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Post by colan on Oct 22, 2015 8:12:04 GMT
Any major ninths in there ?
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Post by elverman on Oct 22, 2015 8:32:21 GMT
Haha. There's a lot of Hank Williams in my repertoire so plenty of two chord songs to bring the average down too.
I think my taste in music has got more and more primitive over the years. In my teens I played widdly widdly "lead guitar" in punk and rock bands. In my early 20s I played electric guitar on jazz/soul influenced rock stuff. I was never a lyrics guy. In my mid 20s I started writing and singing in my own bands and whilst that started out with punk bombast, clever chords and tricky time signatures; my tastes started a massive shift towards musical simplicity and focusing on the vocals and in particular the lyrics.
For years I'd railed against the three chord trick and spent my whole musical life trying to get away from it as some sort of musical mental exercise and maybe prove how clever or original I was. But at some point around my early 30s I decided that there was no shame in basing songs on a tried and trusted template. I'd always loved and listened to folk blues, country and classic pop but I'd never thought i'd get any fulfillment from playing it. I think in my mind I might have thought it was the music of the past and that I should be striving to do something new. The early alt-country thing was big for me in that respect. Something new from something old.
Spending time playing bass in a band with two country/soul based songwriters I really admired was big eye opener too. They challenged me to write a song with only three chords and I haven't really stopped since. I still like the odd musical left-turn here and there (the "naughty bit" as Jeff Lynne would have it) but accepting the fact that classic 1/4/5 (and maybe 2min or 6min if you're feeling flash) structures were classic for a reason was beyond freeing for me.
These days when I write I'm ALL about the lyrics. Lyrics first, vocal performance/arrangements next I suppose. Guitar playing for me these days is largely about keeping the rhythm going good and steady with a bit of bounce. I get the odd fill but that's about it.
I do still give myself guitar exercises to do all the time. Pieces to learn. New styles to have a go at. I've been trying to teach myself some gypsy jazz lately which has been enormous fun. I'm also in the midst of trying to unpick some Rufus Wainwright piano pieces to fingerpick on guitar which is proving a challenge. Always learning.
I've rambled.
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Post by colan on Oct 22, 2015 9:10:58 GMT
Not at all- very interesting. I was brought up on Hank Williams so I'm very aware of the power of the slow strum. There was never much of interest with regard to lyrics in Country & Western though- until Big Bob came along and set the bar amongst the clouds. Yes, I'm getting to grips with gypsy jazz myself- Stephan Wembrel's ' Midnight in Paris ' theme being my current yardstick- and I'm finding lots of similarities with gypsy jazz and oud music, old English modal stuff and even modern Malian sounds- which isn't surprising really as gypsies have ' been about a bit ' Enough chat from me;-
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Post by elverman on Oct 22, 2015 15:32:44 GMT
Very nice. My "la pompe" game is weak at the moment but i'm working on it.
Hank's Lyrics are some of my all time favorites. I know everyone goes to "I'm so Lonesome I Could Cry" or "Cold Cold Heart" to make the point but for me, this little nugget has had me grinnin' whilst pickin' lately:
These shabby shoes I'm wearing all the time, Are full of holes and nails And brother if I stepped on a worn-out dime, I bet a nickel I could tell you if it was heads or tails
*hat off
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Post by vikingblues on Oct 22, 2015 16:08:39 GMT
Agreed elverman - a good story and good vocal melody doesn't need complicated chords right enough. Particularly if they're played with a good rhythm / swing etc that match and support the lyrics. Though I'll have to admit a failing to also enjoying the more pretentious, complex songs - I certainly can't put Van Der Graaf Generator into the simple chords category and that's what I've been listening to in the car recently. I'm afraid I can't totally shake off being an old "progger". However I've not a cat in hells chance of playing like that so I'll happily stick with the basics when a guitar is in my hands. If I'm working on any technical challenge at the moment it's just trying to re-arrange pieces I already know so I can play them with hardly any need for the pinkie on the left hand - it's very nearly got to the stage of being as much use as a uniped at that famous kicking competition. Mark
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Post by creamburmese on Jan 7, 2016 21:51:42 GMT
As this fell off the front page I thought I'd drag it back up again - no doubt people have moved on to new and yet more exciting challenges that we'd like to hear about and maybe can report upon their successes I notice I was working on arpeggios when I started this - I'm STILL working on arpeggios just different ones, and indeed some of them are quite a lot faster than they were. And tremolo is coming along too (fortunate cos I seem to have an entire page of it in the current orchestra piece we are supposed to learn). Current challenges include learning to play Gary Ryan's piece "Birds flew over the spire" using appropriate voicing... and fighting with descending slurs (AKA pull offs) executed 2 fingers per string alternating fingers...
