Re 'yo arms' -- ah, it's just delish angst, it's mr. axium "middle fingers in the air" reincarnated. Love song, that ain't. Which just goes to show what interp will do. (Not to mention -- Neal. Just sayin.)
Something that continues to delight me re our man Cook is -- he surprises you. IDIYAT was a big surprise, both the choice of material and the choice of interpretation.

One of the cuts I really love on DCTR is "Avalanche," which has a couple lovely little nuggets of musical surprise. I mean, fundamentally it's this nice rock-pop copulation song, all quite polished and lovely. What saves it from being a competent me-too HAC radio sort of thing, for me, are a couple twists, to wit:

1) the alteration of the melody on the word "the same" in "the same mistakes," from the third of the chord (which occurs in the first verse) to the fifth of the chord (in the second verse) -- really kicks the intensity up a notch, makes you say, "oh, THAT was cool."

2) the unexpected use of the falsetto on the "can't" of the third repeat of the chorus, at 3:00. Just naked and vulnerable and beautiful. solar plexus hit. gets me every danged time. and he is smart enough not to do it twice.

ya can't teach that in school, peeps....

--
I laugh at myself while the tears roll down....

Cool. Good catch. Sounded to me like it wasn't even "voice saving" so much as "just can't hit the note right now 'cuz I'm exhausted and dehydrated; next year, I wear booty shorts and a CamelBak."

This actually makes complete sense to me. And I was fascinated, because even if he was making it up as he went, I don't think anyone who has seen fewer than four vids of that song would even notice.

Also, thanks to jayelgee and Taylor_Sue for explaining capos, inlays, and frets. I had picked up some of that by osmosis, but it was very, very helpful to have it all laid out so neatly.

Sunday, June 21, 2009 - 17:25 Incipit9:(RW&B) ADAM - listen @ 3:04 - David is singing the harmony line and leaving the melody to the audience... there is question if it's a voice saving move at the end of the night...

Cool. Good catch. Sounded to me like it wasn't even "voice saving" so much as "just can't hit the note right now 'cuz I'm exhausted and dehydrated; next year, I wear booty shorts and a CamelBak." I do think he just made up that harmony line as he went along; usually, you'll hear Andy singing the harmony on that part, and it sounds more like the melody line; it's lower, but there's a similar drop in pitch through the "we'll all sing along" line, instead of that rising note Cook put at the end (trying to get back to the melody line, I guess). [Fair warning: that link is to john_socal's video from San Diego that includes the Cook/Skib hair tousle at the end, so before you click, make sure you have extra time to watch those last ten seconds over, and over, and...]

I Just Died in Your Arms? Yeah, what you all said. Was it Steve Martin who said "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture"? There's just no words for my reaction to the two performances of that song so far. Or, if there are words, they're not for this thread.

ETA: Why does the spam filter have such crappy penmanship?

I think that we have to separate the singer from the song. I don't thing everything he sings is biographical especially the covers. He has sung other bitter songs such as Billy Jean and Anodyne and I'm sure there are more examples than I can pull off the top of my head. And the song is open to interpretation. To me he sounds more angry at himself for letting himself be seduced when he should have known better.

That said, I think everybody has a right to like or dislike a song for whatever reason. I can't listen to Permanent, even if I know it is a good song. If you want to know, in the spirit of things I'm putting it in my blog.

--
The best revenge is massive success. ~Frank Sinatra

Thanks Incipit.
I love that video and nice catch to pick up on the harmony. He's a natural harmony singer for sure.
I love the 360 also...such love.

--
The best revenge is massive success. ~Frank Sinatra

Hah! Something to contribute about Harmonies -

Last night's AdaM - listen @ 3:04 - David is singing the harmony line and leaving the melody to the audience. I have to listen more to see if the Boyz are joining in....but he does it at least twice. Ugly link follows:

Another AdaM - full stage view - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i83Q5pxILz4 - starts out w/great visibility - then people stand up in front of the camera a bit - 360 pan of the audience swaying arms - 3:04 (1st Harmony moment) - 5:06 David jumps down into the crowd.

♫♪♫

Edited to: fix the ugly link and report that there is question if it's a voice saving move at the end of the night.
--
Incipit9 - Irrationally 0sup2;
"Expect the Unexpected." tm WTF!Cook

redana - agreed. There's something very visceral about this performance. I can't even think about analyzing it yet. For me? It's the first time the "Hello" reaction has been replicated.

Like drug to a junkie.

