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| First of all, I want to thank everyone who has responded to me in this thread. I've gotten lots of great advice and support. I'm not good at multiple quotes, but I did want to respond to some of the comments:
Miles, I would love to get an MP3 player, but I haven't found one that is compatible with Windows ME. Do you know of a program that is compatible with Windows ME?
G8tr: I'm definitely going to try to slow it down a bit. My teacher noticed that as I get more and more frustrated, I tend to play faster, not slower!
Slipkid: I have put "Rhymes and Reasons" aside for more times than I can count. But it's not for the reasons you might think. I used to have had a love/hate relationship with this song. It goes something like this: love the melody and loved some of the lyrics, but I got hung up on on the lyric "for the children and the flowers are my sisters and my brothers".
At the time, I let my own "worldview" color my interpretation of this lyric. That's all I can say about that without it turning into a religious discussion.
But when I decided to look at the song in it's entirety and not focus on that one part of the song, I discovered a beauty and truth that I could wholeheartedly agree with and sing about.
The funny thing is now that I agree with the song, I have become so rusty that I can't seem to make the chord changes as good as I want to (at least right now).
Scott: the easy arrangement is driving me nuts! I feel like throwing out the book because it leaves so much out, such as the nice intro and ending that this song has.
Mark: I've been told I can sing, as I've attempted "Leaving on a Jet Plane" at an open mike. It was a small disaster -- I got verses and chords all mixed up because I was so nervous! I couldn't get it together -- I was singing some verses before the chord changes, etc.
Stonebobbo: It's definitely going to have to be a vocal tune, as I don't know what kind of pick pattern he is using and I'm not sure I can fingerpick and sing at the same time. Most people who show up at open mike nights don't get too fancy anyway.
Cruster: :D
Patch: I've been having some difficulty with remembering the second verse of this song. I guess it is because that while it was a hit for John, it doesn't seem to get played much on radio anymore (which is why I need an MP3 player). Playing it on the Collector's is making things easier than it was on the Walden.
FlySig: You're right about finding my own style. I'm thinking that if I slow this one down a bit, it may be just my style.
Thanks again, everyone for your responses.
Michelle |
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| Originally posted by Weaser P:
Michelle, half the beauty of that song, as is true with a LOT of songs, is the story behind it. Not saying that that particular song is everyone's cup of tea but much like Layla, Hey Jude or any number of classic tunes, the muse can add volumes. He said that he wrote it while he was in the shower.
I once read a saying that went something like "When the muse comes, you gotta be ready. You can't be outside washing your car."
Michelle |
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Posts: 715
| Oops! I realized my mistake in the OP. I should have stated that one of the chords is CaddD, not CaddG!
Michelle |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Michelle,
I wish I could help you with some personal 'lessons learned'. But I'm just an ol' thumb strummer that learns the hard way, if at all. Plus I couldn't carry a tune in a #40 wash tub.
But since you don't have an MP3 player, go HERE and play and/or sing along. I use YT quite a bit to try to hone my rhythm/timing and try my 'leads' (not the metal, although...) and bass (not the fish, although...) lines. Either have a good set of 'puter speakers or use head phone/ear buds.
While all the suggestions have merit, there are two suggestions that stand out for me. Just strum once per bar which can be effective during the 'bumps in da road'. And when ya get frustrated, go to something else for a while. But don't give up...  |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | JD's stuff is mostly finger picking. If you get too simple, the melody that comes out in the guitar gets lost. Try Leaving on a Jet Plane with strumming. It sounds pretty good.
I feel your pain. When I first started, I learned Make It With You by Bread, about as simple as you could get. Then a roommate conned me into playing it (drunk) in a bar. I couldn't remember the last verse and just kept playing over and over. I thought I'd die there, trying to remember the last verse.
Although the open mike is a worthy goal, maybe it's stressing you out too much and you should just learn the song first. Set a goal to practice a certain amount per day and if you get hung up, play something else for awhile. I'll go over the same thing bunches of times. When I get tired of it, I do something else and come back. It took me months to learn Classical Gas and I don't remember doing anything else. But it was worth it. |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
It took me months to learn Classical Gas You t*rd! 
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| Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
Although the open mike is a worthy goal, maybe it's stressing you out too much and you should just learn the song first. Set a goal to practice a certain amount per day and if you get hung up, play something else for awhile. I'll go over the same thing bunches of times. When I get tired of it, I do something else and come back. It took me months to learn Classical Gas and I don't remember doing anything else. But it was worth it. What I think is stressing me out is the fact that at this particular open mike night, there tends to be some really good players that show up.
