are there unadaptable songs?

[oldhippiegal]

Originally Posted by Davis Webb

Maybe what you should do is put a vid up of you doing the song you are stuck on for youtube, private channel and then have Doug and a few others in this thread look at it. Sometimes we are just stuck in a box of how we want to do something and another set of ears changes everything. So far you have a seasoned recording engineer, a master fingerstyle instructor and an expert theory teacher contribute. I betcha they could help.

ooh, good idea. I'll have to get further than I've gotten to start a meaningful discussion, but once I do, I'll take this approach. Thanks!

[WaveSlider]

You may well be aware of this, but I'll pass it in your direction anyway as it's a good example of a synthy song being transformed into an acoustic piece. I listened to the Jose Gonzalez version for years before I found out it was a cover...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcv3v6XfEvM (The Knife)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaFYc_RxNsI (Jose Gonzalez)

Good luck with your adaptation!

[saxonblue]

There's always a good chance Iggy's done something to get you inspired in this area .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Xfe5A5c8s

[lovetheclassics]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

Most Beatle tunes are pretty predictable and work great for solo guitar, tho hearing Laurence Juber do I Am The Walrus is still a shocker. I suppose Revolution #9 would be a case that's totally out of the question, tho :-)

I don't know the year Lawrence first did 'I am the Walrus', Marc Bonilla did a awesome version on his first album in 1993. It is electric guitar but it is guitar and he used the melody brilliantly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IGRQA8M4uc

[Jimbolaya]

Solo could be tricky I guess.
But if the punch brothers can do Kid A (Radiohead), then maybe anything is possible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZIDJ14lou4

[Diamond Dave]

Most songs are written on the guitar or piano...it's only logical that you should be able to reverse engineer them.

[jseth]

I have certainly found songs that "don't translate" to my stylistic approach... I play 6 and 12 string acoustic guitar and sing...

Usually, it's just a case of, after learning the tune and the changes, that I do not feel I could do a "credible" version of the song, even though I know the changes, the rhythm, vocal, etc... if it just doesn't seem to "gel"... doesn't have anything to do with whether it's a great song or not, just that I don't feel solid about it...

As some have said, it's definitely about the groove, the rhythmic motif... once I have that aspect worked out, I will "work in" some of the melodic sounds that bring the song to life... be it a bass line, horn section riff, or a guitar/piano line... I find that if I include a few of the juicy tonal parts of the song, it lends a lot more to the performance.

I do a few tunes that are a bit off-the-wall for a solo acoustic guitar and voice... some of those are:

'The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" by Traffic/Steve Winwood... I do this one on the 12 string, copping the bass/piano opening riff. Probably the most interesting part of my rendition is how cool the chorus sounds on the 12 string! It's a trick to play and sing it at the same time, but worth the effort!

"Another Star", by Stevie Wonder, off of "Songs in the Key of Life"... also done on 12 string, the paired courses give a substantial feel to the opening piano/bass/conga vamp... nice song to show off your vocal chops!

"Time Out of Mind", by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, from the "Gaucho" lp... maybe the toughest song to get a solid feel/groove on the guitar while singing it... for the bridge changes, I just sing the instrumental melody over the changes...

As someone mentioned, there are far too many great tunes out there to get too hung up on one... if it just doesn't work, I'll leave it alone...