I'm a gonner.

ETA: Here's a new video. Just went up about an hour ago. Wider view of the stage, pretty good sound except for the reverb in the deep bass. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85CiK0ETvDg

Alright. Lie vs. Lie may have to go on hold for a while, as our boyz seem intent upon bestowing new and intensely gratifying MUSIC upon our waiting ears.

Holy crap! Have you heard this yet? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmiHcHiS9kk

Can you think of any better way to define one's Style, one's Sound, than by taking an old favorite (with heart wrenching chord progressions, at that ) and saying "THIS is what it sounds like when WE play it?"

Fantastic.

Everything about it. Song choice, his voice, the band, the arrangement, the style, Neal's solos.

This WORKS.

:thud: and :died:

That is all. I'm done for. He wins. Hands down. I give in.

GAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!

Just touching on David's falsetto. It is my impression (correct me if I'm wrong) that he does not actually use it to reach a higher note but only for effect. That is to ask, are there examples of David singing in falsetto to reach a note that is higher than his natural voice (chest voice?). Is it just because it is not his style of singing.

I'm very familiar with falsetto singing because it is an art form in Hawaii. I've been to several falsetto competitions (which is like a talent contest with a recording contract as the prize). It is different than western falsetto, though as it emphasizes rather than attempts to smooth over the voice break. I LOVE Hawaiian falsetto singing. Certain genres of Hawaiian music stimulates my alpha waves (tm Scott).

Here's an example if you are interested. This guy won a Hawaiian music new artist award in 2007 but his sound is very traditional. I think I'm going to have to buy his record, it's so good. BTW he's playing in a community center. Don't be put off by not being able to understand the Hawaiian language. If you do, then that adds another layer of beauty, but you can just revel in the pure sound like I do (which is what most people do-few actually speak Hawaiian). Oh, and he plays Hawaiian slack key guitar, I think.

Steven Espaniola

--
The best revenge is massive success. ~Frank Sinatra

Yay. I get so happy every time I see this thread and how busy it's getting. (And again, what took so long?!?! Am I really the only person in DCO who saw the empty gaping hole in discussion topics? Sorry, turning off angst now. )

Anyway, regarding harmonies, I guess I'm a natural harmony singer -- I've been doing it for years -- the earliest I can recall for sure is when I was about 12, I think, but probably earlier. That may be why I gravitated to a cappella in college, as it's all harmony, for lack of any other instrumentation. Some people are easily able to sing a third above, and that's probably the simplest there is -- but the further away you get from a base chord, the more difficult it may get, I think, unless you've trained your ear to do it. It really comes down to how your ear is trained, and eventually it becomes instinctive if it isn't already. And some of it is just natural-born talent. I'll share a personal story that's just making me glow with happiness these days -- I have 2 kids, a 3 1/2 y.o. & a 2.y.o. My DS (the 2yo) just recently started singing along with songs with me a few months ago -- as in, I'll sing a line and he'll fill in the last syllable -- and the thing is, HE SINGS ON KEY. This is not, to my experience, something common to all kids -- my DD may have inherited her father's tone-deaf ear, although she's learning to sing closer to pitch as she goes to school and learns new songs with other kids, but clearly -- sometimes people are just born with certain abilities. (And can I just say how THRILLED I am about one of my kids being able to sing!! Sorry for gloating. Proud Mommy and all that.)

In any case, obviously some more complex harmonies need to have a little more thought put into them as they're devised, as I don't think that most singers would automatically gravitate to a diminished 7th as an accompanying harmonic note. But 1-3-5, or an octave above, is pretty simple, especially when you're used to it. I'm sure David is a natural harmony singer, given Cavallo's comments.

As for ADAM, I don't believe that was falsetto, although I'm speaking from memory, which can be faulty, so please correct if I'm wrong. With regards to falsetto, also known as head voice -- if you're not sure what that sounds like as opposed to chest voice, or lower register -- just start singing the lowest note you can manage and go up in a scale, one note at a time. At some point you'll hit a note that you have to sing differently. There's usually a big range of notes that can go either way, but eventually it will be all falsetto, which has a very different tone to it. I think DC's being a dramatic tenor makes a huge difference in the tone of his falsetto, as well, because I find it very appealing to hear -- and most male falsettos sound like cats meowling to me, so this is high praise. As an example, listen to Avalanche, or TWIK (the last notes in particular from the AI performance). ADAM, I think, was just really high in his chest register, as is that final screem in HFT -- which is also amazingly high for a male vocal. (And as another aside, does anyone remember that video playlist he did back in December? He included A-Ha's Take On Me, & said he couldn't hit the high note and wouldn't attempt it. I'm still trying to figure out if he was completely ignorant about his range or was just being falsely modest, because that note is a mere half-step up from the high note in HFT, and it's in falsetto, whereas HFT was in chest voice -- meaning there's no way he CAN'T hit that note.)

