My 900-Song Songbook Now In ChordPro

[Songbook19]

I’ve posted about my songbook before a couple of times but I just finished a pretty big project and for the sake of new members, or those who weren’t aware:

I have this Songbook. It started out around 1997 as a simple MS-Word document with just chords and lyrics. Then I added all the chord diagrams. As it grew over the years and became unwieldy I added categories and internal hyperlinks so I could move around within the document more easily.

A while back I revised it to add a YouTube link to an original recording of the song, added the intros and instrumental passages, and rekeyed everything to match the recording so I could (much to the chagrin of my wife and dog and probably the neighbors) play and sing along. Yesterday I finished the latest iteration which is a version in ChordPro format so now I can annoy everyone on an iPad app in any room of the house.

A few geezers and I get together now and then to make fun of each others guitar playing abilities - there may also be beer involved - and about ten years ago convinced me to put my songbook on-line so others can find it. Since then it’s been downloaded thousands of times.

I’m old, it’s free, and I want nothing in return – just a hobby of mine which I enjoy sharing. It’s dedicated to the guy who got me started playing guitar 45 years ago and is sort of my way of giving back. I also live in a cold climate where winter seems to last about 13 months and since I can no longer ski it gives me something to do until the ice is off the water and I can fish again. I digress.

My songbook now has almost 900 songs, mostly folk, pop/rock, and country from the 60’s-80’s but a little bit of everything. There are three “Big Books” which contain all of the songs. One is in MS-Word format and the other two are PDFs. Individual PDF songsheets and ChordPro files are also available. There are two versions, one for more experienced players and a separate Lite version for those just starting out.

If you know someone who might find it enjoyable it’s all free for the taking. There is a link below (if the link's not there you can also find it in the Contact area of my profile or by googling “songbook19”).

Cheers,

A. T.

https://songbook19.my-free.website/

[Su_H.]

So selfless of you. We need more folks like you in this world.

[kkrell]

Very cool to have. Thanks for posting.

[Jack852]

A nice legacy you are leaving. Thanks.

[Harmony123]

Originally Posted by Songbook19

...
I’m old, it’s free, and I want nothing in return – just a hobby of mine which I enjoy sharing. It’s dedicated to the guy who got me started playing guitar 45 years ago and is sort of my way of giving back....
https://songbook19.my-free.website/

Thanks so much, that's very kind of you. I figure you transcribed about 20 songs/year for each of the past 45 years ....

[Italuke]

Amazing, so wonderful and generous. And not to get all new agey or philosophical here, but this is an example of the human quality of abundance mentality. That is, you've given away a huge "slice of your pie," but that doesn't leave you with none. There's plenty of pie for everyone. We need more of this thinking.

[DukeX]

Thank you, Alvin, for your dedication and generosity.

[biotechmgr]

Thank you Alvin for your tremendous work and generosity. It is a real gift to all of us who sift through online resources and try to find accurate transcriptions (and recognize the inaccuracies).

[thegreatgumbino]

Wow. What a collection. Kudos to you for putting in the effort to do this and for sharing it!

[TJE]

That’s more songs than the radio stations have! Judging by what they play!�� Cool gesture!

[SRL]

Thanks for this! A lot of great songs in here.

[leew3]

I join other in thanking you for your dedication and generosity in sharing this with us. May you be blessed beyond measure for your graciousness.

[DavyM]

Thanks so much for this and the many hours it must have taken to produce.

[johnnydobbers]

thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mr. Paul]

Any tips on how to open these .PRO files?