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Location: Vernon CT | I am constantly looking for songs to play acoustically in the "Rock" genre. I would like to throw out the idea of "sharing" songs to all of you that we may play that others don't because the song's Original Studio version was so enhanced with effects and ochestral or keyboards that you may have never thought of it as an Acoustic song. One song I play is Lucky Man
by EL&P I sing and play the chords while my buddy arpaggiates the chords. We get a lot of compliments on the song. If anyone wants to try it P.M. mail and I will forward it in 'Word". |
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Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | I try to do that too, (strip down rock songs)though I find I invariably need a second guitarist.
Who's EL&P? I only know the version by 'The Verve.' |
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Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Who's EL&P??? Muzza, you must be well under 40 yrs old.(LOL!!!) Emerson Lake & Palmer. They were Huge in the early to mid 70's. Considered Progressive Rock. Lot's of Strings, percussion, synthisizers.You either Loved them or hated them. They had a few good songs but they were not 1 of my favorites. I prefered YES as some said they were simular. |
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Posts: 486
Location: North Carolina | Yes, I do it all the time. The key is to play the song, not the arrangement you hear.
I strip off all the bling and get down to the bones of the song,rethinking the whole thing. It helps that I do everything fingerstyle.
I look at the key and decide if it's right for my voice and for what I want to reproduce on the guitar with respect to the bass line and the signature riff, if there is one. I want to keep the song interesting for the listener, or there is no sense doing it in the first place. I'm not above using a capo if it'll get me where I want.
Some songs that can theoretically be done by simply repeating strummed chords are not going to make it to my playlist that easily. Such a song would be "Walkin' in Memphis". I get the piano riff, decide where I want the bass to enter and cut, and I add dynamics, lots of dynamics. I take a similar approach with the Stones' "The Last Time". Gotta have that signature riff, gotta have a full low end and gotta have the vocal chops to put the song over.
These are just two examples. Go to You Tube and look at some of the covers people attempt of rock songs. Identify what they're doing wrong, and you'll know what to do right. |
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Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | BT ,
I forgot how much I loved that song at the time. Thanx!
Now if I could just duplicate the synth with a kazoo...  |
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Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Here's a great ELP COVER of another one of my favorites. |
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May 2003
Posts: 425
Location: SE Michigan | Brad (Slipkid) and I do this for many songs. We first try to find older rock songs (60-70's) that we both like but that have not been overplayed in acoustic/open-mic type genres.
Then we narrow the field down to songs that are reasonably within our vocal and guitar abilities (nothing more painful than trying to sing stuff outside your range). We look further for material that offers perks for two players like distinct harmonies and unique guitar parts.
Then we hack away at it till we get a finished song. Sometimes they flop and just don't work out. Other times they surprise us and become big hits with the audience. I think part of the art of playing songs with only two people is that you have to learn to improvise so that the original idea of the song comes through, but in a simplified fashion that two players can pull off. It's almost as much fun developing a song as performing it.
Quite honestly it's pretty boring playing songs by myself anymore. You can cover so much more ground with a wing man. We have quite a collection of cheat-sheet (MS Word file format) of various songs that we do or have attempted, probably easily hundreds of songs. But it's not in complex tab, just basic words and chords. |
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Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | I was following the YouTube links again and came across this one - I was going to post it because I thought it was cool and I always liked Sky - but lo and behold... they have an O!
Sky - Toccata |
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Posts: 2793
Location: Atlanta, GA. | Clapton did it... LAYLA
Capitalized on it twice! |
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October 2007
Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | I sometimes have more fun stripping the songs down and "reinventing" them (but stay as true to the original as possible) as I do Playing them or Jamming afterwards. I agree with you Brian T.,
Playing by myself is not as much fun as it use to be. |
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | "Stripping down" or as Matt puts it, "Turning a song on it's ear", is going to be a subject of discussion down at Amelia.
If you have the OFC Tour DVD you can see what Matt does with "Love The One Your With". |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | A couple of tunes that I do that usually "go over" fairly well at gigs are Alan Parsons' "Eye in the Sky" and the Beatles "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" (the latter one I do as a slinky, slow shuffle).
Another one is FooFighters' "Learn to Fly". |
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March 2002
Posts: 15680
Location: SoCal | Originally posted by Slipkid:
"Stripping down" or as Matt puts it, "Turning a song on it's ear", is going to be a subject of discussion down at Amelia.
If you have the OFC Tour DVD you can see what Matt does with "Love The One Your With". At the Acoustic Cafe at NAMM, a year ago, Matt did a slow version of the Monkees' I'm A Believer, that brought the house down.... |
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Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Anyone got one the want to share with us?? |
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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Gee... it's kinda hard to put into specific words.
I'll just say one thing we do is try to play different chord forms. I might be playing open chords while Brian is capo-ed up a couple frets. (as suggested to us by Cliff 3 years ago)
And like Brian said, we'll take a run at a song and sometimes right away and sometimes after a lot of effort, we realize that it just won't work as a acoustic duo.
Come to the Factory Tour in the fall. We'll be glad to share what we figured out with you there. |
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August 2005
Posts: 3736
Location: Sunshine State, Australia | Originally posted by Slipkid:
If you have the OFC Tour DVD you can see what Matt does with "Love The One Your With". Which one? '05 or '06? |
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December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by BT717:
Anyone got one the want to share with us?? I'm fond of these two oldies:
Cry Just a Little - Beau Brummel
Live For Today - Grassroots
You can find the originals on YT.
I'm gathering some equipment so I can work out a two part. I play both in C although my sheet for 'Cry' is in E.
BTW, 'Lucky Man' is on 'constant replay' in my brain!  |
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Posts: 2711
Location: Vernon CT | Johnny,
You're one "Lucky Man". I hope that's because you are enjoying it. |
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December 2006
Posts: 6268
Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by BT717:
because you are enjoying it. Absolutely! It's one of those songs that doesn't show up on many 'fav' lists and therefore slips through the memory gaps. |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by muzza:
Originally posted by Slipkid:
If you have the OFC Tour DVD you can see what Matt does with "Love The One Your With". Which one? '05 or '06? |
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OT: Stripped down acoustic versions....