As for singing with the guitar or not -- well, sometimes it's a lot harder to do both at once. I can sing well enough, and play mediocre piano, but when I do both at once they both suffer. Perhaps it's the same with him, and he sticks with songs that he's more comfortable playing?

And finally -- regarding the counterpoint in Permanent -- given that Chantal wrote the melody first, I wonder if the counterpoint was written at the same time, or along with the lyrics? Any thoughts?

Oops....wanted to comment on this too:

Saturday, June 20, 2009 - 16:52
Taylor_Sue:
That's why I fell over myself when Andy played the piano for Permanent in the AI finale. He showed himself to be a true musician. His touch was stellar. My opinion of him shot way up. Not that I didn't have a high opinion of him, because I did, but that piano playing showed me what Andy is made of.

That was one of my favorite parts of that particular performance. It is SO different playing on a small, electronic keyboard versus a nice grand piano. Not only do you have more octaves to play with, but the touch and feel are completely different. I was never sure about Andy's skills on piano because I've only seen him play on the small keyboard. (Not that I doubted him, I just had never witnessed it.) He blew me away--it was absolutely beautiful.

kitunen - I'm not a voice expert, but in general, for the male voice, higher octaves are sung in falsetto or head voice. That has more to do with their voice and their range than the type of harmony being sung.

I'm intruigued by harmonies too. They can characterize a group. Take for instance, anything the Judds sing. Their harmony defines their sound.

Sometimes I wonder when DC says he's working on developing his sound, if that includes a specific style of harmony. Most of what I think I've heard him do is two part harmonies, fairly open. Sometime even an octave with himself (at least one song on AH....can't remember which, though, at the moment.....maybe Porcelain.....have to go back and listen.)

The chorus of "Shattered Dreams" is very open. Only a few notes (2?)...not very filled out chords, even in the backup. Contrast that to a classic barbershop quartet (four part harmony) or a symphony or piano concerto....which might have 7 or 8 individual notes making up a cord.

Here's a fun example. Listen to Muse's Butterflies and Hurricanes - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHKSrS8vJyI . The piano solo starting at 2:50 is inspired by a Rachmaninoff Concerto. Some of those massive piano chords have a huge number of individual notes (distinct notes, not just multiple octaves.)

Why is this important to harmonies?

Harmony lines commonly run through the second and third notes in the chords that accompany a melody.

The more notes to choose from in the accompanying chords, the more choices of complex or multiple harmonies you have. (not to mention going above or below the melody line.)

Yet another type of harmony is called counterpoint. This is a really unique style of harmony where two different songs, based on the same chord sequences, are overlapped on one another to form the piece.

I kinda think this is what I like about "Permanent." It's a counterpoint between David's voice and the piano. It's really a duet, of two instruments playing two different songs that overlap and harmonize together.

Brilliant.

ETA: And as I look, I realize I'm beginning to monopolize this thread. :blush:. I guess I just really was craving to talk about this stuff way more than I realized, and now I'm gorging myself on my own voice. Sorry. Somebody else's turn.

ETATA: Taylor_Sue - What you said about Andy on the AI performance of "Permanent" was exactly what I thought as well. My admiration for him as a musician went up exponentially from that performance. It was beautifully done.

ETATATA: Another famous song done in counterpoint harmony? Eleanor Rigby. :grin:

This thread is full of WIN and concepts I don't necessarily understand. That's cool though 'cause it's gonna make me go research stuff. I'm good at that. Not so much making the pretty noise.

--
kaydeecee

Bumble - Are you the one who posted the chords to Permanent so long ago? I have tried to find out who did it so I could properly thank her. THANK YOU. In all my finding David's songs posted on the internet, Permanent is the ONLY one that had the CORRECT chords. THANK YOU. Because you have a track record with Permanent, I printed out your chords to Anodyne and will play them some day. Yeah. Some day.

I was also impressed with your answer on singing harmony. Absolutely right. *Sniff* you're a musician!

