Ukulelerick9255
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If you could read my mind by Gordon Lightfoot just have anyone have an arrangement they can share either in the key of C or G but preferably C
Song Help Request If you could read my mind
- Thread starter Ukulelerick9255
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anthonyg
Well-known member
Gordon plays the song in the key of A but using key of G chords/shapes with a capo on the second fret.
http://www.lightfoot.ca/ifyoucld.htm
Key of C your probably going to have to work out yourself.
I play it myself but my arrangement is probably complicated as I have hybridised the rhythm and lead and I play it on a tenor tuned E,A,C#,F#.
Here's my version anyway.
My tuning is effectively the same as having a capo on the 2nd fret of a guitar so I am playing guitar chords/shapes and not ukulele chords/shapes.
http://www.lightfoot.ca/ifyoucld.htm
Key of C your probably going to have to work out yourself.
I play it myself but my arrangement is probably complicated as I have hybridised the rhythm and lead and I play it on a tenor tuned E,A,C#,F#.
Here's my version anyway.
My tuning is effectively the same as having a capo on the 2nd fret of a guitar so I am playing guitar chords/shapes and not ukulele chords/shapes.
Last edited:
BBQUKER
Well-known member
Under the Ukulele Tab and Chords section on the 4th page scroll down to Vonbiber's Gordon Lightfoot songs. You will find it in key of A, but should be fairly easy to transpose to either C or G.
vonbiber
Well-known member
You can find it in A in this page
http://vonbiber.byethost17.com/ukulele/html/gordonlightfoot.html
In G (chords used are %chords: C D Em F G G7)
you can copy and paste the following
see the next post for the C version
http://vonbiber.byethost17.com/ukulele/html/gordonlightfoot.html
In G (chords used are %chords: C D Em F G G7)
you can copy and paste the following
Code:
%chorus
[G]If you could read my mind, love
[F]What a tale my thoughts could tell
[G]Just like an old time movie
[F]'bout a ghost from a wishing-well
%1
[G]In a castle [G7]dark or a [C]fortress strong
With [D]chains upon my [Em]feet
You [C]know that ghost is [G]me
And [C]I will never [G]be set free
As [C]long as I'm a [D]ghost you can't [G]see
%chorus
[G]If I could read your mind, love
[F]What a tale your thoughts could tell
[G]Just like a paperback novel
[F]The kind that drugstores sell
%2
[G]When you reach the [G7]part where the [C]heartaches come
The [D]hero would be [Em]me
But [C]heroes often [G]fail
And [G]you won't read that [G]book again
Be[C]cause the ending's [D]just too hard to [G]take
%3
[G]I'd walk away like a [C]movie star
Who gets [D]burned in a three way [Em]script
And [C]enter number [G]two
A [C]movie queen to [G]play the scene
Of [C]bringing all the [D]good things out in [Em]me
But for [C]now, love, let's be [G]real
%bridge
I [C]never thought I could [G]act this way
And I've [C]got to say that I [D]just don't get it
[C]I don't know where [G]we went wrong
But the [C]feeling's gone
And I [D]just can't get it [G]back
%chorus
[G]If you could read my mind, love
[F]What a tale my thoughts could tell
[G]Just like an old time movie
[F]'bout a ghost from a wishing-well
%4
[G]In a castle [G7]dark or a [C]fortress strong
With [D]chains upon my [Em]feet
The [C]story always [G]ends
And [C]I you read be[G]tween the lines
You'll [C]know that I'm just [D]tryin' to unders[Em]tand
The [C]feelin' that you [G]left
%bridge
I [C]never thought I could [G]feel this way
And I've [C]got to say that I [D]just don't get it
[C]I don't know where [G]we went wrong
But the [C]feeling's gone
And I [D]just can't get it [G]backvonbiber
Well-known member
C version (chords: Am Bb C C7 F C)
Code:
%chorus
[C]If you could read my mind, love
[Bb]What a tale my thoughts could tell
[C]Just like an old time movie
[Bb]'bout a ghost from a wishing-well
%1
[C]In a castle [C7]dark or a [F]fortress strong
With [G]chains upon my [Am]feet
You [F]know that ghost is [C]me
