Gereord

I originally wrote Gereord in 1999 for a CD of guitar instrumentals recorded with my Dad (www.guitar9.com/undiscov19f.html). I called it 'Voices' back then, but to avoid having 'Voices by James Crocker' printed on the CD (and scaring off anyone who'd actually heard me sing) I changed the title to Gereord - an Old English word for voices.

So while it is a piece for solo guitar (played on my trusty Strat, though it works well on acoustic guitars as well) there are several separate lines to juggle.

I have taught this piece to several people and have found the best approach is to build the piece exactly as I did when I wrote it. This means that it will not sound 'right' until the very end…
The bass line

For a key to the different symbols, skip to the end.

6/8 2/4 6/8

T T T T T T T T T
E||--------------|-------------|------------|-------------------||----------
B||--------------|-------------|------------|-------------------||----------
G||.-------------|-------------|------------|------------------.||----------
D||.-------------|-------------|------------|------------------.||----------
A||--0-----------|-0-----2-r-r-|-r--3--2----|-----0-h2----------||----------
E||--------3-----|-------------|------------|--3--------0-------||----------
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Play the bass line round and round until you are comfortable with it and then move on to…

The tune

Make sure you follow the right hand fingering marks exactly, as you will need your other fingers for the next part. Once you are happy with this part, try playing it with the bass line. Then try moving between bass, tune and both together.

6/8 2/4 6/8

m r r m m r r m r r r r r m
E||--------------|-------------|-0----------|--------------------||----------
B||----0h1-0-----|---0h1-3p0---|-------3-p1-|--0--1-h3--0--------||----------
G||.-2-------2p0-|-2---------0-|------------|--------------2-p0-.||----------
D||.-------------|-------------|------------|-------------------.||----------
A||--------------|-------------|------------|--------------------||----------
E||--------------|-------------|------------|--------------------||----------
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The chordal line

When (and only when) you can play the first parts smoothly separately and together try moving on to this very basic accompaniment. Keep your middle and index fingers close together and treat them like one finger. Try it with the tune to begin with then the bass and, when you are happy with that, all three together.

6/8 2/4 6/8

m m m m m m m m m m m
i i i i i i i i i i i i i
E||--------------|-------------|------------|-------------------||----------
B||--------------|-------------|------------|-------------------||----------
G||.-2-2---0-----|-2-2---0---0-|-r-----0----|--0--0-----0------.||----------
D||.-2-2---0-0---|-2-2---0---0-|-------0----|--0--0-----0--0---.||----------
A||--------------|-------------|------------|-------------------||----------
E||--------------|-------------|------------|-------------------||----------
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Finally

This last part is a very simple strummed line that adds a percussive element more than anything else. Don't bother trying this on its own, just add it in to what you already have. Strum with your middle and index fingers still fixed in their position for the chordal line.

6/8 2/4 6/8

d u d d
E||--------------|-------------|------------|-------------------||----------
B||----0-1-------|-------3-----|------------|-------------------||----------
G||.-2-2-2-------|-------0-----|------------|------------------.||----------
D||.-2-2-2-------|-------0-----|------------|------------------.||----------
A||--0-0-0-------|-------2-----|------------|-------------------||----------
E||--------------|-------------|------------|-------------------||----------
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

So you now have four voices to play with. Play round and round the four bars mixing up the combinations so you really get a sense of four separate lines.

Played altogether you should have something like this:

6/8 2/4 6/8

E||--------------|-------------|-0----------|--------------------||----------
B||----0h1-0-----|---0h1-3p0---|-------3-p1-|--0--1-h3--0--------||----------
G||.-2-2-2-0-2p0-|-2-2---0---0-|-------0----|--0--0-----0--2-p0-.||----------
D||.-2-2-2-0-0---|-2-2---0---0-|-------0----|--0--0-----0--0----.||----------
A||--0-0-0-------|-0-----2-----|----3--2----|-----0-h2-----------||----------
E||--------3-----|-------------|------------|--3--------0--------||----------
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

But there's one final twist.
Place a tuning capo on the second fret to hold down the A, D and G strings (so you have an open Esus4 chord). If you don't have a tuning capo, take an old capo and cut away the rubber in such a way that it will hold down just three strings. So with the capo in place play the same four parts as though you were playing two frets up.

6/8 2/4 6/8

E||--------------|-------------|-0----------|--------------------||----------
B||----0h3-0-----|---0h3-5p0---|-------5-p3-|--0--3-h5--0--------||----------
A||.-4-4-4-2-4p2-|-4-4---2---4-|-------2----|--2--2-----2--4-p2-.||----------
E||.-4-4-4-2-2---|-4-4---2---2-|-------2----|--2--2-----2--2----.||----------
B||--2-2-2-------|-2-----4-----|----5--4----|-----2-h4-----------||----------
E||--------5-----|-------------|------------|--5--------0--------||----------
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The open stings are all different and the result is more modal. It is much easier to learn this way than to jump straight in with capo because a lot of the fretted notes are now the same as the open strings which makes it very confusing.

Key

T - Thumb
m - middle finger
i - Index Finger
r - Ring Finger
d - Strum down
u - Strum up

h - Hammer on
p - Pull off

r - rest