Toby's New Homespun DVD - "Bringing Out the Bounce"

srick · #1 10-28-2016, 07:18 PM

Toby Walker's latest Homespun lesson just popped up on the Homespun site today. What is "the bounce"? It's that swing that takes your fingerstyle to the next level. I'll take a little credit for the lesson - the title came from a question that I asked Toby at a recent workshop. I've been eagerly awaiting this one.

Truth be told, when we're intermediate players learning the ragtime\blues songbook, it's all we can do to get our fingers in the right place and still keep the thumb moving in tempo. But after you get that skill down, something is missing: a hammer-on, a pull-off, a galloping roll or Toby's favorite, the Rev. Gary Davis "da-dump". An alternating thumb can only take the style so far; you get to the next level by swinging the tune.

Toby does a nice job of graduating the techniques through six songs. They all bounce and they all have a snap. You can hear that rhythm driving the song forward and begging you to listen to more.

I remember at the end of that workshop weekend mentioning to Toby that "my ears had changed." Actually, I had internalized the syncopation, the bounce, the backbeat - all of that. I knew where I had to go in my journey because my sense of hearing craved it.

If you have any interest in ragtime blues, Chet, Merle, Tommy E., Buster B., etc. you should check this dvd\download out. The songs make for some nice showpieces; if this changes your "ears" as it did mine, you will find it a great step on your musical journey. This is a fun one.

best,

Rick

PS: And darned if I didn't hear a little Junior Brown influence in there too!

TBman · #2 10-28-2016, 09:23 PM

I'll check it out, thanks. I have a ton of stuff from Toby, from Homespun and now a few things from TrueFire which I'm going to finish up first. I'm getting backed up, lol.

AX17609 · #3 10-30-2016, 05:55 PM

Sounds interesting. How about a sample?

pjroberts · #4 10-30-2016, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AX17609

Sounds interesting. How about a sample?

Ahhh, Homespun, maybe? https://www.homespun.com

srick · #5 10-31-2016, 04:49 AM

Hopefully we'll have Toby chiming in here.

I have only started working through the video this past weekend. The Homespun preview is woefully short and doesn't do the material justice.

Using songs as a framework, Toby takes their bones and fleshes them out to add sparkle and bounce. This is also how Toby runs a live lesson. The difference is that a morning's worth of back and forth woodshedding is distilled into a brief fifteen minutes. (You still can't beat a live lesson)

Song #1 is "Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms". First he plays it straight - strumming with sustain. Next, he adds a palm mute to get the alternating bass thump. Then he adds a couple of fill notes to the progression to fill out the melody. The next layer is accenting the 2 and the 4 in order to create some swing. "Le pompe" is added to create some staccato.

More single note fills are added - one which Toby calls a "bounce note"another an "anticipation note". These create more syncopation.

And more fills are added. He starts concentrating on small runs that fit into the framework - both rhythm and bass.

So honestly, you could pick and choose the techniques or you could play the song as it has been presented. But hearing how the song develops - how the bones have been fleshed out - gives you an idea of where the techniques fit into your tool box.

I can't begin to tell you how many times I have heard a performer take a run-of-the-mill I-IV-V song and turn it into something memorable. And that was my perennial question: "How do I turn that basic progression into something that swings and gets everyone moving?"

This video is a great set of lessons with a broad application to all of your fingerstyle songs. It's aimed dead on at the intermediate player who is about to take the next step up. I find Toby's style and lessons spot on to my goals as a player.

Rick

PS - I have received no financial remuneration, merchandise or outright bribes from the aforementioned, "Mr. Walker". He has however allowed me to pay for lunch the next time he is in the area.

AX17609 · #6 10-31-2016, 09:17 AM

Rick -- Thanks for the helpful summary.

Toby Walker · #7 10-31-2016, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by srick

Hopefully we'll have Toby chiming in here.

I have only started working through the video this past weekend. The Homespun preview is woefully short and doesn't do the material justice.

Using songs as a framework, Toby takes their bones and fleshes them out to add sparkle and bounce. This is also how Toby runs a live lesson. The difference is that a morning's worth of back and forth work is distilled into fifteen minutes. (You still can't beat a live lesson)

Song #1 is "Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms". First he plays it straight - strumming with sustain. Next, he adds a palm mute to get the alternating bass thump. Then he adds a couple of fill notes to the progression to fill out the melody. The next layer is accenting the 2 and the 4 in order to create some swing. "Le pompe" is added to create some staccato.

More single note fills are added - one which Toby calls a "bounce note"another an "anticipation note". These create more syncopation.

And more fills are added. He starts concentrating on small runs that fit into the framework - both rhythm and bass.

So honestly, you could pick and choose the techniques or you could play the song as it has been presented. But hearing how the song develops - how the bones have been fleshed out - gives you an idea of where the techniques fit into your tool box.

I can't begin to tell you how many times I have heard a performer take a run-of-the-mill I-IV-V song and turn it into something memorable. And that was my perennial question: "How do I turn that basic progression into something that swings and gets everyone moving?"

This video is a great set of lessons with a broad application to all of your fingerstyle songs. It's aimed dead on at the intermediate player who is about to take the next step up. I find Toby's style and lessons spot on to my goals as a player.

Rick

PS - I have received no financial remuneration, merchandise or outright bribes from the aforementioned, "Mr. Walker". He has however allowed me to pay for lunch the next time he is in the area.

Actually Rick, I believe I owe YOU a lunch... at the very least.

Thanks so much for the kind words about that latest project. Your suggestion during that workshop week kept ringing in my ears all the way home!!! By the time I arrived home I had the outline of the course in my head.

I've been teaching these techniques to my students for years, but never had I put the whole concept together like this in a single DVD. When I approached Happy about the idea he loved it!! I think I was in his Woodstock NY, studio soon afterwards taping it.