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Location: closely held secret | !!! How did you know I was at the factory??? |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | :D |
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Location: East Tennessee | The guitar playing Jim & Maury did was exactly what acoustic guitars should do. Add to the lyrics, not get in the way of them.
"Time in a Bottle", One of the best songs he did. |
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Posts: 417
Location: Cicero, NY | Maybe I'm missing something here but I was also a huge JC fan growing up and one of the reasons I fell in love with the music was the lyrics were great, the licks (Maury's) were killer and the progressions were insane. I remember trying to get my hands around some of his chords and thinking that he just HAD to be one of the greatest to structure a song progression.
So despite the fact that Maury playted all the quick stuff, I'm gonna have to fall on the side that says he was pretty darn proficient.
Just another .02 cents. |
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Posts: 417
Location: Cicero, NY | Originally posted by Waskel:
Originally posted by Jeff W.:
"Does your dog bite?" That's not my dog. |
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Posts: 327
Location: Evansville,IN | I'm sorry to say I never got to see Jim Croce live. That is the true test of a guitar players ability. I liked most of his songs, but you know how they fill in recorded music. :rolleyes:
I have seen Arlo Guthrie, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, and I'm sure I'm forgetting someone. All were good, but just never had the opportunity to see Jim Croce. I'm sure he put on a good show also. :D |
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Posts: 20
Location: Venice, Flo | Sometimes it is not the skill level that makes a great guitar player. It's what he played, how he played it and how it grabbed our soul. I don't think "hot licks" is the end of all measurement that we should focus on. Jim Croce's songs are so memorable. The licks's are there simple and to the point. |
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Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | Just to add my final $.02 here, meatpill is right. I don't think Croce was a hot guitarist, but he was one helluva musician and made great music. The guitar was just a tool he used to get the music out.
I've got an uncle who used to play guitar. Only knew 7 chords, but he made great music. |
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Posts: 12754
Location: Boise, Idaho | Glad you bumped this one, meatpill, so I could get in my 2 cents after I got back in town. I have spent a lot of time learning the Croce parts to a lot of his ballads, both when they were new back in the 70's when I started playing and recently when I got back into it. When I discovered tabs, I downloaded all that I wanted to learn and the only one that is right is the first line to Time In a Bottle. Even though they all sound so simple, tabbers get them wrong.
I think Jim was brilliant with his lyrics and his simple melodies on guitar. Consider that he wrote, "I Have to Say I Love You" overnight for his wife. It took me forever to get that one down note for note.
He does a basic chord progression on most songs that you can easily follow at least the base note, but then I always get lost when the singing or violins come in. I'm still working on a few missing measures of "New York's ..." that I can't pick up despite watching it over and over on the DVD. "Dreamin' Again" is another work in process. Then back to "Operator", which I gave up on 30 years ago. I could spend the rest of my life learning to play the songs he put together in a few short years. |
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Location: SoCal | Mark:
I may have some of those tunes in a music book. If I do, I'd be happy to fax copies to you. Email me off the board moody.pi@cox.net |
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Posts: 417
Location: Cicero, NY | I have a fairly large book of his as well if you're missing anything. Can't recall the name of the book but it was pretty complete and you (and anyone else who might be interested) are welcomed to copies. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12754
Location: Boise, Idaho | Thanks, guys. I have his sheet music of his songs. Got it 30 years ago and didn't find it to be of much use. I'm a stickler for playing exactly as recorded and the sheet music was all arrangements that didn't match what I knew. It's a little tougher with a CD than when I used to pick it up off tapes. I'm going to go back to my original method of recording on my old Sony reel to reel and play it back at half speed if I have to. I also used a Norelco cassette player. (One of the original cassette recorders.) The nice thing about it was it had instant rewind. I used to wear out those rewind switches, but I still have both decks in working condition. |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Tascam makes a small unit that'll allow you to slow down a CD track (down to half speed I believe) without changing pitch. It's designed for learning solos . . . |
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Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | There's comparatively cheap too. About $250... |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Try some inexpensive software called "SlowBlast" first. $20. |
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July 2005
Posts: 20
Location: Venice, Flo | You can also get SlowGold. http://www.worldwidewoodshed.com/ Computer software to slow down the music without changing pitch. Also, I reccommend Guitar Pro 4 http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php for the Computer. You can tab you own or others music and have the computer play it back. Slow it down, loop particular bars, etc. There is also a web site where people they mimic what they hear from various artists in guitar pro format. Thousand of songs. http://www.mysongbook.com/
YOu can import or export midi, tabl as many tracks and instruments as you need. The voice lines usually sound cheesy. But as a learning/practacing tool or writing your own music - it is great! A fantastic training tool. |
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Posts: 120
Location: Gardnerville, NV | The Tascam unit is available as "A" stock closeout for $97.00 from http://www.northernsound.net/Sales/catagories.html
I've done business with them in the past with good results. |
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Posts: 12754
Location: Boise, Idaho | My old reel to reel already does that with the flip of a switch. Amazing what 1965 technology can do. |
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August 2004
Posts: 604
Location: Tampa, FL | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
My old reel to reel already does that with the flip of a switch. Amazing what 1965 technology can do. Your 1965 R/R can do half speed and maintain pitch? You're right, that is amazing. I can't think of any analog way to shift pitch and retain any semblance of the original harmonic relationships. In our DSP world it's almost trivial, but back in the old days it would take, at the least, a number of analog operations to pull off. Simply playing at half speed isn't quite the same. Although you might be able to do something pretty strange by playing the tape half speed and accompanying with a six string bass :eek: |
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March 2005
Posts: 12754
Location: Boise, Idaho | Obviously, the notes a lower at half speed. Back in those days my ear had no problem translating that back up to the right notes on the guitar. I used to have about a 5 octave range with my voice then, too, but that went away somewhere. |
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Jim Croce - One of the Greatest Acoustic Guitarists!
