Nellington

Try http://www.ultimate-guitar.com. More tabs than you can shake a stick at. Very good site indeed.

Tapping and percussion for me. I've been trying to learn 'Drifting' by Andy McKee for about 2 months, and I still can't play it all the way through without a few mistakes.

I've got dozens of these. In th interests of keeping the thread readable (not to mention shorter than War and Peace) I'll present just a few: 1). "There ain't no grave, can hold my body down" - Johnny Cash, 'Ain't No Grave'. 2). "At my most beautiful, I count your eyelashes, secretly. With every one, whisper 'I love you', I let you sleep. I know you're closed-eye watching me, listening. I thought I saw a smile" - R.E.M., 'At My Most Beautiful'. 3). "I don't mind growing old, losing teeth and going bald. Not as handsome as I ever was, you love me just because." - The John Butler Trio, 'Losing You'. 4). "I went to the doctor, I was feeling kinda rough. Lemme break it to you, son, your shit's f*cked up. I said 'My shit's f*cked up? Well I don't see how'. He said 'The shit that used to work, well it don't work now'. - Warren Zevon 'My shit's f*cked up'. 5). "This place is a prison, and these people aren't your friends. Inhaling thrills through 20 dollar bills, and the tumblers are drained and then flooded again and again." - The Postal Service, 'This Place Is A Prison'.

Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison.

My advice is, never bother learning a song that you know you'll easily be able to play. Always push yourself with songs that are just that bit beyond you, you'll improve a lot faster that way.

I think it's about a gambling den. When the narrator says "I'm going back to New Orleans, to wear that ball and chain", he's talking about the gamling addiction that's destroyed him ("Oh momma, tell your children, not to do what I have done") and his father (who was, of course, "A gambling man, down in New Orleans"). The House of the Rising Sun may peddle other vices (drugs, prostitution, etc...) but the song never makes explicit mention of them.

Ola amigos! Hey thought this might be an interesting exercise: 1. Do you sing, play an instrument or instruments? - Aye What instruments? - Guitar, bass, harmonica, piano (a little), and violin (just started). I've also got a fairly decent voice (Think "Poor man's Neil Pennycook") When did you start playing? - When I was 22. Did you teach yourself? - I taught myself all my instruments except the violin. I'm getting lessons for that. The fiddlers among us should understand why :-) 2. Are you in a band or bands? - Nope. Used to be in an epic band called the Toxic Shock Robots, but unfortunately we didn't really get beyond the "Skinning up and talking about what an awesome band we were" phase. I think we wrote 2 songs, and they both sucked donkey balls. What is the name of the band? - I'm strictly solo at the moment. Don't wanna cede creative control over anything to anyone. What do you play? - One of my life's ambitions is to be able to play every type of instrument inthe world to a good standard. I'm 29, and it's currently 4 down, 350 to go. Piece of cake. 3. Do you write songs? Do you write lyrics, music or both? - Both Do you have a writing partner? - Nope. That'd be my worst nightmare, to be honest. I don't think I'm cut out for those sort of dualistic creative relationships. Too stubborn (Kevin Bacon wasn't in Footloose!) 4. Do you record your music? - I try, but my recording equipment is shit. One of my resolutions this year is to buy some decent gear. Do you have music available on the web? if so where? - Not yet, but watch this space. 6. Are you a tech head? - Oh God no. I have absolutely no patience with technology at all. 7. What country do you live in? - In-ger-laaaand! 8. What are your ambitions? - To be able to make a living writing tunes and playing gigs. I don't expect to ever get rich off it, but if I could earn enough to support a family in some small measure of comfort I'd be very happy. 9. Do you draw/paint/write stories/computer art/dance or other creative pursuit? - Yep, I write short stories, awful poetry, and I'm a dab hand with photoshop and can airbrush the shit out of anything. What are your pastimes? - Writing music/lyrics, running,writing short stories, reading (I'm loving the 'Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire' books at the moment), chatting shit with my mates, rides, arcades, I could go on, but perhaps my favourite thing to do is grab my guitar/keyboard and just jam along to whatever comes up on Jango or Pandora. I can spend hours doing that. 10. What would you like to get out of Songstuff? - Uncritical praise, undying love, adulation, hero worship, sexual favours, a few good weed connections and, if I'm really, really lucky a few of the useful tips on songwriting I so desperately need. I think that covers the main musical things! - It sure does boy!