If your memory of a song you’d like to play is a little vague, or your harmonic ear challenged, why not turn to Chordie? The front page defaults to alphabetical search by artist, but you can change this to browse by song.

Having made your choice, you’ll be taken to a version of the song containing lyrics, chord names and guitar chord diagrams e.g. Downtown – written by Tony Hatch and performed by Petula Clark (cited as the most successful British female solo recording artist).

Should the key turn out to be unsuitable for your voice, there is a transpose function. The song, originally in E is shown here in the key of G. Should your mandolin-playing cousin show up, the chords can transcribed – like this. It is even possible to see the chords for left-handed players.

Even if you don’t play, and assuming that the lyrics are accurate, this might also be one way of avoiding mondegreens.

If you’re too young to remember this song, here is a video of Petula Clark performing it in 1964. If nothing else, you’ll be struck by how dancing styles have changed in the last 44 years! [kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/8GVE7lRZuFM" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]