And [F]I will never [C]be set free
As [F]long as I'm a [G]ghost you can't [C]see
%chorus
[C]If I could read your mind, love
[Bb]What a tale your thoughts could tell
[C]Just like a paperback novel
[Bb]The kind that drugstores sell
%2
[C]When you reach the [C7]part where the [F]heartaches come
The [G]hero would be [Am]me
But [F]heroes often [C]fail
And [C]you won't read that [C]book again
Be[F]cause the ending's [G]just too hard to [C]take
%3
[C]I'd walk away like a [F]movie star
Who gets [G]burned in a three way [Am]script
And [F]enter number [C]two
A [F]movie queen to [C]play the scene
Of [F]bringing all the [G]good things out in [Am]me
But for [F]now, love, let's be [C]real
%bridge
I [F]never thought I could [C]act this way
And I've [F]got to say that I [G]just don't get it
[F]I don't know where [C]we went wrong
But the [F]feeling's gone
And I [G]just can't get it [C]back
%chorus
[C]If you could read my mind, love
[Bb]What a tale my thoughts could tell
[C]Just like an old time movie
[Bb]'bout a ghost from a wishing-well
%4
[C]In a castle [C7]dark or a [F]fortress strong
With [G]chains upon my [Am]feet
The [F]story always [C]ends
And [F]I you read be[C]tween the lines
You'll [F]know that I'm just [G]tryin' to unders[Am]tand
The [F]feelin' that you [C]left
%bridge
I [F]never thought I could [C]feel this way
And I've [F]got to say that I [G]just don't get it
[F]I don't know where [C]we went wrong
But the [F]feeling's gone
And I [G]just can't get it [C]backanthonyg
Well-known member
Key of C?
DOHHHHH!
Just play the key of G guitar shapes on a standard G,C,E,A, tuned ukulele. There you have key of C.
DOHHHHH!
Just play the key of G guitar shapes on a standard G,C,E,A, tuned ukulele. There you have key of C.
Ukulelerick9255
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So in that tuning what chords are you playing? Are you strumming it or fingerpicking it and if you are fingerpicking what is the pattern? If you have a print out of your arrangement in that tuning I would love to see it
Ukulelerick9255
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I do not know what you mean by play the key of G guitar shapes how can you play guitar shaped chords on the ukulele
merlin666
Well-known member
Play in A is easy to sing for most voices and the solo works well too.
Canada Jim
Well-known member
Use VonBieber's chords for what ever key suits your voice.
Try one (or both)of these patterns. Use your thumb on the 3rd and 4th strings, your index on the 2nd string and your bird on the 1st.
__3________3___ ____3_______3____
_______0_______ ________0________
_____0_______0_ ______0_______0__
__0______0_____ __0_______0______
anthonyg
Well-known member
The tuning I'm playing has the same relationships string to string as standard tuning, its just that all strings are tuned 3 semitones below standard (G,C,E,A) ukulele tuning. I'm fingerpicking but sorry, I don't have any TABS for it. I'm using the www.lightfoot.ca chords as they are simply more accurate. Thanks to vonbiber for his work yet the chords he's using are simplified chords. The fan site www.lightfoot.ca is the first port of call for anything to do with Gordon Lightfoot.
Standard ukulele tuning is g,C,E,A. Standard Guitar tuning is E,A,D,G,B,E. Baritone ukulele tuning is D,G,B,E. Note that the D,G,B,E is the same for both Guitars and Baritone ukuleles and that in fact the relationships between the strings is exactly the same for the higher 4 strings between standard ukulele and standard guitar tuning its just that the ukulele is 5 semitones higher.
On a guitar, the open D maj chord is x,x,0,2,3,2. On a baritone ukulele D maj is 0,2,3,2 and with regular ukulele tuning, 0,2,3,2 is called G maj. The shape is exactly the same. It just has a different name and a different pitch.
So, ANY ukulele chord can be played on the first 4 strings of a guitar and the highest 4 notes of any guitar chord can be played on a ukulele. They will just have different pitches and names.