Chawan, you're right, a true musician plays music on a different level than a non-musician playing music. It is kind of ethereal. You play using a different part of your brain. You have to put the practice in and learn it, but once you've done that, the execution of that is of a different type. That's why some people play instruments but they're not really that good. It's an effort. And with a true musician there's a finesse that can't be duplicated by a non-musician musician. That's why I fell over myself when Andy played the piano for Permanent in the AI finale. He showed himself to be a true musician. His touch was stellar. My opinion of him shot way up. Not that I didn't have a high opinion of him, because I did, but that piano playing showed me what Andy is made of. Wonderful stuff.

David doesn't play the same thing as Andy or Neal. Andy plays rhythm, a lot of chords. Neal plays lead, a lot of notes. David plays ... what does David play? He strums. Andy holds down the fort with the chords, and David adds some extra on top. David plays chords, but they're not as essential to the success of the song as what Andy plays. David does sometimes play notes, as in Barbasol. Well, I actually never watched him do that part very closely. They've divided up the guitar duty according to their strengths, and what David does allows him to stop playing whenever he wants to without much effect on the song.

Neal doesn't use as many guitars because he doesn't need the alternate tunings. Or as many alternate tunings. I don't really know what his other guitars are for. Neal plays lead, meaning he plays notes. Notes are found up and down the guitar neck. An Ab note is as easy to play as an A note. An Ab chord is harder to play than an A chord. So he just does his thing, wherever it may take him. And he does fine, and it's not any harder than if he would use a capo. Actually, it's harder to use a capo when you're playing notes because THEN you would have to transpose the notes. A capo is really more for chords. Play this chord, this way, and use a capo to change the key. Neal just moves himself up and down the neck wherever he needs to be for that particular key. Neal does sometimes play chords. But you don't "need" a capo to play chords in different keys.

Bumble and Incipit, thanks for answering my questions.
Eta, I can tell you are going to be one of the guiding voices on this topic. I'm learning so much.

It is interesting to me that people are so different in talents. Someone once said that
"success = talent plus hard work plus luck"
Also luck = being in the right place at the right time. And what people call luck is actually the result of planning and making contacts and risk taking. (although sometimes luck is just luck) David had the talent and worked hard but it was not until he "accidentally" landed in AI that his career took off. And then had to work his butt off to win the show and make his career.

I've started reading a book (currently a best seller) called Outliers. It says that it takes roughly 10,000 hours of practicing something to achieve mastery. That's about 10 years. (which is why most Olympic and pro athletes start at a young age). It calls Mozart a "late developer" because his masterworks were not written until he had been composing for 10 years. So my take on that is David and Neal have probably put in many hours (David singing, Neal in guitar, maybe both in composition), but also that their trajectory is very likely still on the steep part of the slope.
Sorry, that is kinda off topic.

Another observation that I've made since this thread is that true musicians know music from a completely different place in their brains than people like me (I'd love to see a fMRI study on this). If I were to learn a song, it would have to be by rote. I know musicians have to memorize lyrics etc but when they perform they are also interpreting the song. Thus so many versions. I don't know if this makes sense, but my analogy is that I might know a story and be able to tell it, but I might tell it slightly differently every time because I "know" the story, rather than memorized it.

My daughter has enough musical talent to play in a community symphonic band. That is, she is able to play at least at the high school level. Her ear must be better than mine, but exposure to music and knowing what to look for does help train the ear. I know she can pick out individual instruments whereas I mostly hear one sound, even if it is very rich. Like a chef can tell the ingredients in a dish by taste, whereas the ordinary consumer might just know it tastes good.

--
The best revenge is massive success. ~Frank Sinatra

But if you are a natural harmony singer, it can be so easy. You can sing a harmony above the melody, below the melody, anywhere you want. David seems to be this type of singer.

Bumble, that was cool info about harmony. When people started circulating the really early Cook work with his band Axium, I got very into the great anthem "Hold" partly because of the blended sounds of Cook and Guest-Skib's voices (not that I knew who is was). Rough stuff compared to today, but he does seem like he's got a great instinct for working around and with other male voices. Lurve that.

--
kaydeecee

Ms. Darcy - Validation is good! (And sometimes, great minds think alike.)

