/A       D/A
Fallin' in and out of love with you
A                     G/A       D/A
Fallin' in and out of love with you
A                     G/A       D/A
Don't know what I'm gonna do, I keep
A                     D/A
Fallin' in and out of love... 

VERSE2:
Oh I try to find
Thinkin' just the other day
Something that would ease her mind
Somethin' that I meant to say... to her

Fallin' in and out of love with you
Fallin' in and out of love with you
Don't know what I'm gonna do, I keep
Fallin' in and out of love...

 Fmaj7/A
With you

A       G/A               D/A
I think I could stay with you
 Bm           Bm/A         E
For a while, maybe longer, if I do

Performance notes:
The band has a bluegrass instrumentation and feel
but two guitars can cover it - if one thinks like a
mandolin/banjo player!

Intro chords (can get from the tab - positions are held)
* = fret

Fmaj7 xooooo   G/A  xooooo
fret5 |||*||   fret7|||*||
      ||||*|        ||||*|
      ||*|||        ||*|||

Couple o' chords for the "fallin' in and out" part:
@ = optional

Asus2 xooooo   G/A  xooooo  Dsus2/A xooooo
fret5 |||||@   fret3|||||*    fret2 |||*||
      |||*||        |||*||          ||||||
      ||*||@        ||*|||          ||*|||
 
All other chords are traditional country - I'll include
specific fingerings in the next installment

End of part 1. Next - the rest of the song chords/tab!

Be free,
Jeff

Blackbird

Lennon/McCartney

Transcription for cross-picking Mandolin. Email or Twitter @JKElkins if you want to hear an mp3 of this some friends and I did adding vocal and cello.

Notes: I moved this to A to make it possible on the mandolin. Fingerpicked first, then translated a fairly straight cross-pick pattern (I’m new at cross-picking).  Leave all notes to ring as long as possible before moving to next figure (won’t be long ;-)). Two chords in the end of the verse are a compromise, as the correct positions would be too much of a stretch (for me) on the mando. Cut and paste into courier new font if your browser doesn’t line the measures up.

Key: A

INTRO:
 |      |       |       |          |       |       |       |
 |-------------------0---0--  |---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0-|
3|---4---4---5---5-----0---- 4|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
4|-----2-------0-------7---- 4|/11------11------11------11------|
 |-2-------4-------6--------  |---------------------------------|
   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a      1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

VERSE1:
 |      |       |       |          |       |       |       |
 |-------------------0---0--  |---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0-|
3|---4---4---5---5-----0---- 4|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
4|-----2-------0-------7---- 4|/11------11------11------11------|
 |-2-------4-------6--------  |---------------------------------|
   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a      1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Blackbird sing' in the dead of  night...

|---2---2---5---5---4---4---7---7-|---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5-|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|-0-------1-------2-------3-------|-4-------4-------3-------3-------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Take th's broken wings 'n learn to  fly...

 |---4---4---5---5-|
2|-----0-------0---|
4|-2-------1-------|
 |-----------------|
   1 e & a 2 e & a
 All     your

|---2---2---2---2---1---1---1---1-|---0---0---0---0-----------------|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-----6---6---6---6-|
|-0-------0-------0-------0-------|---------------------7-------7---|
|---------------------------------|-6-------6-------4-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Life                              You were only   waiting for this

 (extra, just because)
|---------------------------------|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|---5---5---5---5---4---4---4---4-|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|-----6-------6-------2-------2---|-----2-------2-------2-------2---|
|-4-------4-------2-------2-------|-2-------2-------2-------2-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Moment to   ar- rive...

VERSE2:
 |-------------------0---0--  |---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0-|
3|---4---4---5---5-----0---- 4|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
4|-----2-------0-------7---- 4|/11------11------11------11------|
 |-2-------4-------6--------  |---------------------------------|
   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a      1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Blackbird sing' in the dead of  night...

|---2---2---5---5---4---4---7---7-|---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5-|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|-0-------1-------2-------3-------|-4-------4-------3-------3-------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Take th's sunken eyes 'n learn to   see...

 |---4---4---5---5-|
2|-----0-------0---|
4|-2-------1-------|
 |-----------------|
   1 e & a 2 e & a
 All     your

|---2---2---2---2---1---1---1---1-|---0---0---0---0-----------------|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-----6---6---6---6-|
|-0-------0-------0-------0-------|---------------------7-------7---|
|---------------------------------|-6-------6-------4-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Life                              You were only   waiting for this

 (chop!)
|-----------------------------x---|
|---5---5---5---5---4---4-----x---|
|-----6-------6-------2-------x---|
|-4-------4-------2-------2---x---|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Moment to be    free...

BRIDGE:
|---7---7---5---5---3---3---2---2-|---0---0---0---0---2---2---2---2-|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|-5-------4-------2-------0-------|-----------------0-------0-------|
|---------------------------------|-5-------5-----------------------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Bla-    ack     bird...           fly...

|---7---7---5---5---3---3---2---2-|---0---0---0---0-----------------|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-----6---6---6---6-|
|-5-------4-------2-------0-------|---------------------7-------7---|
|---------------------------------|-5-------5-------4-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Bla-    ack     bird...           fly...                  Into the

|---------------------------------|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|---5---5---5---5---4---4---4---4-|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|-----6-------6-------2-------2---|-----2-------2-------2-------2---|
|-4-------4-------2-------2-------|-2-------2-------2-------2-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
li'of a darkblack night...