On the few times I actually did an open mike, I was so intimidated by those who came before me that I got so nervous and couldn't remember a lot of stuff.
I watched the John Denver video last night. I tried to do the chord changes without doing the strumming. At some points in the song, I wasn't too far behind him. Some parts, well I was waay behind!
And I noticed that he used the "cheater" Bm instead of a full barre chord. Made me feel better that someone at his skill level still uses a cheater chord!
BTW, It's okay to have classical gas here -- it just means that you are hankering for an Ovation classical guitar.
Michelle |
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| Originally posted by Guitarzannie:
I watched the John Denver video last night. I tried to do the chord changes without doing the strumming. At some points in the song, I wasn't too far behind him. Some parts, well I was waay behind!
And I noticed that he used the "cheater" Bm instead of a full barre chord. Made me feel better that someone at his skill level still uses a cheater chord! If you have the song as an mp3 or wav, you can open it in Audacity and then slow the tempo without changing the pitch. I often do that for particular passages that I just can't quite get at full tempo. Within Audacity you can also highlight just a section of the song if you want to loop it to play along with just that section. Geez, I wish tools like this had been available when I first learned guitar - I might actually have been a decent player instead of a hack.
If you go that route and run into any snags or question, please feel free to email or PM me for help.
Also, there's nothing wrong with using "cheater" chords rather than full barre. Where would metal be without power chords? Do whatever works best for you! |
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Location: SoCal | Originally posted by Guitarzannie:
..I wasn't too far behind... Story of my life..... |
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Location: Boise, Idaho | Originally posted by 2ifbyC:
Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
It took me months to learn Classical Gas You t*rd!
The nice thing about never performing or taking a lesson is that I can learn what I want at my pace. The bad thing is that the stuff I want to learn is really hard and my pace is really slow. I'm worse at golf though, and I spend more time at it. |
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Location: The Great Pacific Northwest | Originally posted by Guitarzannie:
Miles, I would love to get an MP3 player, but I haven't found one that is compatible with Windows ME. Do you know of a program that is compatible with Windows ME?
Michelle I understand there are a lot of 3rd party apps for iPods that work with ME, and also, I'm pretty sure the media player will allow you to read/write to an iPod. You only the iTunes if you are going to use the iStore. But as I said, I googled around a bit, and there seems to be several 3rd party stuff for iPods. And, of course, you could get something other than an iPod, or just play the mp3's on the computer.
My portable MP3 player is my phone. |
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by Slipkid:
I miss-spelled "duo" and it's drivng me nuts. Making for a rather delicious irony, I think you might have misspelled "misspelled" as well. But don't let that driv you nuts... |
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Location: Florida Central Gulf Coast | Originally posted by AlanM:
I think you might have misspelled "misspelled" as well. But don't let that driv you nuts... Whoops, I think that did it...
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Location: Newington, CT | Originally posted by cruster:
Originally posted by Fridave:
I usually listen to the song enough to become very familiar with it. Then I work on the chords and strumming pattern while thinking of the lyrycs in my head,... That has always been my approach, as well. But, I cannot play a single song all the way through. Truth. I have an attention span probl...
I like the suggestion to put it aside and come back in a day or two. That's also always been my approach. Inevitably, though, I find another song that I want to learn and start tryi...
Good luck, Michelle!
JMHO: OFC Comedy writing is sometimes every bit as good as -- sometimes a LOT better than -- what the pro's write! |
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| Originally posted by cruster:
Originally posted by Fridave:
I usually listen to the song enough to become very familiar with it. Then I work on the chords and strumming pattern while thinking of the lyrycs in my head,... That has always been my approach, as well. But, I cannot play a single song all the way through. Truth. I have an attention span probl...
I like the suggestion to put it aside and come back in a day or two. That's also always been my approach. Inevitably, though, I find another song that I want to learn and start tryi...
Good luck, Michelle!
Michelle |
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Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | First listen to the song, to point where you can sind along with the record.
Then,
I find writing out the rhythym, with each strum or stroke indicated, and then writing beneath the strum, stroke or note, the words to be sung, in the precise location where they're supposed to go, works pretty well.
I view it as there are two systems, my hands, and my mouth. And the trick is to get them in sync. I get my hands doing what they are supposed to do first, then work on getting my mouth to be in the right place.
And practice ...
With practice, it just |
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Roadblock Ramble