Redana - Sting is on my top 10 list of all time favorite musicians, precisely for some of the reasons you mentioned. Creativity is captivating. I get the sense from some of his latest interviews that David and the EEB are hitting the proverbial steep part of the learning curve when it comes to musical composition and creativity....and he certainly has become surrounded by musicians and mentors who are capable of virtuosity. I am already starting to get quite excited about the next record in the making.

cynic1 - I love your questions! (and there's almost nothing that makes me happier than a new poster de-lurking....finding a place to express themselves...so well done.) My theory on why the older (and perhaps more monotonous ones)? I think it's marketing. David is reinventing some familiar songs in order to hook additional audiences in.

For example, this latest 80's re-work, Shattered Dreams. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pmDu_JCDZg . I kinda liked the song back then....and the lyrics hit a familiar spot in DC's lyrical history. A recurrent theme of his. I thought the new arrangement was nicely updated and his voice sounded great on it. But frankly, I expect better production and execution from the DwEEB. The harmonies were off in some areas, Neal is capable of doing more with a solo, and they haven't worked with it enough to completely overcome the repetition of it with some creativity. The chorus is just a little bit stark. (understatement) That was the first time out of the cute with it, though, and we all know how much David likes to flip and twist and work over a song as they play it more....so I'm anticipating what a more developed version of that one might sound like, with better balance in the voices, and a bit more precise execution of the vocal harmonies. That one has potential.

~~~
OK....I gotta run. Will come back and respond to more later...but I have a musical challenge to drop off for you today.

Listening to these two very different versions of "Lie" what does your ear like differently about each one?

Lie from VB - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jayNEdbD9o
Lie from DM - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTRN8KiwO28

~~~

ETA - What do you guys think, musically, about the new song?

Til I'm Blue lyrics - http://www.6lyrics.com/music/mwk/lyrics/til_i_m_blue.aspx

Til I'm Blue - David Cook version - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B_Msrap9dw

Go listen to the other versions on the tube...maybe I'll post them later. There's an acoustic version by Andy, there's one that's straight MWK rockin' it, and there's another with Nick Gibson. Maybe I'll post them all here later.

Slyvanaire suggested that I post this, so here goes....

chords to Permanent

Intro: Dm C Am Bb2

Verse:
Dm C Am Bb2
Dm C Am Bb2
Gm Dm C

Chorus:
F C Am Bb2
F C Am Bb2

**back to intro/verse/chorus**

Bridge:
Bbmaj7 Am7 Gm7
Bbmaj7 C D C/E

Last Verse:
Dm C Am Bb2
Dm C Am Gm

These are the chords to the CD version. The live version is a half-step lower and the bridge is slightly different. I can post the transposed chords if anyone would rather have those.

The piano intro is very distinct and doesn't follow these chords exactly, but these chords are close to the basis of what is being played. For instance, in the beginning the left hand (bass note) is playing D, C, A, Bb on the downbeat of each measure. The right hand (in the upper octave) plays {F A E}, {F G E}, {F G E}, {F F(octave lower) C Bb}.

Chawan wrote:

I'm also thinking of David and Andrew singing the SSB together. Can anyone tell who was singing the melody and who was doing the harmony? I'm guessing that Andrew sang the melody and David sang the harmony.

Chawan, I don't speak the language in this thread, all my music is by ear - but I read it anyway, and you just asked a question about known facts. That, I can answer:

The arrangement traded off melody.

9/16/08 - Apparently, according to a poster at MJ's Big Blog, Andrew posted this on a Facebook group:

I was singing the high notes at the beginning and the end… and i had the lower notes during the And the rockets red glare section. The mystery is now solved!"
Gwen4791 TWoP

♫♪♫

--
Incipit9 - Irrationally 0sup2;

"Expect the Unexpected." tm WTF!Cook

Neal is the lead guitarist, and as such he will play up and down the neck at various positions. He uses the entire neck - lead guitar runs and riffs have a structured basis from which talented players then improvise (jam). Neal doesn't need the capo because he will just play in the position on the neck to match whatever key David and Andy are in while using the capo. On the guitar neck are inlaid dots at various frets that indicate the position - markers along the trail, so to speak. These make it easier to hit the right fret for the position needed. Players use the dots also to position what is sometimes called "power chords", or "barre chords" as you use your index finger to barre across the neck and the rest of your fingers to form the chord. Sort of an anatomical capo.

QueenJ: I have watched when he sings with the guitar, when he doesn't strum it, when he plays through and when he sings without the guitar. It seems to me that having both Andy and Neal allows him the flexibility to stop playing when he wants to dig deep on certain songs (it would take all year to go through all the vids to catalogue this stuff. Can't quit my day job and I do need to tend to fam and sleep, too.LOL) but still contribute his rhthym (d*mn I can never spell that word) guitar after the power singing.

