Getting Some Pluck

Songs I am butchering this week:

• "Edelweiss" by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein


• "Goodnight, My Someone" by Meredith Wilson

I have already waxed nostalgic here about my mom playing "Edelweiss" on her guitar for me when I was a youngster. So, you won't be surprised that "Edelweiss" is one of the first tabs I hunted down.

I found this lovely chord arrangement almost immediately, but obviously playing block chords wasn't cutting it. I tried arpeggios—that's playing the notes of each chord one string at a time—but my rhythm was pretty odd. So, my mom taught me a lovely pattern where you arpeggiate (how's that for a back formation?) up and down the chord in a soothing, lullaby rhythm. It's pretty and very easy with practice.

Anyway, I've been having fun with that, but lately, our son's favorite lullaby is "Good Night, My Someone" from The Music Man (more on this family favorite and others here). He sings along with the chorus, and it's just adorable. Also, when his Buzz Lightyear toy needs a nap, he tells him "sweet dreams," which he must have learned from this song.

Obviously, I needed to learn the accompaniment for this song, too. Unlike with "Edelweiss," however, my Google search for free chords or tabs came up empty. I did, however, find a whole page devoted to MIDI forms of songs from The Music Man. I'm allergic to MIDI music, so I didn't listen to any, but I think I'm going to have nightmares about the Mario Brothers playing little e-trombones for a long time anyway.

After the search came up empty, I did the unthinkable. I took my guitar by the neck and decided to pluck it out for myself. Using chords that I know—namely, G, D, C, an F, and a few D7s—and mom's magic arpeggio rhythm, I banged out a pretty decent approximation. Sure, this song is made for the piano, and my rendition can sound a little too heavy on the rhythm when it needs to feel quiet, but I'm going to call it a preliminary success anyway. I'm also a few hours of practice away from making the bridge of the song sound natural, but the basic chords are there.

I know that this is still Guitar 101— I mean, most of the people I know who play guitar can noodle around until they find any tune you request—but for me, this feels like Guitar 102. I'm not saying I can play requests—unless you ask for one of the seven songs I know—but at least if someone exiled me to a desert island with my guitar, I wouldn't be tempted to turn it into a six-stringed bow to hunt wildlife. Instead, I could spend my eternity plucking out all of the songs that I know and whittling the tabs onto coconut leaves. Woo-hoo!

Fun fact! Did you know that if you speed up "Good Night, My Someone," you get "76 Trombones"? Tell your friends!