INSTRUMENTAL:
 |-------------------0---0--  |---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0-|
3|---4---4---5---5-----0---- 4|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
4|-----2-------0-------7---- 4|/11------11------11------11------|
 |-2-------4-------6--------  |---------------------------------|
   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a      1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

|---2---2---5---5---4---4---7---7-|---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5-|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|-0-------1-------2-------3-------|-4-------4-------3-------3-------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

 |---4---4---5---5-|
2|-----0-------0---|
4|-2-------1-------|
 |-----------------|
   1 e & a 2 e & a 

|---2---2---2---2---1---1---1---1-|---0---0---0---0-----------------|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-----6---6---6---6-|
|-0-------0-------0-------0-------|---------------------7-------7---|
|---------------------------------|-6-------6-------4-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

 (chop!)
|-----------------------------x---|
|---5---5---5---5---4---4-----x---|
|-----6-------6-------2-------x---|
|-4-------4-------2-------2---x---|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a  

BRIDGE (again):
|---7---7---5---5---3---3---2---2-|---0---0---0---0---2---2---2---2-|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|-5-------4-------2-------0-------|-----------------0-------0-------|
|---------------------------------|-5-------5-----------------------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Bla-    ack     bird...           fly...

|---7---7---5---5---3---3---2---2-|---0---0---0---0-----------------|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-----6---6---6---6-|
|-5-------4-------2-------0-------|---------------------7-------7---|
|---------------------------------|-5-------5-------4-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Bla-    ack     bird...           fly...                  Into the

|---------------------------------|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|---5---5---5---5---4---4---4---4-|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|-----6-------6-------2-------2---|-----2-------2-------2-------2---|
|-4-------4-------2-------2-------|-2-------2-------2-------2-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
li'of a darkblack night...

 ritard......pause
|-------------------0---0--|---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0-|---0---0---0---0-|
|---4---4---5---5-----0----|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|---0---0---0---0-|
|-----2-------0-------7----|/11------11------11------11------|-11--11--11-11-11\
|-2-------4-------5--------|---------------------------------|-----------------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a    1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & 

TURNAROUND:
|-------------------0---0---0---0-  |---0---0---0---0-|
|---4---4---5---5-----0-------0--- 2|-----0-------0---|
|-----2-------0------------------- 4|-----------------|
|-2-------4-------6-------7-------  |-6-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a     1 e & a 2 e & a 

|-------0~------0~------0~--------|-------0-------0-------0-------0-|
|---6-------6-------6-------6---6-|---5-------5-------5-------5-----|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7---|-----6-------6-------6-------6---|
|-4-------------------------------|-4-------4-------4-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a

VERSE3:
 |-------------------0---0--  |---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0-|
3|---4---4---5---5-----0---- 4|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
4|-----2-------0-------7---- 4|/11------11------11------11------|
 |-2-------4-------5--------  |---------------------------------|
   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a      1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Blackbird sing' in the dead of  night...

|---2---2---5---5---4---4---7---7-|---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5-|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|
|-0-------1-------2-------3-------|-4-------4-------3-------3-------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
Take th's broken wings 'n learn   ...to  fly...

 |---4---4---5---5-|
2|-----0-------0---|
4|-2-------1-------|
 |-----------------|
   1 e & a 2 e & a
 All     your

|---2---2---2---2---1---1---1---1-|---0---0---0---0-----------------|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0---|-----0-------0-----6---6---6---6-|
|-0-------0-------0-------0-------|---------------------7-------7---|
|---------------------------------|-6-------6-------4-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Life                              You were only   waiting for this

|---------------------------------|---0---0-----0-------------------|
|---5---5---5---5---4---4---4---4-|-----0-----0---0---6---6---6---6-|
|-----6-------6-------2-------2---|---------------------7-------7---|
|-4-------4-------2-------2-------|-6-------6-------4-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Moment to   ar- rive...           You were only   waiting for this

|---------------------------------|---0---0-----0-------------------|
|---5---5---5---5---4---4---4---4-|-----0-----0---0---6---6---6---6-|
|-----6-------6-------2-------2---|---------------------7-------7---|
|-4-------4-------2-------2-------|-6-------6-------4-------4-------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a   1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Moment to   ar- rive...           You were only  waiting... for this

 ritard...            (slow sweeps)
|-------------------------0----5---|
|---5---5---5---5-------0-----4----|
|-----6-------6-------2------2-----|
|-4-------4-------2---------2------|
  1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a
 Moment to a-    rise...

I’ve been cross-purposing my business blog lately — there are a TON of great things going on with my musical pursuits that I should be blogging about! So I’ve started this blog to give me a more appropriate venue for posts and articles about arts & education and music, especially folk, bluegrass, and Americana music.