Cover songs - what are you learning and playing ATM?

[lemonstar]

I like to learn new songs - anything that has grabbed my ear - I enjoy working them out as I don't always agree with what I find on the net.

Courtney Barnett - Need a Little Time

Tarka Cordell - In Lovely New York

Sandwich police - Splinters

All pretty easy to play - the Tarka song takes a bit of practice to sing in step with the chord changes as the words come thick and fast and don't scan brilliantly but that chaos is part of the charm of the songs imho.

What are you working on?

[Capo3tanya]

Hi Lemonstar!  I like this question.  Right now I'm working pretty much exclusively on original stuff, which is a first for me in the grand scheme of my playing.  But when it's time the next cover songs I REALLY want to learn are Skating Away by Jethro Tull, and I was working on a really cool acoustic version of Don't Fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult. I might at some point pick that one up again because it might be a good way to experiment with my DAW.

[Lisa Gates]

Leomonstar, this has recently come up on a Songwriter's Newsletter I get in my email and i almost deleted it. I thought there was no use to do covers. I thought they've already been done why re do them? But then a point was made in the newsletter that doing covers is practice for when we write our own songs. Obviously I'd do a cover of a song I like. If i like the song i should practice the lyric's message, the chord progressions and melody because I like it, I should write in that style! It was a no brainer!

 

I don't seem to retain the commercial songs much.

 

I've fallen in love with Brett Eldrige's song "Castaway" oh the minors in this song just fill my soul up!

 

and just this week, from the movie remake "A Star Is Born" the song with no rhymes in the verses (shocking!!!) but a touching melody "Music to My Eyes" (I can't stop singing that one!)

 

Chat soon,

Lisa

[john]

Hey Lemonstar

 

I’m working on a few on the keys:

 

Stevie’s Wonder “Superstition”

 

The Doors “Riders On The Storm”

 

Led Zeppelin “No Quarter”

 

also I’ve generally been teaching myself boogie woogie on the piano. Instead of dots on a page I’m very much learning this as left hand patterns and right hand licks. It;s a good fun style to play.

 

and on the guitar an arrangement of The Beatles “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, Improving my own arrangement of Radiohead “No Surprises” and Led Zeppelin “Ramble On”

 

There’s another few for other instruments. Expanding my range of beats on my Bodhran. I need a new mandolin. My last was dropped and badly damaged. Unplayable. Most annoying. That reminds e, I have to get a new bass guitar. Sorry. I am wandering off topic lol

[Capo3tanya]

Sweet! I play Ramble On I'd love to hear your version of it! 😃

[lemonstar]

I've always thought what better way to try and learn something about the craft of song writing than by looking closely at the way other songs are constructed, how the words and melodies fit with the chords and the rhythm, etc plus, if you find any joy in singing why wouldn't you want to sing the songs you think are great anyway? I can't be writing my own stuff all the time - that's way too hard so in the meantime It's practice all round for singing, playing listening to how singers use their voice, learning how to hear and decode chords... I have 2 A4 folders at least 3" thick with songs I've sung over the years plus a filing cabinet drawer full of things than ought to be filed properly - of course I'm more interested in writing my own than anything else but I think/hope I've gained something from it even if it's just a healthy heart.

 

I was looking at Courtney Barnett's song "Charity" the other week - that song rocks along - I work 95% out by ear having done it for so long and/or find a few chords transcriptions on-line, check out some live videos to watch her hands on the neck - it's not that hard to fathom out things - in that song I picked up that for an acoustic version it sounds better to play C#7 as a standard B7 [x21202] slid up 2 frets to give you C#7[x43404] on the 2nd line of the chorus

[E]Everything's a[C#7]mazing

so there's a new chord choice and a context in which it can work - maybe I'll use it one day.

 

and in the verse you can slip in a quick F# between the E and the B to make it rock more

[F#]At the end of [G#m]every season [E]I'm [F#]spent up

she doesn't play that when I watch the live versions on YT.

 

there's always something to learn imho.

 

Jeez @john - you are tackling some almighty songs - I tend to go for the minnows not the great whites.

@Lisa Gates your songs score high for the raw vocal performances - the underlying chords are fairly standard - the bit of finger-style at the start of Castaway with a descending note is nice - I haven't quite nailed that yet - it's something "like" capo 3 and picking on the top 3 strings 402, 302, 202, 102, 100 - just as a rough stab at it.

I learned that a surprising number of songs are recorded with a guitar tuned down by a semi-tone - in fact that is how my guitar is permanently tuned.