I think that he sings certain songs without the guitar even slung around his neck because he wants to be fully into the song - not only vocally but bodily, too. We'll have to take closer note on this leg of the tour and discuss this again.

Zarita - good question about how contemporary music is "classified." What is pop and what is rock? I'm not sure how the industry divvies it up. It seems to me, for example, that AH and Axium stuff is rock. Now - what Kind of rock? Not heavy metal, not hard rock, not soft rock... I dunno. It can be helpful to watch various VH1 Shows about "the top 100...." whatevers. Yesterday we were watching the Top 100 Heavy Metal songs. So - groups like Zeppelin, G&R, ACDC and scores of others. You know it when you hear it and see the bands.

So, DCTR definitely is not hard rock and it's not easy listening either. I guess that lands it in pop-rock. I was disappointed that Rob Cavallo chose to produce David's first record in this direction. When I learned that he was chosen , I was thrilled because I know his work with Green Day. I thought for sure we would get a blasting and edgy cd.

However, given the circumstances of having to record under such time pressure, and the bringing in of so many cowriters, and the choice of lush high powered backing music and mostly David singing in power mode, DCTR is more mainstream than hard. A transitional sound that would not frighten away AI fans not accustomed to screaming guitars and vocals.IMO. YMMV.

Dropping the D has nothing whatsoever to do with minor chords. Dropping the D is just a different way of tuning the guitar. When you tune a 6 string guitar, each of the 6 strings gets tuned to a standard pitch. Each string, played by itself, is a particular note. Starting at the top, with the thickest string, the strings/notes are: E A D G B E. Dropping the D, dropped D tuning, means adjusting the pitch of the low E (thickest) string. It gets lowered until it is an octave below the pitch of the D string. So now your strings/notes are: D A D G B E. It's done for an interesting sound and to do fancy things.

A minor chord is a chord in which the basic notes which make up the chord are changed a little bit to make a completely different sound. A major chord is 1 3 5, meaning you start with your base note - let's say C because there's no sharps or flats in the key of C. Then for the next note of the chord you count up to 3: C=1, D=2, E=3. So the middle note of the chord is an E. Then you keep counting up to 5: F=4, G=5. So the top note is a G. So a C chord consists of the notes C, E, and G. In a minor chord, you drop the 3 a half step. So a C minor chord consists of the notes C, Eb, and G.

A song in a minor key has a completely different feel to it. Haunting, emotive, maybe sad.

David's guitar is the 3rd guitar, not the 4th guitar. Andy and Neal play the guitar, while Joey plays the bass. Why David does or doesn't play is something I've wondered about too. Is his guitar needed in certain songs? Hard to say. I think in A Daily Anthem, if nothing else, a guitar would interfere with his arm waving at the end. For Declaration? I don't know. If they would set themselves up in a nice boring row, close enough to each other that I could see exactly what each one is doing, maybe I could tell a little better. I have a hard time hearing what David is playing when he does play, except for Lie, which he plays by himself. And The World I Know. And whatever else I've forgotten. If I had to guess, I would guess that there is probably a musical reason why David plays when he does, and when he doesn't play, it's because it wouldn't add anything to the song. And for something like Anodyne, he has such a hard time remembering the words that it's all he can do to sing it. He doesn't need to distract himself with playing. And I would even guess that maybe there are some songs where he doesn't know what else to do with his hands, so he plays. That's just a guess and I have no particular song in mind.

Been having a lot of fun catching up here today! A few questions:

To me when you talk about dropping the D, are you just talking about minor chords or am I over simplifying it? I know a lot of the songs I like are in minor chords.

I've also been paying attention a lot to the riffs in songs, I especially like the one in Mr.Sensitive. i can tell David notices this a lot in music he reccomends.

I've always wondered why on some songs David performs he does not play the guitar. Is there a musical reason for this or just a desire to not play it on certain songs like Declaration. Basically I'm asking is there a musical reason to need that 4th guitar on most of his songs?

Sorry, on second thought, too off topic, and not important. Carry on!
 
To redeem myself, Jen, over in the DWoP thread dropped off these goodies, and they seemed like they belong here: Piano lessons for Permanent.
Intro,
Chorus and Verse.
 
Bumble also offered up some guitar chords earlier this week. I'll see if I can get her to share here too. Love the thread, even if it is a little over my head at times, what better way to learn, right?
~You are love, you are life, you are Peace of Mind~