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I'll sometimes transpose a song to accommodate my own vocal register, and I've noticed many bands do that with their own work when playing live. The lead singer may have been able to hit those notes when it was recorded, but the passing of time often lowers the voice a couple of notes. Other times, I'll transpose a song down a couple of notes, and then capo back up to the original key. This is if I want to use different chord shapes on the fretboard.

Three Friends    "Empty City"    (home studio, 2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgEMsZyN_6g

Our fellow-Chordian Russell Harding has launched some terrific home-studio music, which got me looking for a similar entry for this weeks PRW feature. Hope you enjoy this one from this post-Gentle Giant spinoff group.

Thank-you so much for posting pics & sound-bites from this past weekend. It's amazing how much talent is there! I know you all had fun, and sharing a common love for music.

Your Gibson Hummingbird is a great guitar to learn / practice finger-style playing on. There's a whole genre of guitarists that play a steel-string acoustic with their fingers, and you can see some of them in a weekly feature on Chordie called "Tuesday's Flying Fingers" (http://www.chordie.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=29533). Mark Knopfler (formerly of Dire Straits) plays both acoustic and electric in this manner, so you may not need to buy another guitar at all.

Some decent quality nylon-string acoustics, at an entry-level price, are made by companies like Yamaha, Alvarez, and La Patrie to name just a few. At the minimum, I would recommend something with a solid cedar top, to get that nice warm sound that nylon strings produce. I hope this helps.

Won't be watching the Olympics for the first time in years (sadly). We cut the cable a few months ago, and can't watch live sports without subscribing to a streaming service especially for them ... crazy expensive. I hope the media doesn't continue to try and stir up controversy and dirt about isolated incidents, and things that aren't up to their "high standards" (*ahem*). The vast majority of the athletes have worked very hard to get there, and deserve the attention far more.

My thanks and appreciation also for the great job that the Chordie moderators do.

There's that yucky stuff like spam that needs dealing with, and I'm sure the odd disciplinary action has needed to be taken. But what really sets them above is the ongoing toneof the Forums that they've established. They've instilled a culture of respect, community, and supportive conversation here, that's sets Chordie apart from so many other on-line Forums.

And as every musician knows ... tone is everything!

Heart    "Mistral Wind"    Seattle, 2002

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAd9u2h_pRA

I know it's not Wednesday, but Anne Wilson came up in another thread, and I just had to post this majestic piece of work from Heart, which features her multi-faceted vocal abilities. Nancy's opening stretch on the acoustic has some interesting note combinations, adding some mystery to the tone of the song.

Nice, very nice indeed!

A "random act of music" in an unexpected place, at an unexpected time. This reminded me of times when my wife and I would wander downtown Halifax on summer's evenings, and listen to the various buskers performing. We once saw four guys coming off their shift at the dockyard, and they spontaneously broke into a couple of barbershop quartet pieces, while waiting for the Halifax Harbour ferry. We were always amazed at how much talent was around, and once in a while a well-known musician would be out playing casually ... just because.

This video brings back some of those great memories ... thanks so much, MKM!

Richard Wright & David Gilmour    "Wearing the Inside Out"    Royal Albert Hall, 2006

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5maelCiug4

Written and sung by the late Mr. Wright, here's a beautiful performance featuring the superb saxophone playing of Dick Parry. Last week's entry (with Phil Collins) started me thinking (again) about the brevity of life. It's important that we make the most of each day, and these many fine musicians and songwriters continue to "speak from beyond" with the legacy of great music left behind. Recorded in May 2006, he wouldn't have had many more performances after this; Richard passed away in September 2008.

Reminds me of some of my oldest son's misadventures in life.

Pink Floyd    "Comfortably Numb"    (arranged & performed by Thomas Leeb)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhsPYRUqphk

Hailing from Austria, fingerstylist Thomas Leeb shows his mettle on a baritone Lowden guitar, with a beautiful arrangement of this classic Pink Floyd piece. Apparently, the combo of the delay on a GoPro camera, plus the extra long strings on a baritone, is why the strings are doing the "spaghetti dance" while he's playing.