Belle And Sebastian - A Summer Wasting

belle & sebastian , a summer wasting .

capo 2

the obnoxious – sounding tips in the second section are primarily aimed at more
beginners and will be second nature
to most players so i apologise if they seem a bit arsey because they are a bit arsey . i
know if the lyrics are right , i just
copied them off version 1 .
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* basic version *

D
summer in winter

winter in springtime

you heard the birds sing

everything will be fine

Em A
i spent the summer wasting
Em A G
the time was passed so easily
Em A
but if the summer’s wasted
Em A G
how come that i could feel so – – free
Em A
i spent the summer wasting
Em A G
the sky was blue beyond compare
Em A
a photograph of myself
Em A
is all i have to show for

D G/D
seven years of river walkways
D C
seven weeks of staying up all _ _

Em A Em A
night . ( two bars instrumental )

Em A
i spent the summer wasting
Em A G
the time was passed so pleasantly
Em A
say cheerio to books now
Em A G
the only things i’ll read are faces
Em A
i spent the summer wasting
Em A
under a canopy of

D G/D
seven weeks of reading papers
D G/D
seven weeks of river walkways
D G/D
seven weeks of feeling guilty
D C
seven weeks of staying up all _ _

Em A Em A
night
Em A Em A

D
summer in winter

winter is springtime

you heard the bird say

everything will be fine

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* some extras *

1 ) firstly , the start ( and finish ) of the song . on the recording the guitar plays the
in unison with the voice . if you want
to do this then this is a perfectly adequate way of doing it .

E | – – – – – – 0 – – 2 – – – – – – – – – – 3 – – – 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 0 – – 2 – – – – – – – – – 7 – – – 5 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
B | – – 3 – – – – – – – – – – – – – 3 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 3 – – – – – – – – – – – – 3 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
G | 2 – – – 2 – – – – – – – – – 2 – – – 2 – – – – – – – – – – – 2 – – – 2 – – – – – – – – 2 – – – 2 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
D | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
A | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
E | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |

any complete beginners should note that this can all be played without moving from the
of the chord of D major
( concert E major ) , save for the high E ( concert F# ) .
the rhythm isn’t exactly readable here , though the phrasing is quite obvious and , as of
you know , the rhythm is the same as the
words anyway so it’s easy enough .

2 ) for a solo performance it can be nice to add a little bit of movement to your bass
to give more of a feel of polyphony . i’m
not a proficient guitar player at all and i’m not just being modest , believe me , so i
to do anything i can possibly manage to
add to the musical interest of a performance .
a simple example would be to add something between the Em and a chords during the
on your low E – string add this phrase ,
one note on each beat to take you from the Em to the a via the notes E E F# G
pitch F# F# G# A )

E | – – 0 – – – 0 – – – 2 – – – 3 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

little things like this , when used sensitively and sensibly will really enhance your performance .

3 ) the chord of C on “staying up all night” has a lot of room in the harmonic context of
song for flexibility .
possibilities include A Cmaj7 , A C9 , A C6 , a caug4 or A D7/C to name but a few .
to find something you like ( and there’s
nothing wrong with liking the ordinary C major ) and don’t forget to consult with your
– if you play with one – to make sure that
you’re all aware of what the others are doing so that any dissonances sound like
and not like mistakes .

4 ) the 8 – bar instrumental that precedes the final verse has a solo in it played by what
memory ) sounds like a melodica .
possibly a violin , but i can’t remember . anyway it plays this tune ( each note is A
crotchet/quarter – note ) :

Em A Em A
E | – – – – – – – – – 2 – 0 – – – – – | – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |
B | – – – – – 0 – 3 – – – – – 3 – 2 – | – – – – – 0 – 3 – 3 – 2 – 0 – – – – – |
G | – – – 0 – – – – – – – – – – – – – | – – – 0 – – – – – – – – – – – 2 – – – | twice .
D | – 2 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – | – 2 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – |

if you play with a band , you can give this to the lead guitarist . if you want A
notation for a pianist or a classically
trained musician , just send me an email and i’ll do one for you .

if you are not in a band and intend to play this song on your own then you can just add
notes into your chords as you play .
in essence , it will mean that the chords you will be playing are these :

| | Em Em Em Em7 / A6 A
A / Em Em Em Em7 / Asus4 A
A | |

however , i encourage you not to play this with the mindset of just playing through this
of chords . you need to think of it as
you adding a second line – a melodic line – over your basic chordal accompaniment . play
as if it’s just Em A Em a like
in the verses , but you’ve addEd a tune as well . if you don’t understand what i mean it’s
it’s very hard to explain .
just , if it sounds shit , don’t do it . stick to the basic chords and leave out the ’solo’ .

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jreid38@qub . ac . uk

don’t forget to rate , and comment if you’ve spotted something i haven’t so i can amend it .