Brothers on A hotel Bed : Chords

today's post is gonna be more of a howto sort of thing, i get a lot (a loooooooot) of comments on my youtube videos asking for tablature or chords to the songs that i cover. i decided that since so many people seem to be interested in how to play these songs i might as well put them up here in case other people are interested too! plus now i can direct people here instead of typing it out every time.

oh yeah, here's the video of my playing it so you can have some context :)




i play it in the key of e, and the chords are a kind of C#minor 2nd, B suspended, A2nd.

C#minor 2nd = 4th fret A string, 2nd fret D string, 4th fret G string, and the B and E strings open.

Bsus = 2nd fret A string, 4th fret D string, 4th fret G string, and the last two strings open

A2nd = open A string, 2nd fret D string, and 4th fret G string, with B and E left open.

on all these chords I don't play the low E string.

so the intro is 4 beats on the A2, 2 beats on the C#minor2, and 2 beats on the Bsus. i play that two or four times depending on how long it takes me to remember the words, haha.


A2_____________C#m2______Bsus___________A2
you may tire of me, as our december sun is setting
_________________________Bsus___A2
cuz i'm not who i used to be
A2__________________C#m2____________Bsus__________A2
no longer easy on the eyes, these wrinkles masterfully disguise
A2____________Bsus
the youthful boy below
A2_____________________C#m2_________Bsus___________A2
who turned your way and saw, something he was not looking for
_________________________Bsus__A2
both a beginning and an end
A2_________________C#m2_______Bsus________A2
but now he lives inside, someone he does not recognize
__________________________Bsus_____A2
when he catches his reflection on...accident.

A2 x 4
Bsus x 2
C#m2 x 2


A2 x 4
Bsus x 2
C#m2 x 2

A2___________________C#m2_________Bsus__________A2
on the back of a motor bike, arms outstretched trying to take flight
A2___________________Bsus_____A2
leaving everything behind
A2___________________C#m2__________Bsus_____________A2
but even at our swiftest speed, we couldn't break from the concrete
A2______________________Bsus
in the city where we still reside
A2_____________C#m2______Bsus___________A2
and i have learned, that even landlocked lovers yearn
A2____________________Bsus______A2
for the sea like navy men
A2_________________C#m2_______Bsus_________A2
'cuz now we say goodnight, from our own separate sides
A2_________________C#m2___Bsus___A2
like brothers on a hotel bed
A2_________________C#m2___Bsus___A2
like brothers on a hotel bed
A2_________________C#m2___Bsus___A2
like brothers on a hotel bed
A2_________________C#m2___Bsus
like brothers on a hotel bed
A2
you may tire of me, as our december sun is setting
A2
cuz i'm not who i used to be

Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs

ok. i know this is supposed to mostly be about how to make it as an independent musician, but i also want to dedicate a portion of the content on this site to discussing music. mostly music that i like, but also new music from up and coming artists, and maybe some stuff from locals to the central coast too. if you think of anything you'd like me to mention, just e-mail me at deadplant155@gmail.com.

onto the article.



there's a great article in volume 23 of american songwriter magazine about the new death cab for cutie album and if you don't mind picking up a copy i'd highly recommend it. if you'd rather not, the full article is actually available online here the album is called "narrow stairs" and frontman ben gibbard calls it his "favorite album that we've ever done." gibbard and guitarist/producer chris walla talk at length in the article about how the process was a much more organic one this time around than on their previous release, plans. "it just feels like an album made by a band, instead of a recording made bit by bit while the other guys are out of the room playing ... that just doesn't feel like a band experience." gibbard said.

