"Tough as a Teddy Bear"

We have a 170 pound English Mastiff. A magnificently large and absolutely mellow dog. While walking him one day a passerby asked, "Is he tough?". I chuckled and replied, "Yeah, he's tough like a teddy bear!" It just occurred to me that this line might work in your song . . . .
James

I had no idea my one brief visit to Derry City back in the 80's would become the stuff of ballads!
Since then, I have settled down just a bit . . . James

Hi Zurf,
This will be a fun project for you. My advice is to keep it pretty simple musically - if you have an amusing and original lyric, the music need not be too complicated.

Here is a nice little chord set using Am:

verses
Am D Am D
F G Am
Am D Am D
F G Am

chorus
Dm Em Dm Em
Am D Am D
F E7 Am E7

Hope this helps fuel your creative fires,  James

Oops . . . !
I neglected to put the link to my recording in the previous post - - -
Here is the link:
http://www.myspace.com/r200james

(Thanks, Old Doll! Other work still in progress)

Hello ilovecolinandbrad and welcome to chordie!

Here is how you can edit a song . . .
.  Login, then move the song into your songbook.
.  Now, open the song from your songbook by using the little green 'edit' button at the end of its listing.
.  You will now see 2 views of the song. The upper pane shows the 'raw' song before chordie's formatting voodoo has been applied.
.  In the upper pane, you can make what ever changes are needed (but don't change the title of subtitle).
.  Use the 'save' button between the panes to apply your changes.
   ALSO . . . .
.  You can also use your newly corrected version to improve the song version in chordie's index.

Hope this helps, James

Hi SEAGULL1,
Much better to ask a question and learn than to not ask and not know.

Yes, putting your capo on the 2nd fret is the same as transposing UP (+) by two semitones.

A semitone is one-half step in a scale. There are 12 half-steps in an octave. On a guitar, a semi-tone is one fret.

Try this: On any guitar string just play from an open string and then one fret up at a time on that same string until you get up to the 12th fret. You have just played a chromatic scale (all semi-tones).

If you go to a performance with violins, you probably should dress up.
If you go to a performance with fiddles, you probably should dress down.

Allan, this is extremely cool! (pun intended)

It certainly seems to make sense that grain density and seasonal variations in growth would affect the wood. I have also seen sources claiming that the finish applied to those violins was the secret to their awesome sound.

That mini ice age mentioned in the article had a profound effect on history - crops failed, disease spread, etc.

The fact that something as small as a violin can make such an incredible tone has always fascinated me. The resonant tone of a well-made violin is amazing. There are also tiny insects (crickets, cicadas) that can create huge, piercing sounds by rubbing their legs and wings.

Thanks for the link to a very interesting article.  James

Q: Hey, down at the Emergency Room, do you know what they call a motorcycle rider who doesn't wear a helmet?

A: An organ donor.

Motorcycle culture is just as bizarre as any other special interest group (like musicians or fashionistas or intellectuals or religious zealots, etc.). Back when I believed I was immortal I rode motorcycles but never got into the whole lifestyle thing - my bikes were just transportation and I fixed something only when it was broken.

Anybody who rides without a helmet and protective clothing is foolish. Loud pipes are purely a fashion statement. I don't begrudge anyone the fun of owning and riding and working on a bike - but some bikes are just absurd 'art pieces' rather than usable transportation.

There is a motorcycle rally in this area every year.
http://www.sturgismsrally.com/noflash/index.php
Riders come from all around to hang out and socialize. Many of them trailer their precious bikes here rather than riding them - very strange.

The kind of bikes I used to ride are now called "Rat Bikes". These are purely functional machines that run great but are not all shiny and new and fancy and tricked out with decorative doo-dads.
Check this site to see what I'm talking about:
http://ratbike.org/

Yep, the root is the first note - you got it!