A Summer Wasting Belle and Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian, A Summer Wasting.
Capo 2
The obnoxious-sounding tips in the second section are primarily aimed at more
beginners and will be second nature
to most players so I apologise if they seem a bit arsey because they are a bit arsey. I
know if the lyrics are right, I just
copied them off Version 1.
____________________________________________
*BASIC VERSION*
[D]Summer in winter
Winter in springtime
You heard the birds sing
Everything will be fine
[Em] I spent the [A]summer wasting
[Em] The time was [A]passed so easily[G]
[Em] But if the [A]summer's wasted
[Em] How come that [A]I could feel so--[G] free
[Em] I spent the [A]summer wasting
[Em] The sky was [A]blue beyond compar[G]e
[Em] A photog[A]raph of myself
[Em] Is all I h[A]ave to show for
[D]Seven years of [G/D]river walkways
[D]Seven weeks of [C]staying up all _ _
[Em]night. [A] [Em](Two bars in[A]strumental)
[Em] I spent the [A]summer wasting
[Em] The time was [A]passed so pleasantl[G]y
[Em] Say cheeri[A]o to books now
[Em] The only t[A]hings I'll read are [G]faces
[Em] I spent the [A]summer wasting
[Em] Under a [A]canopy of
[D]Seven weeks of [G/D]reading papers
[D]Seven weeks of [G/D]river walkways
[D]Seven weeks of [G/D]feeling guilty
[D]Seven weeks of [C]staying up all _ _
[Em]night[A] [Em] [A]
[Em] [A] [Em] [A]
[D]Summer in winter
Winter is springtime
You heard the bird say
Everything will be fine
_______________________________________________________
*SOME EXTRAS*
1) Firstly, the start (and finish) of the song. On the recording the guitar plays the
in unison with the voice. If you want
to do this then this is a perfectly adequate way of doing it.
e|------0--2----------3---2-----------0--2---------7---5---------------------| B|--3-------------3---------------3------------3-----------------------------| G|2---2---------2---2-----------2---2--------2---2---------------------------| D|---------------------------------------------------------------------------| A|---------------------------------------------------------------------------| E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Any complete beginners should note that this can all be played without moving from the
of the chord of D major
(concert E major), save for the high E (concert F#).
The rhythm isn't exactly readable here, though the phrasing is quite obvious and, as of
you know, the rhythm is the same as the
words anyway so it's easy enough.
2) For a solo performance it can be nice to add a little bit of movement to your bass
to give more of a feel of polyphony. I'm
not a proficient guitar player AT ALL and I'm not just being modest, believe me, so I
to do anything I can possibly manage to
add to the musical interest of a performance.
A simple example would be to add something between the Em and A chords during the
On your low E-string add this phrase,
one note on each beat to take you from the Em to the A via the notes E E F# G
pitch F# F# G# A)
E|--0---0---2---3------------------------------------------------------------
Little things like this, when used sensitively and sensibly will really enhance your performance.
3) The chord of C on "staying up all night" has a lot of room in the harmonic context of
song for flexibility.
Possibilities include A Cmaj7, A C9, A C6, A Caug4 or A D7/C to name but A few.
to find something you like (and there's
nothing wrong with liking the ordinary C major) and don't forget to consult with your
- if you play with one - to make sure that
you're all aware of what the others are doing so that any dissonances sound like
and not like mistakes.
4) The 8-bar instrumental that precedes the final verse has a solo in it played by what
memory) sounds like a melodica.
Possibly a violin, but I can't remember. Anyway it plays this tune (each note is a
crotchet/quarter-note):
[Em] [A] [Em] [A]
e|---------2-0-----|-------------------| B|-----0-3-----3-2-|-----0-3-3-2-0-----| G|---0-------------|---0-----------2---| twice. D|-2---------------|-2-----------------|
If you play with a band, you can give this to the lead guitarist. If you want a
notation for a pianist or a classically
trained musician, just send me an email and I'll do one for you.
If you are not in a band and intend to play this song on your own then you can just add
notes into your chords as you play.
In essence, it will mean that the chords you will be playing are these:
||Em Em Em Em7 / A6 A
[A]A [/]||[Em] [Em] [Em] [Em7] [/] [Asus4] [A]
HOWEVER, I encourage you not to play this with the mindset of just playing through this
of chords. You need to think of it as
you adding a second line - a melodic line - over your basic chordal accompaniment. Play
as if it's just Em A Em A like
in the verses, but you've added a tune as well. If you don't understand what I mean it's
it's very hard to explain.
Just, if it sounds shit, don't do it. Stick to the basic chords and leave out the 'solo'.
____________________________________________
jreid38@qub.ac.uk
Don't forget to rate, and comment if you've spotted something I haven't so I can amend it.
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