Welcome to jerryssongbook

“When I say everything on the music sheet, I mean that EVERY note, beat and bar of every song is faithfully replicated in ALL my songs. The only thing missing is the melody in music form.”

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Hi, my name is Jerry Neoh and Jerryssongbook is my invention. It was invented by me because of my desire to sing in time.

First, a little bit about me. I have been playing the guitar and singing songs ever since the 60s. I’m lousy at it but I love it. I’m sad to say that both my playing and singing have not improved over the years. But hey, just like the great game of golf, who cares as long as we continue to love it, right?

The advent of guitar tab sites was a tremendous godsend. I was now able to print off lyrics and chords of my favorite songs to sing from – for free. I have 3 folders full of them to prove it.

BUT, there was one thing these lyrics and chords couldn’t do for me – they could not improve my TIMING.

Then, a few years ago, I joined an evening choir class in my local college. It was the first time that I had sung from a music sheet. It was then and there that I realised the significance of bars to keep the singing in time.

So, I took the music sheets home and tried to sing from them with my guitar but it was next to hopeless. It was just so cumbersome. Most of the songs were 5 pages long! I admit the fact that I couldn’t read music didn’t help, but I couldn’t be asked with turning over those pages.

An idea then popped. Why don’t I transfer the bars from the music sheet to the lyrics and chords tabbed sheet of the same song? So, I did. But, there were two snags. (1) The bars when transferred looked disjointed because the bars do not necessarily sit at the start or at the end of each line. (2) I now find that the chords in the tabs were often wrong – when compared to those in the music sheets.

To overcome these two difficulties, all I had to do was to transfer the bars and chords from the music sheet to just the lyrics of the same song?

What I didn’t know was, inadvertently, I was starting my own tabulation.

A few of my tabs later, I was beginning to sense that although I had the right idea, it was still incomplete. I couldn’t convey the pauses within the bars nor the length of the notes.

Then that eureka moment. Why don’t I translate everything on the music sheet onto my tab? That was when I went to the net (thank you Sir Tim Berners-Lee) and read up on the basics of music.

When I say everything on the music sheet, I mean that EVERY note, beat and bar of every song is faithfully replicated in ALL my songs. The only thing missing is the melody in music form.

But, as long as you can “hear” the melody in the song, then you should be able to sing the song to time. Of course, the first thing you have to do is to learn how to read my songs.

As my songs are not really guitar tabs, from herein, I’m just going to call them my songs. And, there are currently over 700 songs to choose from in the website.

Click here for a guide to Transposing , as you may need to change to a key that better suits your voice.

And that, my friend, is all there is to it. PLAY, SING AND ENJOY.

Jerry Neoh