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Some useful tunes, and the power of TENTHS!

  • Writer: Andy Schuster, MT-BC
    Andy Schuster, MT-BC
  • 3 days ago
  • 4 min read

Here are some tunes that have been useful to me in sessions, maybe you know them already but if not, these are good’uns!


“I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon” written in 1978 by Jeff Moss and performed on Sesame Street by Ernie (Jim Henson).


This song was re-introduced to me by Erin Frees, MT-BC when I was interning at Children’s Minnesota. She utilized it as a lullaby to help encourage rest. I say re-introduced because I remember playing it once or twice at random gigs with long time musical collaborator and friend Ben Cook-Feltz, as well as somewhere in the back of my memory probably watching it on TV when I was a kiddo in the 80’s. Anyway, it’s a beautiful song, with depth and versatility. It has come in handy during sessions that call for a lullaby-like song, or perhaps one where someone is resting/sleeping and a caregiver is nearby listening/participating. I’ve found it can work in many situations. 

The lyrics talk about imagining a visit to the moon, and also under the sea and other places, but not wanting to stay in those places for long and eventually wishing to return home. The gentle chords and melody and colorful imagery contained in the lyrics could potentially help someone drift off to sleep, or help them imagine a hopeful future where they can return home, like Ernie wishes to in the song. There was a moment when I was playing this song as a lullaby for/with a child in a coma when it hit me that being “on the moon” could stand in as a metaphor for being in a disordered state of consciousness. It was challenging to manage my emotions in that moment and I might have choked on a lyric or two but it helped me realize the depth and power this song can have. 


Ultimate guitar chart: 


Video from Sesame Street:


Video showing how I like to play this song on guitar: https://youtu.be/Xut2HAPL3F4


“Somewhere Over the Rainbow” written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg for The Wizard of Oz in 1939, sung by Judy Garland.  


Well, this song is of course very well known, but I just love playing it and it has wonderful chords so I thought I’d include it here. I like to do it as a ballad and in a country feel as well. Similar to the previous song, this song can evoke many images such as rainbows, birds, clouds, etc … and can inspire dreamy feelings of hope and wonder.




Andy’s guitar video: https://youtu.be/ZicaMxwyVYw


“Turn on your Radio” written and released in 1972 by Harry Nilsson. 


I just love this song, along with a few others from this album - especially this and “Remember (Christmas)” Oh, Merry Christmas here’s a link to that one too: https://youtu.be/ujBU32Ghvgs?si=rHc24cIGm-4P1o2X 

“Turn on your Radio” got some radio airplay in the 70’s, so perhaps this could be useful working with the population of people who heard it back in the day. This is another song that could be used as a lullaby, for reflection, for lyric analysis, etc. One thing I keep in mind is that the song could possibly be interpreted as someone singing to a romantic partner, with all the “baby” lyrics, so there are some situations where this song maybe should be avoided or at least the “baby” left out or modified to a “hey-hey” or something. Or, a brief discussion about the song that it isn’t to be taken literally, but that it’s a metaphor for the brief and fragile nature of human existence. Long story short, use with caution, as we always do as responsible MT-BCs.

Here is a quote from a blog written in 2015 by someone I don’t know named Rob Jones that I feel describes the tune better than I can right now:


“This tune is deceptively simple and unadorned lyrically speaking. After all, the idea of turning on your radio can be taken literally; turn on your radio and listen to my song. That’s what all artists want in the end, right? But, the subtext of turning on your radio goes beyond artists and radio play in this song. It’s about being in tune with our own existence, and becoming more self-aware and in tune to what’s going on around us while we can, because life is short, uncertain, and always moving toward the future.
In the middle of this, none of us know where we’re going, really. And we all hope the wind that’s blowin’ helps us all carry on. We all want those we love to hear our song while we’re still around to sing it, and to remember it after we’re gone. We want to hear their songs while we can, too. We want our lives to have some lasting significance.”

Link to Rob Jones’ blog if y’all want to read more: https://thedeletebin.com/2015/09/28/harry-nilsson-sings-turn-on-your-radio/ 




Andy’s guitar video: https://youtu.be/FC5mcbs2q-k



SO! Circling back around to this blog title, I mentioned THE POWER OF TENTHS! Being a bassist, I’ve learned that 10ths are an amazing interval to utilize on the bass, and this can be transferred to guitar too. (or piano, or whatever other instruments can play 2 notes at once and has a range beyond 1 octave)

10ths are easy and comfortable to play on the 4-string bass, and also on guitar. They are just two notes - play the root on the low E string, and the major or minor 10th on the G. These can help expand your range on the neck. It can really help cement where all those notes are on the E string all the way up the neck. I play 10ths on the guitar just like I do on bass, only on guitar you of course have the high B and E strings above the G, but I mostly ignore them when I’m playing these. Hopefully the video makes this all clear (as mud)! 


Andy’s guitar video on TENTHS: https://youtu.be/wbqhYirlOcs

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