Where to find this song - Wednesday Morning, 3 am track
# 6 (original w/out electric instruments)
Release Date - June 1964
Paul Simon was born October 13, 1941, in Newark, New Jersey. Art
Garfunkel was born on November 5, 1941, in Queens, New York. They
met in a Forest Hills, NY high school during the late 1950s, and
began performing together as Tom and Jerry. In 1957, they released
a single called "Hey Schoolgirl" which was a top 50 hit.
After they graduated, Art went to Columbia University to study
math, while Simon attended Queen’s College, eventually earning
a bachelors degree in English. Garfunkel earned a bachelors degree
in Art History, and a master's degree in math. They came together
in 1964 for the album, "Wednesday Morning, 3AM", which
included an acoustic reading of "The Sound Of Silence".
The album was not successful, so in 1965 Simon traveled to England
and began writing more poetic lyrics. He released a solo album: "The
Paul Simon Songbook" which had some success in the U.K. While
Simon was in England a New York producer decided to have Bob Dylan's
studio band overdub "The Sound Of Silence" with electric
instrumentation. The idea proved to be a success, and the re-titled
song "The Sounds Of Silence" reached number one on the
U.S. charts.
Verse Riff
This riff is set at 104 bpm ( beats per minute ). You will need
to place a capo on the sixth fret. Fingerpick this riff. You will
basically be playing two chords. One of them will be an Am, and
the other will be a G chord. Allow all notes to ring for this riff,
and all notes are relative to the capo counting as fret zero. The
first and second measures are the same, as are the third and fourth
measures.
How To Play It
This song is very easy to play, and allows you to work with the
capo and to practice on fingerpicking. Begin by placing your 2nd
finger on the "G" string on the second fret. Play in
this order for the first two measures: "G", "high
E", "B", "high E", "G", "high
E", "B", and then "high E." You just played
an Am.That is the order for the first two measures.
The next two measures are a bit trickier. Begin by quickly picking up your
2nd finger once and playing that note open, and then place it back where it
was. Next, you will need to use your 3rd finger on the third fret of the "B" string.
Play the open note, then the "B" string, and then the "G" string.
Play the "B" string one more time, and then use your 4th finger on
the "G" string on the fourth fret. You are playing a G chord. Finish
off this third measure by playing what you played in the beginning of this
measure. The fourth measure as you can see is the same as the third.
