The first song I ever wrote, or tried to write, was named “Opus 1 No. 1” — a little pretentious don’t you think?
Well, I think so.
It never came to anything, and eventually I used the Opus 1 No. 1 opening for my first documented song, called “Spain.”
I wrote “Spain” in 1969, and then wrote pretty much nothing else until I discovered open tunings, and that opened the gates.
I had found an Incredible String Band songbook in an old barn in England, and since I actually was a great fan, I certainly treasured it. Then studied it, and suddenly noticed how the chords were given in “open tunings” like Open G, and Open C, and it even showed me how to tune the guitar that way.
All of a sudden I had a clean (and good sounding) slate to write on.
Over the years, about 90% of all my songs are in open tunings, mainly Open G and DADGAD, but also some in tunings I discovered (by mistake, to be honest) and then explored.
Over the years I’ve also written a fair amount of poetry, some rushing out of me like melody, and I believe that the true poem carries its own melody, and is a sibling to song.
I am now working on a project to record all of my songs—at least those I am sufficiently happy with to share—and post them on YouTube. I have a created a channel for that named VargenUlf (it means “Ulf the Wolf” in Swedish), and which you can find here.
I hope you like what you hear (and read).
Ulf Wolf