"American Tune" by Paul Simon (cover)

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by bert_

I know it from the St.Matthew Passion, BWV 244. O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden, although it's used more then once in the Passion. The Melody is by someone called Hassler, acc. to Wikipedia, so obviously it went from hand to hand.

Hi Bert,

Yes, the history behind some of these ancient church hymns is quite fascinating. An enterprising person could make a movie or write a book about some of the stories behind these hymns.

I also know this old hymn from several different settings.

Thanks again Bert!

- Glenn

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

Thanks for sharing another one of your wonderful videos, Glenn. This is such a good song and you do a great job with it. Thanks also for the instructional info too. It is a great feeling when you learn a song like this, with a zillion chord changes, and get to that place where it all starts coming together. Very satisfying and worth the effort IMHO!

Best,
Jayne

Thank you Jayne!

I really appreciate your listening to this and then taking the time to comment here!

It has been a good feeling to be able to actually have this piece come together for me. It took much more effort than usual to get both the singing and the playing down at the same time. Paul Simon makes it look so easy that a person really doesn't realize how much goes into putting something like this together. I really thought I had this down a week ago, but when I recorded it, I realized that I needed a whole lot more practice. I really had to internalize this piece and get it all committed to memory.

It was a great exercise, for sure. Maybe I built a few more pathways in my brain to help me stave off Alzheimer's Disease in the future!

Regarding the instructional materials from Jerry's Guitar Bar, for a woman singing this piece, you may need to put a capo up on the 5th or 6th fret or so to change keys but using the same chords. Not knowing your vocal range I can only guess, but this would probably be fairly high for a woman pitching it where Paul Simon played this.

I am so glad you thought this came out well, Jayne! Thanks so much for your comments!

- Glenn

[GTRGUY005]

Sounds great...probably my favorite PS tune. I've always been put off by all the chord changes, but I think you have inspired me to give it a try.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by GTRGUY005

Sounds great...probably my favorite PS tune. I've always been put off by all the chord changes, but I think you have inspired me to give it a try.

Well, that's cool! I hope you have fun with this! Be patient with yourself. It takes a while for your brain not to rebel and for all those chord changes to actually make sense! The info from Jerry's Guitar Bar is really useful and gives you a huge head start on this!

Thanks, too, for your vote of confidence on my performance! You're watching someone who just got past the brain rebellion part.

Have fun with this!

- Glenn

[FrankHudson]

All these years and maybe a few thoughts sometime about "gee, that tune resonates somehow" and yet until I read your post I never realized the borrowing from "O Sacred Head Now Wounded."

I'm yet another one of those here who'll say that I'd have a hard time hacking those rapid changes on guitar, much less the vocal range for that one. Hats off you to, sir!

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

All these years and maybe a few thoughts sometime about "gee, that tune resonates somehow" and yet until I read your post I never realized the borrowing from "O Sacred Head Now Wounded."

I'm yet another one of those here who'll say that I'd have a hard time hacking those rapid changes on guitar, much less the vocal range for that one. Hats off you to, sir!

Thank you Frank!

I appreciate your kind words of encouragement and support!

Regarding the history of the song, I somehow realized along the last 40+ years that Paul Simon's "American Tune" was inspired by "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded." But only last week as I was working on this, I mentioned to my oldest son what a challenge this song was to get down well. He said something like, "Yes, you are dealing with a Bach arrangement. It's not for the feint of heart."

So then I did a little exploring on the Internet and found out, yes, this is a Bach arrangement, at least on "O Sacred head, Now Wounded." Of course, Paul Simon took his share of liberties, making it his own. But the Bach connection really made me understand a little better why this was a challenge and why I needed to approach the piece with a little humility.

I always appreciate your thoughts and comments Frank! Thanks very much!

- Glenn