narrow stairs is referred to as both a departure for the band and a return to form. gibbard and walla agree that it is darker than previous installments in the dcfc catalogue, but gibbard also says that his writing process on plans was heavily influenced by his decision to write the majority of the songs on piano. "i wasn't feeling very inspired by my guitar. for some reason, i would pick up the guitar and immediately put it down, as if it were broken. i think that album had a lot of piano, because it was the first time i ever actually owned a piano...so most of those songs were written on piano, keyboard, or in some kind of protools capacity." ben says that he made a conscious effort to make sure all of the new songs could be played on an acoustic guitar and that he "was making sure all of the songs had choruses and taking more of a traditional approach to songwriting."

the computer played an integral role in creating the band's last release, with very little of the final performance created live by a full band. though they returned to analog recording (rather than digital) and toned down the use of pre-recorded loops in the songwriting, protools and the like are still useful tools when it comes to experimenting with the arrangement. gibbard says the unlimited options afforded by a computer can be both freeing and overwhelming at the same time.

one of the sections in the interview i found most interesting was towards the end of the article when american songwriter asked ben about his songwriting process in general. he says that he didn't really feel his lyrical abilities come into their own until the band's second album, "we have the facts and we're voting yes" when he wrote the song called "company calls epilogue". "i had concocted this narrative of going to the wedding of someone that you used to be in love with...and i was very proud of the descriptive nature of the song." gibbard also says, "i want to write songs with complete sentences, i almost have this obsession with shortchanging words. i would never be so pretentious to say that my lyrics are poetry. that's the most annoying thing ever and one of my biggest pet peeves as a songwriter...poems are poems. song lyrics are for songs."

hearing about professional musicians and their struggles finding their voice or coming into their own lyrically is really encouraging to me, that maybe if i keep trying and keep writing i'll be able to find something similar. i hope you found that interesting, and i hope it got you as excited for 'narrow stairs' as i am!

thanks for reading,

-loren

managing fans, songs, all that jazz - reverbnation.com

ok, this post is concerning probably the most useful site i've discovered since i started playing music. reverbnation.com is an incredible band management site and is completely free. they will host your songs (no space limit), they host pictures, they provide a blog, they give you a tool to manage an e-mailing list and widgets for your website so that people can sign up to join it, they have a great show management system with a calendar and automatic maps, the list goes on. they offer so many services that i only take advantage of probably half of them, and it's still so much more than worth the time. not to mention free. did i mention it's free? 'cuz it is. it's free.

anywho, you head over to the site and hit "sign up" right? you're given the option to sign up as an artist, a fan, management, a label, or a venue. now i haven't signed up as anything but an artist, so that's what i'll talk to you about.

when you first login, you'll see a rather unremarkable profile page. the simple interface belies the power behind this site however, as you'll soon find. on the left side are "upload pic" and "edit profile" links, which are pretty self explanatory. to the right of where your picture will go is the music section, where songs you upload will show up. the top right corner of this section has the "upload song" link, and as i said before, there's no limit on how many songs you can upload, as long as each song is below 8 megabytes in size.

below this you'll find a row of tabs that control just about everything else about your profile, the blog section, photos section, the shows section (where you can add shows with directions, dates, and it'll automatically add them to a map!). i just think that's about the coolest thing ever.

the last part i wanna talk to you about is the little orange button directly above your music player. this buttons says "admin toolbox" on it and it's extremely powerful.

click it.

in here you'll have access to a suite of web based applications that will make your life a whole lot easier. at the top of the list is the one i use most, called "fanreach". this application allows you to add e-mail addresses to a list and enter information about each individual person such as age, gender, location, and when they joined the e-mailing list. it also has a rich text editor that has tools for hyperlinking and embedding images in case you're not too html savv. you can edit the look of the e-mail before you send it out, and you can choose whether to send it to your whole list or just to people in a certain location or of a certain age or who joined after a certain date. it's really really great, and in conjunction with the NEXT tool it's even better.

the other tools i use most in this toolbox are the widgets. these are handy little html based applications that you can add to your myspace, your website, your facebook, pretty much anywhere that lets you add html to a page and they'll do cool things! ok, so as an example, there's a "fan collector" widget that you can put on your website that's basically just a form to add their e-mail address to your mailing list. they have a widget that will display your upcoming shows, they even have a music player that you can embed on your website! the most versatile of all the widgets however combines all these options and adds a photo viewer and video player (did i mention you can link up videos on youtube with your songs on reverbnation?) all in one compact widget you can add to any page you desire!

since i joined this site i've gotten more use out of it than is believable for how easy to use and cheap (see:free) it is. i highly recommend it. this is especially useful if you don't have your own website, you can put just about everything you need on reverbnation.

thanks for reading, see you next time!

