Country Music Lyrics Volume 1 with Chords - Foundationwebsite.org

FOREWORD
The songs (words and some chords) presented here are intended to facilitate learning to play the
guitar by ear (per the article, How to Play the Guitar by Ear (for Mathematicians and Physicists), at
Internet web sites http://www.foundation.bw and http://www.foundationwebsite.org . The songs are
mainly popular "country and western" ones, with some rock and roll, folk, and gospel songs included.
(Perhaps "classic" is a better descriptor than "popular," since most of the songs are from the 1950s.)
If a song has no chords indicated, then the student should (if he knows the melody) be able to play
such a song in any of the keys that are natural for the guitar, i.e., A, C, D, E, and G (and perhaps F).
Many of these songs involve just three chords (I, IV and V). If a single chord is indicated somewhere
in a song (as an assist to the student), and the key of the song is not specified, it is the chord
assuming that the song is being played in the key of A.
For songs that are more difficult, I have indicated suggested chords to be used, in a key that suits my
own vocal range. The student may wish to transpose these songs to a different key. These are not
necessarily the "best" chords for the song -- just the ones that I found easy or natural to use. For
songs that have no chords indicated, practice singing the song in several keys, and select the key that
suits your vocal range best. I play a majority of the songs in this collection in the key of A, many in G,
and less in E, D and C.
For each song, the first line specifies the title. If there is an alternative title, that is specified on the
second line. Next are specified the most well-known singer(s) of the song (in the US) and the
author(s). If a single name appears, either that person is both the principal singer and the author, or I
only know one or the other.
I have assembled a fairly large number of songs into this "practice" collection, since in order for you to
be able to play a song by ear you must know the melody (none of the songs presented here include
the music for the melody), and the number of songs of the collection for which you know the melody
may be small. Most of the songs in this collection were popular in the 1950s, when I used to listen to
the radio.
If you do not recognize very many of the songs here, then you should compile your own portfolio of
lyrics of songs that you do know. Listening to the radio is not so good for recording lyrics, since you
cannot "replay" the song (unless you tape it). There are a large number of Internet web sites that
contain lyrics, for every kind of music. Many of the songs contain chords as well. Another source of
lyrics and chords (and music for the melody) are "fake" books, available in local music stores.
When learning to play by ear, it is important to have lyrics for a fairly large number of songs. If you
concentrate on just a few songs, you will memorize the chord sequence. Eventually, you will
memorize it anyway, but in the beginning, when you are learning to play by ear, it is best not to
memorize it. It is important to develop an "ear" (a "feel," an intuition, a sense) for which chord should
be used. To do this, it is important to try playing a song in several different keys. And it is helpful to
have a large selection of songs, so that you do not spend too much time on a single song (and
memorize it too soon). When learning to play by ear, it is a good idea to cycle through the book,
rather than selecting just a few songs. Play each song once or a few times, until you do not make
mistakes. Later, when your skills improve, you will want to settle on a particular key for a song, and
learn to sing and play it very well. You will then be able to perform the song well.
If your voice quality is not very good, don't worry about that. Some very popular singers have terrible
voices. Each voice, like each flower or sunset, is different, and enjoyed for its own qualities by the
listeners. Your voice and vocal range and ability to sing in tune improve rapidly with practice.
Listeners respond more to your enthusiasm and emotion than to the timbre of your voice.
ii