somethingthatactuallyworksforachange home page

Welcome to

Somethingthatactuallyworksforachange.

This is where I put audio recordings and piano accompaniments of all those 12-bar blues from my book:

"Any Key You Like as long as it's C"

I also intend to post a whole collection of chord sequences that I have used on numerous gigs over the years, and the reason for the title of this site is that it is very easy to get chord sequences from the internet and a great many do not work properly. The sequences I will be adding here are sequences that have been put to the test by being played with a wide range of other musicians who have had a chance to pick away at them and make suggestions (sometimes not very polite, one has to admit), and they have been accepted by all.

So first the recordings:

(A lot of the recordings are now here, and the remainder I will put on the site as I finish processing them).

How to use the recordings in connection with the book.

There are two sets of recordings at present. The solo piano ones are what I used as an accompaniment and the piano and saxophone ones are the piano part with a saxohone part dubbed in over them. The saxophone parts are not for copying, although you obviously could try copying them. They are only there to show you what I did in response to that accompaniment. So you just turn on the piano part and jam over it.

Click here to find single and two chord practice tracks for the book.

(On nearly every computer the MIDI tracks will play).

Click here to find blues recordings for the book.

Click here to find MIDI recordings for the book.

(on my laptop, these MIDIs will play through the media player, so probably you can try a multitude of keys - and if you have MIDI editing you can change tempo and play in any key)

Click here to find Blues For Tilly.

Click here to find Blues for Tilly ringtone.

These recordings are for anybody to play for their own private use but are copyright, which means that if you wish to use them for any commercial or trade purpose you should contact the Performing Rights Society or the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (in UK) and obtain a license for a small fee or arrange percentage payments if that is more appropriate. For other coutries it will be necessary to go to your own country's copyright collection society and make arrangements with them.

Est. 1938.