SOUP Songbook Basic Chordschart. Chords on this chart will not have diagrams in the songbook, so it would be helpful for all players to know how to play these “basic chords”.
About Jam Session "Trial Songs"
From time to time, test copies of songs are circulated at the jam session before being officially added to the SOUP songbook. Songs under consideration and testing at jam sessions will not appear on the official song list and will not have a number.
Learn About Our Songbook
Here are a few tips to help you understand notation used in the Songbook.
1. One of the chord charts included in the Songbook is the “SOUP Songbook Basic Chords” chart. Chords on this chart will not have diagrams in the Songbook, so it would be helpful for all players to know how to play these “basic chords”.
2.If chords are in parentheses, e.g. (G7) (C), these chords are played only at the very end of a song. You may often see chords in parentheses at the end of a chorus. Don’t play them until the very last time through the song.
3. Slash marks, e.g. / / / / are used to represent rhythm in some Intros, Outros, and Instrumental Bridges, and to guide the beat count in tricky sections of some songs. Each slash represents one beat.
4. A chord with slashes indicates the number of beats to play on that chord; e.g. C / means do a single strum on C. C / / / / means do 4 beats on C. This way of using slash marks is specific to the S.O.U.P. Songbook, and may not be similar to slash marks used in music notation you have seen elsewhere
5. Notation for downstrums (d) and upstrums (u), is used for some suggested strumming patterns. Capital D or U means the emphasized beat. So, e.g. a calypso strum, which has its emphasis on the second beat, may be indicated as: dDu udu.
6. Sometimes an arrow will be used to indicate the rise or fall of the melody if there is a particularly “tricky” section; e.g. “…when we live in a world of our ↑own”.
7. Sometimes a beat count is given, particularly to help with the count between sections of a song, such as between a Bridge and verse. This count is given in parentheses (2 3 4 1 2 3 4).
Latest Songbook changes as of March 21, 2018 will be handed out at the jam Wed. March 21, 2018.
Thank you to the entire Songbook Committee who arrange and put together the songs that appear in the official songbook - it's a lot of work behind the scenes.
