String Love Guitar Lessons

Here we are, a season of Thanksgiving.

The Thank You Song

I’ll keep this post focused on the guitar aspects of this song.

First off, it’s in the key of F.

I open up with an intro in which I lift the bar off of the 1st and 2nd strings and bring the bar back down. If you listen to the recording (available in the sidebar), you can hear this oscillation from the full barred F major chord to the haunting F+7sus that results when you lift the bar off of the 1st and 2nd strings while keeping everything else in place.

From there, <em>The Thank You Song</em> is pretty straightforward.

It’s in 3/4 time, and I use the P, I, MA, I, MA, I arpeggio most of the time (which you can learn more about in these online guitar lessons).

The Thank You Song

F
Thank you, Lord,
Bbadd6
For the gift of this life.
C7                                      Bbadd6
Thank you for all of Creation,
C7                      F
And thank you for light.

Thank you for peace and for quiet,
And thank you for sound.
Thank you for Truth and for Love
And the power of Now.

Thank you for time and for space,
For breath and for blood.
For giving us everything, everything,
And always with Love.

Thank you for life,
From cradle to grave.
Your precious protection
Corrects and reminds us to pray.

Thank you for wind,
Thank you for sun.
Thank you for planting your presence
Within everyone.

Thank you for practice and effort,
Thank you for growth.
Thank you for laughing and learning,
And thank you for jokes.

Thank you sincerely, thank you clearly,
With all of my heart-
That river inside me that guides me
From your whole to my part.

And as we find freedom, Lord,
Help us remain,
So we can help others
Come out of their pain.

Thank you lord for Redemption,
And thank you for Grace.
Thanks for your sacred creation-
The Human Race.

So help us Lord, oh,
Please hear our song.
Guide us in goodness and train us
To serve one and all.

…

So that’s <em>The Thank You Song</em>.

Head to The Thank You Song page to download a pdf with the chords and lyrics for your home guitar playing enjoyment.

And if you would like to learn how to play this or any of the other Friday Songs, I’m here to help. I teach Nashville Guitar Lessons and webcam guitar lessons and currently have some availability should you want to take your guitar playing to a higher level while learning some super beautiful, powerful music.

This week, let’s take a look at a beautiful traditional gospel tune.

Depending on where you’re coming from, you’ve either been singing this song since you were knee high to a grasshopper, or you’ve never heard of it and might not understand how I went from a soulful Brazilian number last Friday to a traditional gospel tune this Friday.

Well, welcome to Music: leading the way beyond all borders and divisions through appreciation of diversity since the first drum was born.

In the Garden holds a special place in my heart for a lot of reasons.

First off, it’s just a sweet, simple, beautiful song.

Secondly, I’ve played this song in some very powerful contexts over the years. This song carries some serious power for spreading harmony, peace and love wherever you play it.

If you examine the lyrics, you’ll discover that they portray the speaker of the song walking in heaven and meeting Jesus.

The meeting transpires and leaves the speaker completely overwhelmed by the power of Christ Consciousness.

I of course have no idea where you’re at with spirituality, religion, Christ or the afterlife, but hopefully you’re at least amenable to the idea that neither you nor I have consciously died this go-round on Planet Earth, so anything’s possible.

In that Spirit, In the Garden evokes the powerful human urge to transcend suffering.

Whether that transcendence comes through an afterlife, awakening in this life or some other way besides doesn’t really matter.

There is certainly a bunch of suffering happening right here on Planet Earth. I see it, you see it, we all see it.

In the Garden is a balm for tough times, a blessing for the sick and weary and a celebration of divine possibility in a world that sometimes seems far removed from the heights of Love.

As far as actually playing In the Garden, I like to play it capo’d up at the second or third fret to make it easier to sing.

It’s in 3/4 time, so keep that in mind as you work up your arrangement.

In the Garden

C
I come to the garden alone
F                               C
While the dew is still on the roses
G                                  C
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
D7                     G      G7
The Son of God discloses

Chorus:

C                                        G
And He walks with me and He talks with me
G7                            C
And He tells me I am His own
C                                  F
And the joy we share as we tarry there
C                G        C
None other has ever known

He speaks and the sound of his voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing

(Chorus)

I’d stay in the garden with Him
Though the night around me be falling
But He bids me go, through the voice of woe,
His voice to me is calling

(Chorus)

For this week’s Friday Song, let’s head back down to Brazil for a super beautiful tune by Dercio Marques called Raso De Luz, which translates as “Ray of Light.”

This sweet tune is easy to play while containing some nice but simple chord variations, and it’s great practice for the 3/4 PIMAMI arpeggio. Just go ahead and position your I, M and A fingers on the 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings respectively and keep them there most of the song.

With your thumb, you’ll get to pick and choose which bass notes you play, but you can keep things very simple at first and still come out sounding fantastic with this one.

Raso De Luz is in the Key of G and uses the chords you’d expect to find in G Major. There’s the trademark bass walk-down from G major through D major with F# in the bass to E minor. In the B section, you’ll head from C major down through G with a B in the bass to A minor, and while holding down the usual A minor fingering, you grab a G bass note with your pinky to continue the downward motion of the bass line. The B section finishes off with a D7 to D9, for which you simply lift your finger from the 1st string to play an open E note alongside the other notes in the usual D7 in 1st position.

In addition to the lyrics, there’s a beautiful humming part that begins and ends the song, and as soon as I have the chance to knock out some live video performances of these songs, I’ll include the video along with these Friday Songs to help you get acquainted with these songs, many of which you may not have encountered before.

But without further ado, here are the chords and lyrics for Dercio Marques’ Raso De Luz:

Raso De Luz

D/F#  G         D/F#
Quem ja ouviu
Em      D7
Os passarinhos
C
Nos arvoredos
D/F#         G
Do amanhecer
G7           C
Carro de Boi

G/B               Am      Am/G
Chiando na Estrada
D7
Sereno nas frutas
D9         G    G7
Um doce viver

C     G/B                  Am  Am/G
Sentir que o claro da vida
D7
E um raso de luz
D9            G     G7
Que desagua do sol
C         G/B        Am           Am/G
Manha manha manhazinha
D7
E um raso de luz
D9             G   D/F#
Que desagua do ceu

(back to top)

And here are the lyrics translated:

Who already heard
the birds
In the groves
At dawn

Ox cart
Squeaking on the road
Dew on the fruits
A sweet life

Feeling that the clarity of life
Is a ray of light
That flows from the sun
Morning, morning, little morning
Is a ray of light
That flows from the sky.

…

Enjoy this song, have fun playing it and definitely drop me a line with questions, ideas and comments!