| a product of the 20 Minute Wonder Company |  |
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| Site Info and help |
Select and download songs using the criteria below Title Songwriter(s) team Lyricist/Writer Year Written SQL Theme Keyword |
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Site Info |
About the site | Song Format | Sample Output |
| Chord Diagrams | Transpose | Database Searches |
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| Tab Websites |
| Download Tabs by |
Title | Songwriter(s) | Specify Years |
| teamWriter(s) | teamLyricist(s) | SQL Search | |
| Theme | Search by Key Word | Our Song Books |
About the Site return to top
This web site contains over 1500 tabs compiled as a group of four singers and pickers gathered weekly over many years. The songs span all eras and genera, with an emphasis on the folk and pop music of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The unifying factor among the songs is that they are all singable.
Songs can be downloaded in .pdf 
format and a link to a YouTube playback 
is provided.
Contributers include Scott on guitar (rhythm, jazz, blues and Latin), Cathie on ukulele (harmony, post-1980, contemporary women), Jim on guitar (rock'n roll, country), and Paul on guitar (folk, oldies, theory).
Song Search return to top
Preformatted searches for each decade by title, songs beginning with each letter of the alphabet, and wildcard fields for composer, or lyricist. Preformatted searches for selected artists and musical groups, unformatted search for any combination formatted search for music themes (protest, women, children, ballad, spiritual, and others).
The songs are in a standard format in which chord changes are placed directly over the lyric position. Complete lyrics are given for all songs. One chord designation is used for each measure. If more than one chord occurs in a measure, subscripts are used to designate the fractional part of the measure for that chord. Chords diagrams are included in some songs. Examples include:
| 4/4 time C E7(¾) Am7(½) G7(¼) in which C gets four beats, E7 three beats, Am7 two beats, and G7 one beat. |
3/4 time E6 A7#5(1) D2) in which E6 gets three beats, A7#5 gets two beat, and D gets one beat. |
 Diagrams may be provided |
Yesterdayby John Lennon and Paul McCartney (1965) F Em7(½) A7(½) Dm(½) Dm/C(½)Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away Bbma7(½) C(½) Fsus4(½) F(½) now it looks as though I’m here to stay Dm(½) G(½) Bb(½) F(½) Oh, I be lieve, in yesterday. |
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Creating a Database Search return to top
The database below illustrates the result of a database search. Note that the table can be sorted by clicking on any column's header.
| % | Percentmatches any number of characters. It can be used as the first or last character in the character string. | 'wh%' | finds what, white, and why, but not awhile or watch. |
| _ | Underscorematches any single alphabetic character. | 'B_ll' | finds ball, bell, and bill |
Sample Output Table return to top
The sample database below was retrieved using a search forall songs from the years 1990-1991. Depending on the type of database search that you make, the default sort can be by year, title, songwriter (last name), or lyricist (last name). Although this is not intuitive,clicking on the underlined column headerwill sort the database by that column. In the sample table, note that there is no YouTube link for the second song.
Clicking on the .pdficon will open a new tab for the song. Selecting the YouTubeicon will open a new tab with an artist performing the song.
| You Tube |
Year | Title | Music by | Lyrics by | Verse | Chorus | |
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1990 | Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World | Kamakawiwo Ole' Israel | Kamakawiwo Ole' Israel | Somewhere, over the rainbow | I see skies of blue and I see clouds of white |
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1991 | I Shall Be Released | Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan | They say everything can be replaced | I see my light come shining | |
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1991 | I'd Love You All Over Again | Alan Jackson | Alan Jackson | Has it been ten years since we said I do? | And if I had to do it all over, I'd do it all over again. |
Chords return to top
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| Basic Chords and Sounds | Chords and Emotions | Chords in the open position | Basic Bar chords |
Moveable Chords |
Related Chords in a Key |
Chord Variations (piano) |
The great majority of songs can be played using basic chords in the open position, augmented by bar chords. The standard chord shapes linked to an audio file of their sound can be found atchords and sounds.
Some genres such as Jazz, Musicals, and Tin Pan Alley, require using uncommon chords formed by moving chord shapes up and down the guitar neck. Guitarists first learn to play stardard chords in open position (standard chord chart), then the same chords as bar chords (bar chord chart), and finally the moveable chords that do not use all six strings (moveable chord chart). The different voicings of chords can radically change the feel of a song.The chord charts give examples of how both common and uncommon chords can be played.
