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Musical Sketches

I like to tinker on the guitar and occasionally compose my own bits and pieces. Obviously I try not to reinvent the wheel but it's quite possible I've recreated other people's songs that are buried in my subconscious somewhere. I've decide not to worry too much about it. These are all just sketches, works in progress, complete with bum notes but I thought I'd post them because it's nice when I get an occasional compliment. All of them are instrumentals so far because my voice isn't up to scratch just yet and writing lyrics is hard work. I've embedded a flash player and I'll put some descriptions below for reference on tunings etc. Details of how to embed the flash player can be found here. If you want to download them and play around with them feel free.


All This Time
DADGAD tuning and originally two different guitar parts that were meant to be played at the same time but which I thought worked equally well as a linear progression. A car horn went off while I was recording which I decided to leave in for atmosphere.
Falling Rain
It was raining at the time I recorded it which is where the title came from. DADGAD tuning once again.
Horse Chestnut Tree
I re-recorded this without any overdubs so it's just one guitar. DADGAD again. The title comes from a memory of a tree by my old junior school that came to me while I was composing it.
Fallen by the Wayside
I've finally got round to re-recording this with one guitar. I quite like this one, and I quite like the title which I came up with spontaneously when yowling along to it.
Bryony
I re-recorded this finger-picking the chords instead of strumming and I'm still not sure which approach I like best. It's based on a chord sheet I got from a guitar teacher I had a few lessons with, a chord I learnt from a guy in a musical workshop and a middle section inspired by 'Light My Fire'.
Lord Have Mercy
Composed using DADF#AD, a really useful alternative tuning I stumbled across after using DADGAD for a while. It's the same one Joni Mitchell uses for 'Big Yellow Taxi'. Anyway I chose the title because it has a slightly traditional Bluegrass/Country feel to it. It's just as simple thing really but it's quite satisfying to play. Needs a few more variations and intricacies...
A Little Regret
Another DADF#AD piece that I'm quite proud of actually, even though I wasn't sure about the first few bars. The terrible intonation on my guitar means that tuning is a bit approximate, which is exposed a little bit in this song. The title was another rushed one and just hopefully reflects some of the mood.
Lost in a Dream
DADF#AD again and another piece that's quite satisfying to play.