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Post by colan on Jan 8, 2016 9:39:02 GMT
Good luck with it, cb., and a happy new year. I've drifted into playing semi-acoustics but the little gypsy jazz I've picked up is serving me well, particularly ' rest stroke ' flat-picking with a big, fat, plectrum.
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Post by Martin on Jan 8, 2016 11:12:08 GMT
I'm currently trying to get to grips with the new Seagull Merlin (strummable dulcimer). Figuring out chord shapes and learning songs while deliberately not undertanding any theory about how it works
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brianr2
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Post by brianr2 on Jan 8, 2016 11:16:02 GMT
I am just starting to get to grips with a Christmas-present Uke. Being perverse, I am only interested in playing it fingerstyle. I think my hands need to go an a diet!
Brian
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Post by ocarolan on Jan 8, 2016 11:19:34 GMT
I'm enjoying following this thread - some great posts from some very busy and musically dedicated members! All power to your elbows. And other bits where appropriate! I haven't contributed so far because there are three words from which I shrink in the thread title - "technical", "challenges" and "working". I think I get lazier every day. Keith
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Post by brianr2 on Jan 8, 2016 12:32:28 GMT
I have tried to be lazy but it takes too much effort.
Brian
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Post by stringdriventhing on Jan 8, 2016 13:36:28 GMT
I'm currently trying to get to grips with the new Seagull Merlin (strummable dulcimer). Figuring out chord shapes and learning songs while deliberately not undertanding any theory about how it works Snap!
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Post by andy3sheds on Jan 9, 2016 0:06:58 GMT
For ages I've been persevering with a plectrum, in fact all sorts of plectra, bits of hoof, horn, wood, stone Perspex even humble plastic. I appreciate that big hefty ones give more tone but it really doesn't feel natural to me, mind you neither does sitting up straight to play and that one has been on the agenda for a while
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brianr2
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Post by brianr2 on Jan 9, 2016 9:24:04 GMT
For ages I've been persevering with a plectrum, in fact all sorts of plectra, bits of hoof, horn, wood, stone Perspex even humble plastic. I appreciate that big hefty ones give more tone but it really doesn't feel natural to me, mind you neither does sitting up straight to play and that one has been on the agenda for a while I too have been trying to sort out my positioning, specifically of my hands and arms. Aged joints and weak, stubby fingers are increasing prone to aches and pains. Unthinking compensation had put my right hand too square on and wrecked my tone, especially on the first string. It is so easy to get the basics wrong when you are on auto-pilot... Brian
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Post by missclarktree on Jan 10, 2016 12:44:54 GMT
I'm still trying to overcome problems with flamenco rasgueado e-a-m-i, with or with an added upstroke i, as mentioned in a previous thread. My hand is still tending to freeze up and refuse to do it, like a horse refusing the jump. Tried various strategies to overcome it, and decided I've got to change it somehow, so that my brain goes down a slightly different neural pathway. Pressing my fingers closer together seems to help, along with with starting out with fingers slightly pressed into the palm (this must be absolutely riveting for non-flamenco players!).
Also, progress is slow on the following 'thing', which is a triplet followed by a thumb upstroke, with the emphasis on the final p:-
ma - p - ma - p
down up down up
Don't know why something so simple could be so difficult, but I kept getting my fingers tangled up in the strings. It's getting better, though.
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