Interpreting the emotional content of chords is inextricably tied to the he context of the chord in the piece. However, basic moods associated with chords can be listed and are usefully related to the chord voicing on a piano or a guitar (emotion and the piano) For example, a major seventh chord such as Cdim7 ( C EbGbBb) expresses menace or suspense.
Transposing Keys return to top
The easiest way to transpose chords, or a song containing chords and lyrics, is to drop it intoTabTuner!
Transposing a song is often necessary because the key does not suit the singer 's vocal range, the chord shapes do not match the mood of the song, or the chords are inconvenient or difficult to play. Sometimes just changing the key slightly (from C major to C# major) makes a song more interesting because the user's ear immediately hears that something different has happened.
The easiest way to transpose the chords of a song is to move the key up using a capo (the capo is essentially a moveable nut). Each fret moved is a cbhromatic half-step. The limit of a capo is that the chords may be awkward to play high up on the neck, or the sound of the shortened strings is undesireable. However, kaps are commonly used to transpose a song by one to five steps. The following chart shows the resulting keys for open position chords.
| Capo Chord at Fret Position | ||||||||
| Your chord | Nut no capo |
1stfret | 2ndfret | 3rdfret | 4thfret | 5thfret | 6thfret | 7th fret |
| A | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D | Eb | F |
| B | B | C | C# | D | Eb | E | F | F# |
| C | C | C# | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G |
| D | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G | G# | A |
| E | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B |
| F | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C |
| G | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C | C# | D |
A second way to transpose a song is to replace each chord with the corresponding chord in the new key. This allows a different voicing of the chord, matches the singer's range, or uses chords in the open position. Transposition can be up (a "sharp" step) or down (a "flat" step). The steps are generally referred to by the scale position and can be identified by either the downward or upward movement.
| Step | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Note name | Root | IIb | II second |
IIIb minor third |
III major third |
IV fourth |
Vb | V fifth |
VIb | VI sixth |
VIIb flattened seventh |
VII major seventh |
VIII octave |
| Key of 'C' note | C | C# | D | Eb | E | F | F# | G | G# | A | Bb | B | C |
| Scale note | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VIIb | VII | VII |
Inspection of the table suggests that moving up a fifth (up seven steps) will give the same result as moving down a fourth (down five steps). For transposing from the key of 'C' to the key of 'G' it is possible to move up five scale notes (seven steps) or move down four scale notes (five steps). Moving up a fifth gives the same key as moving down a fourth!
Rather than thinking about shifting chords from one key to another, you can just use a chord transposition chart and read the new chord directly. In the example of the chord chart that follows, find the key the song is in in the left column (the key is given by the number of sharps and flats, and a song generally ends on the dominant chord). To change from Cmajor to G major, find the rows containing each key. For each chord in C major, the correponding chord in G major is in the same column. An example of this chart follows:
| Transposing Major Keys | |||||||||
| Major key | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | sharps/flats | related minor |
| A | A | Bm | C#m | D | E | F#m | G#dim | three sharps | F# minor |
| Bb | Bb | Cm | Dm | Eb | F | Gmin | Adim | two flats | G minor |
| C | C | Dm | Em | F | G | Am | Bdim | none | A minor |
| D | D | Em | F#m | G | A | Bm | C#dim | two sharps | B minor |
| E | E | F#m | G#m | A | B | C#m | D#dim | four sharps | C# minor |
| F | F | Gm | Am | Bb | C | Dm | Edim | one flat | D minor |
| G | G | Am | Bm | C | D | Em | F#dim | one sharp | E minor |
| Transposing Minor Keys | |||||||||
| Major key | I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | sharps/flats | related major |
| Am | Am | Bdim | C | Dm | Em | F | G | none | C major |
| Bm | Bm | C#dim | D | Em | F#m | G | A | two sharps | D major |
| C#m | C#m | D#dim | E | F#m | G#m | A | B | four sharps | E major |
| Dm | Dm | Edim | F | Gm | Am | Bb | C | one flat | F major |
| Em | Em | F#dim | G | Am | Bm | C | D | one sharps | G major |
| F#m | F#m | G#dim | A | Bm | C#m | D | E | two sharps | A major |
| Gm | Gm | Adim | Bb | Cm | Dm | Eb | F | two flats | Bb major |
The easiest way to transpose chords, or a song containing chords and lyrics, is to drop it intoTabTuner!
Our Song Books return to top
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