This is a good point, Ken. I've thought about this a couple of times, but only done it for one project where I was looking for violin and soprano sax solos.

I suppose I haven't because I try and be good and specify the key, and figure the rest is pretty obvious, but yeah, it's lame not to take a second and write it out.

Heck - I bet even a pict on your phone of a chart would do.

yep, some tunes are simple and don't need one but I think it would be a "best practice" type thing to include them.
I am more likely to work on something that has a chart than not in general. It just makes it a lot faster for me.

One thing that a chart could easily clear up is the structure of a song without a vocal or melody.

I feel silly asking people "so, you have this intro, then a section, another section, and then you repeat the intro...so...where is the chorus? then you have these other sections..." but I want to make sure that I understand the song form before I start playing something totally wrong.

You sound too logical, stop that! (sarcasm)

I remember watching a youtube interview of Larry Carlton (top studio guy for years in LA) and they asked if he would rather have a chart and you could tell from his expression he thought not having one was not a very good idea. He answered yes he would.
Seems if that caliber a player wants one they are worth something.

I was fortunate while growing up to have the chance to regularly be in studios while groups were recording, and there were always charts. I used to have a chart for "Big Shot", the Billy Joel tune, which I grabbed from it's recording session when Steve Khan played the solo on the track. I was read the riot act later when it was discovered I had it and was told to never show that to people.

Then my Mom threw it out after I left for college. :-|

I keep holding out a little hope I'll find it in her attic at some point. Sigh.

Cool story, got any more? These are treats.

lol...well, yeah, but I'd prolly get in trouble for some of them. :)

One really neat one:

Coolest moment I ever had in some ways was when I was taken out and shown all around cool places in NYC one day as a favor to my Uncle by a girl who was doing some singing for him. (He prolly wanted to get me the hell outta the studio - I was constantly under foot, walking in and out of sessions...)

I was around 10, and had no idea who she was - heck, it was years before I appreciated who any of the people I met were.

She took me out for a day, bought me excellent Chinese, took me to the Museum - just cool stuff. I of course fell in love with her - heck, I was 10.

Her name? Phoebe Snow.

Pretty cool, at least to me. She was one of the nicest people I ever met.

Ok, so enough of my boring stories...

Nice story, I read she was a sweetheart.

go ahead Bill, now you have to him who your Uncle is - by the way - you do have some great music releated stories, I've heard a few of them :)

Nope. It's not important, really - I'm not him, nor am I in the biz. My real point was the charts, not how the luck of the draw gave me an Uncle. ;)

Touche - touching though, about hangin with Ms Snow - now back to our regular programming

I honestly do not know which chords I play many times. If I play ukulele, I really have no clue, if I play guitar I know them if they are straight major or minor chords, but I seldom use those. I plead incompetence :)

Rock On

B

OK the chart police will cut you slack for those times! But only cause we are that way.

I am indebted to you :), can I also get the get-out-of-jail card for times signatures?:)

No soup for you! (Jerry Seinfeld joke for us in the US)

I use guitar pro to make simple charts and it certainly helps as in Bjorns case when you don't know what the chord is as you just put the notes on the fingerboard and it's library gives you all the alternative chord names. I admit though that I'm lazy mostly and don't make charts but then again I don't think most of my songs require them as they're pretty simple.

I am too lazy to make a real chart unless the tune is complicated (not that I have published any!)

But on the tunes I have worked on that have listed them in the overview it is quicker, more so when there is something going on like a slash chord with a bass note not belonging to the chord etc.

It just seems to me it makes things easier with very little effort in general.

i agree...vocal charts would be nice. lol!!!

I think the key signature and chart is especially helpful for our brothers who like to bash things.

Don't forget the sync tones - they are key.

Key? Time Signature? Charts? Sync Tones? Man, all I wanna do is hit things...HARD! Just kidding - I like all of those things, especially when recording Ian's songs. Oh, not kidding about hitting things hard though. :D

I used to put up lyrics and chord charts on all my stuff...but I've kinda gotten away from that lately. Been taking after Andrew...getting lazy!!!

I'm gonna have to start getting out of this funk and write some charts, even for the drummers.

Anna One anna Two, first bar bash that thing in front for 6 bars accompanied by that metal thing you keep whipping. Oh and don't forget to kick the boom boom ocassionally and every now and then crash one of those shiny round things in front. End with a bash to everything and make sure to mumble along as a guide.

Seems like you've done this before.

Communification is my talent, I find speaking in the drummers langauge helps to alleviate all those frustrations caused by melodies. You just have to get into the right mind or is that left, right, right, left oh darn I forgot but that's it rudimentally speaking.

Oh flammadiddle...now you've confused me with all that gibberish...

It's only fair warning to inform you that while swinging from a vine with one arm, I can fling poo with the other...otherwise, I'm just another vacuous musician with the intelligence of a bent fork. :D

My only claim to fame is I can stick cigarettes between the strings at the nut and play away whilst my guitar smokes also adds that authentic I've been gigging brown stain to the wood which I like.

Real Musicians don't need charts.. LOL

Andrew, my claim to fame it that I can flick a pick( I use fender heavy large white) and pop someone in the audience between the eyes while playing..I buy them by the gross.

Here is a favorite of mine.


Here's a link to the larger image so you can read the fine details. It's worth it!
http://lostinthecloud.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/faeries-aire.gif

Wow. That's one of my favorites too. That was part of the memorized repertoire when I was in the USMC. We were accompanied by snipers who were instructed to shoot anyone who played wrong notes.

I always screw up at "remove cattle from stage", I hate playing that tune.

"We were accompanied by snipers who were instructed to shoot anyone who played right notes." FTFY :D

Bruce Lee said it best,

"Don't think, feel......."

Good one Dag!!!

Well this chart has been really helpful to me.

Awesome Doc!!!!!!!!!!

Love de charts!