{title: Make and Break Harbour}
{artist: Stan Rogers}
{album: Fogarty's Cove (1976)}
{key: G}
{tempo: 90}
{difficulty: advanced}
{phase: 4}
{strand: CR}
{feel: hush}
{lead_voice: mid}
{lead_mode: solo}
{lead_demand: showpiece}
{harmony: M,H,B}
{a_cappella: no}
{kit: gtr,conc}
{set_role: hush}
{lang: en}
{country_tags: CA}
{copyright: copyrighted}
{flags: quiet_stunner}
{tags: canadiana,chorus,copyrighted,elegy,forecastle,harmony,nova-scotia,quiet-stunner,shanty,slow,stan-rogers}
{credit: Stan Rogers — 'Make and Break Harbour' (Fogarty's Cove, 1976). (c) Fogarty's Cove Music. Chord skeleton only — for full lyrics see the Stan Rogers Songbook (Ariel Rogers, ed.) or stanrogers.net.}

{c: Stan Rogers' elegy for the dying Atlantic Canadian inshore fishery — "make and break" refers to the small make-and-break engines that powered the old wooden fishing boats. Subtle, hard to do well, devastating when you do. One of Stan's masterpieces, and quietly one of his most affecting songs.}
{c: Four chords (G, C, D, Em). Slow, around 85-95 BPM. Capo 3 or 5 depending on lead voice.}
{c: CHORD SKELETON ONLY. Copyrighted lyrics.}

{c: ===== STRUCTURE =====}
{c: Verse / Verse / Chorus / Verse / Verse / Chorus / Verse / Chorus. Six verses, three sung choruses. The song builds slowly — the dynamic arc matters.}

{start_of_verse}
{c: VERSE: gentle fingerpicking under the lead, no percussion.}
[G] / / / | [C] / / / | [G] / [Em] / | [D] / / /
[G] / / / | [C] / / / | [G] / [D] / | [G] / / /
{end_of_verse}

{start_of_chorus}
{c: CHORUS: harmony enters on the chorus. Two-part initially, three-part on the final chorus.}
[C] / / / | [G] / / / | [Em] / / / | [D] / / /
[C] / / / | [G] / [D] / | [G] / / /
{end_of_chorus}

{c: ===== PERFORMANCE NOTES =====}
{c: This is a song that demands restraint — never the loudest song in the set. Keep accompaniment light: fingerpicked guitar, maybe a slow concertina drone, no bodhrán.}
{c: The harmonic build is the whole performance: verse 1-2 quiet lead, chorus 1 lead + harmony, verse 3-4 slightly more, chorus 2 two-part harmony, verse 5-6 strong lead, final chorus full three-part.}
{c: This is a song to sit in the second half of a set, after the louder material has settled.}

{c: ===== REFERENCE RECORDINGS =====}
{c: Stan Rogers — 'Make and Break Harbour' (Fogarty's Cove, 1976). The definitive studio version.}
{c: Stan Rogers — 'Make and Break Harbour' (Between the Breaks... Live!, 1979).}
{c: The Stan Rogers Songbook (Ariel Rogers, ed.).}