-loren

getting discovered - thesixtyone.com

ok. my first post is going to be about getting your music heard. now everyone knows that the internet has been breaking down barriers and making it easier and easier to get your product (be it music, art, or recycled popsicle sticks) out to the masses. knowing where to start can still be tough. most people know the basics, get a myspace or facebook account, maybe throw a video or two up on youtube, but beyond that, what are your options as far as socially promoting your music? well, i found a great site a few weeks ago that is dedicated to just that.

www.thesixtyone.com is a website that is all about promoting and discovering independent music. the interface is incredibly user friendly, the community is unbelievably supportive, and the quality of artists is surprisingly high. anyone with an e-mail address can join for free, so there are a few rare stinkers, but the site's rating system is extremely well thought out and it usually weeds through the garbage so that good music can get more exposure.

when you first go to the site, click "free account" towards the top right of the page. a popup window will appear and you just have to select whether you want to create an "artist" account or a "listener" account. artists can upload music, while listener accounts can "bump" (see: vote for) music that they like. when you select "artist" you'll agree to their little warning to only upload your own music, and then you get to specify your band name, the url you want (mine, for example, is www.thesixtyone.com/lorenradis), and an e-mail address (which they never spam!).

after you've got your artist account setup all that remains is to upload some music. this couldn't be easier, simply click the big "upload music" button above your profile towards the right. this'll take you to the upload page where you specify the name of the track, whether or not it's a cover (and if so, who wrote the original) and where the source file is. you can upload directly from your computer or from another website if you've already got your music online somewhere. at this early stage you should be able to upload three songs.

now is where the fun starts. it's a little bit slow going at first, but people will start to find your music and after they've listened to it they have the option to "bump" your song, which will cost them a few points and give you a few points. points are the key to getting heard on this site. as you accrue more points you gain higher levels, and as you hit higher levels you're allowed to upload more songs. the faster your songs gain points, the higher they climb on the "what's hot" list. i've had two songs on the front page and am currently level 13. the better your songs are, the more bumps you'll get, and the more people will hear your music.

so that's about it for this post i think. i've been on thesixtyone for a few months now and a ton of people have commented on my page, my songs, etcetera. it's been a great experience and in my opinion it's one of the better ways to get some online exposure. also, it's still a fairly young site, so now is a great time to get on board before it gets all oversaturated!

thanks for reading, i hope that helps :)

-loren

About This Site

Hi there. I'm Loren Radis, and I don't capitalize.

there, that's better. i'm a singer/songwriter and i've been playing shows locally in central california for about a year now. during that time i scoured the internet for some kind of resource site for indie/local artists that would help me (see: tell me what to do) as far as finding gigs, getting fans, writing songs, all that jazz. i never really found what i was looking for, and i suddenly had the brilliant (see: crazy) idea to make my own!

throughout my time searching for such a resource i did find a lot of very helpful sites that answered some, but not all, of the questions i had. the goal of this site is to bring the information from all these disparate resources to one site to make it easier for other beginning musicians like me to get started on the right path.

now, i've got to give you a little disclaimer, as i said i've only been playing out for about a year, and i'm by no means a success. i still have my day job and i'm still playing to crowds of about twenty-forty people on average two or three times a month. however, i feel that some of the things i've learned could benefit other people in similar situations, so i'm gonna do my best!

thanks for stopping by, and i hope you find what you're looking for!

-loren