So, if you take the standard shapes for the guitar chords in the key of G over the highest 4 strings, and just play them on your ukulele, you will have transposed the key of G maj chords up 5 semitones to the key of C maj.
ie, 0,0,0,3 is G maj for a baritone ukulele/ guitar. 0,0,0,3 is C maj for standard ukulele tuning.
I'm a big fan of video tutorials, because I'm an idiot and need pictures with everything. 
And in a little fairness to me, I'm an old dog with no musical background, just a few weeks into my journey. Still learning the basics of theory, how to read tabs, etc. Heck, I'm barely more than a dozen chords along. Video really, really helps me.
I find things that are helpful and not in various tutorials....but it happens that I've been thinking about this very song for a while, one of my all-time favorites, and had bookmarked some tutorials to pursue soon.
There's a guy named Munson who has gazillions of covers for ukulele, banjo, guitar, bass, mandolin, piano...and I'm probably leaving some other instruments out. He has a real gift for making things as easy as possible without sacrificing everything that matters for making songs more than the sum of their chords. So he's got a tutorial in G with some variations that you can level up as you see fit. Capo on the 2nd fret to get to Gord's original key, a variety of strumming patterns, etc. If you want the easiest route, start with Munson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3L4rMDxJL8
I'm doing a lot more tutorials from the Morristown Uke Jam. Man, their tutorial for this song is one of the best things I've ever seen. Marco is the guy who teaches this one, and he builds it in layers. Up for playing a few beginning chords with the island strum? Here ya go. Sounds great. Ready to add a few riffs? Here's the intermediate version. Want to play something that sounds uncannily like Gordon considering you're on a ukulele? Here's the finger picking, riffs, and solo. He made it so clear, so approachable, that I felt my skills increasing just as I listened to him.
Of course, then I made the mistake of trying to actually play, and found that my skills were remarkably similar to where I'd left them the day before. LOL But of the hundreds of tutorials I've seen for all kinds of songs and techniques, it happens that this is near the tippy-top of my list.
I obviously have nothing to add to this thread about accuracy compared to Gordon's composition, the recording, or anything whatsoever about theory (which I'm genuinely enjoying learning!), and I don't mean any disrespect to the wise ones posting here....but anybody else who's barely underway might find something helpful here.
I'm still gonna be sticking around here to move beyond the basics! Thanks to everyone adding such great information to this thread!
And in a little fairness to me, I'm an old dog with no musical background, just a few weeks into my journey. Still learning the basics of theory, how to read tabs, etc. Heck, I'm barely more than a dozen chords along. Video really, really helps me. I find things that are helpful and not in various tutorials....but it happens that I've been thinking about this very song for a while, one of my all-time favorites, and had bookmarked some tutorials to pursue soon.
There's a guy named Munson who has gazillions of covers for ukulele, banjo, guitar, bass, mandolin, piano...and I'm probably leaving some other instruments out. He has a real gift for making things as easy as possible without sacrificing everything that matters for making songs more than the sum of their chords. So he's got a tutorial in G with some variations that you can level up as you see fit. Capo on the 2nd fret to get to Gord's original key, a variety of strumming patterns, etc. If you want the easiest route, start with Munson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3L4rMDxJL8
I'm doing a lot more tutorials from the Morristown Uke Jam. Man, their tutorial for this song is one of the best things I've ever seen. Marco is the guy who teaches this one, and he builds it in layers. Up for playing a few beginning chords with the island strum? Here ya go. Sounds great. Ready to add a few riffs? Here's the intermediate version. Want to play something that sounds uncannily like Gordon considering you're on a ukulele? Here's the finger picking, riffs, and solo. He made it so clear, so approachable, that I felt my skills increasing just as I listened to him.
Of course, then I made the mistake of trying to actually play, and found that my skills were remarkably similar to where I'd left them the day before. LOL But of the hundreds of tutorials I've seen for all kinds of songs and techniques, it happens that this is near the tippy-top of my list.
I obviously have nothing to add to this thread about accuracy compared to Gordon's composition, the recording, or anything whatsoever about theory (which I'm genuinely enjoying learning!), and I don't mean any disrespect to the wise ones posting here....but anybody else who's barely underway might find something helpful here.
I'm still gonna be sticking around here to move beyond the basics! Thanks to everyone adding such great information to this thread!
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