I’m an 80’s kid, so of course Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time is a favourite, and a big dose of nostalgia for me.
I’m using a combination of block chords and fingerstyle, playing along with the JG app.
It’s got a lot of F chord in it, and fast changes in & out of the chord too. The song basically doubles as a Perfect Fast Changes drill around F! I remember when I first tried to play it, I was like “there’s no way I can do this”, so it’s very satisfying to have got this far with it.
I’ve only got the first 2 minutes of the song captured here, after that my laptop went to sleep and stopped recording video. But it’s enough that you can see all of the sections of the song. Also YouTube is having some sort of panic attack right now and can’t process my video, so I am giving Vimeo a try.
I apologise for the vocals, I was singing quietly along just to keep myself in the time groove, didn’t realise the mic would pick it up so well!
Very nicely done I myself try and include things I need to work on in songs I’m learning, it’s a great developer. No apologies needed for vocals, I’d love to hear the full version with singing in the future
Hi Brendan, oh I remember Cindy Lauper and this song quite well. Such a nice one .
Really nice playing. I particularly like the smooth switches between your techniques. Makes the listen even more interesting.
Really a F chord workout. Great job on it (that’s a compliment from a person who’s not able to do more than 30 OMCs to F )!
Haha thanks but I’m still a long way from being able to sing and play fingerstyle at the same time. I can just about sing while strumming or blocking, so long as the chords aren’t too tricky, but as soon as I start doing fingerstyle, my brain is fully occupied with that and my voice dries right up.
Hey JK! Not so much that my overall guitar time has reduced, but lately I am prioritising playing songs and not so much doing the structured practice routine. I do still do scales and finger stretching exercises, but the other practice elements have mostly fallen off. At some point I probably should reintroduce all the listening and transcribing and timefeel stuff, but these past 2 months or so, when I pick up my guitar I just want to play songs.
I think you did a great job. I love that you force yourself to do the full F. I find myself always cheating with the mini F instead of forcing myself to do the bar chords. There are a ton of songs out there that have an F chord so it is something to master. Vocals are always good to add if you can even if just to keep in time. This was a great song choice and thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work
Impressive work, big one to take on and you are doing great. Look forward to hear the full version one day. The timing of the cord changes looks tricky? Is it changing on like the second beat, and the again on the “and” after 3 or something like that. Interesting. I’m inspired to have a go with this one in the future. Keep it up man!
Good stuff Brendan. Yes a real F chord workout there with some fast changes that you coped with well. It’s a terrific song and I look forward to the full version with your vocal. What I could hear of your voice sounded pretty good to me.
Hello Brendan, this was very nice! I find the block chords fit really well and I also enjoyed the fingerstyle. No need to apologize for the vocals, as they sounded soft and sweet and they gave me the impression you were in the mood of the song. Great job!
Yes the timing on the changes is a little weird. In the verses and pre-chorus sections, it uses this offbeat timing. The first chord is on the 1, and the second chord is on the 2-and:
| F C | F C |
| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |
| Some times you | picture me | ...
| F G | Em F |
| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |
| Flash back | Warm nights |
I guess you could think of it like a bar with two chords on 1 and 3, but the second chord has a “push” to bring it one half-beat earlier.
And the chorus goes like:
| G | Am | F G C |
| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + | 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |
If you | fall I will catch you I'll | be waiting | Time after time |
So that F-G-C pattern is like one bar with F on 1 and G on 3, followed by a full bar of C, except the C is again pushed earlier by half a beat.
I don’t worry too much about the count when I’m playing it though, I have heard the song so many times it is fully baked into my memory so I can feel the timing.
The main problem for me to overcome has been the sheer speed of the changes. At 130 BPM, one and a half beats is just straight up not a lot of time to get myself into, or out of, an F chord. And with this style of playing, you can really hear it if you don’t have all the strings fully fretted (full strums are a little more forgiving I think). Most common flubs for me are the B string in the F chord buzzing or muted, and not quite getting my 3rd finger fretting the C when I quickly move to the C chord.
I have come to appreciate the mini-F more. I know Justin introduces it as a “cheat”, but really it’s a completely valid way to play an F chord. It sounds good in some contexts and no so good in others. To my ear, the mini-F sounds great in House of the Rising Sun and I have switched over to it exclusively in that song. But in Time After Time, I gave the mini-F a go and didn’t like it, kept going with the full barre.
I myself try and include things I need to work on in songs I’m learning, it’s a great developer. No apologies needed for vocals, I’d love to hear the full version with singing in the future 
.
)!
