I was playing at one end of the house last night and my wife yelled from the other end, "Learn Rubber Ducky." So I did.

Most recent songs learned:

*Over Everything - Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett
*I’m Sure of It - Blanche
*Heavy Fuel - Dire Straits

Working right now on:
- It's Just Another Day (McCartney)
- Castles Made of Sand (Hendrix)

Always played Strat and Les Paul in hobby cover bar bands. Easy to hide out in plain sight amid the noise of bass, another guitar, vocals, keys, drums, effects, etc.

But going deaf from decades of volume abuse and unwilling to make it worse, I was forced to quit electric. Now I'm working out acoustic arrangements of the classic rockers, ballads and blues I could never talk a band into taking on.

Tons of fun. Can't read music, so I get to explore and "invent" new chords I never tried before. No idea what to call them since "D with a thumb-wrap" is already taken.

For the bucket list, I plan to finish learning how to play (properly):
- Classical Gas
- Here Comes the Sun (Capo on 7)

Right now?

• An electric guitar instrumental version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" synthesizing elements of Jeff Beck and Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole
• An electric guitar instrumental version of Charlie Chaplin's "Smile" à la Steve Lukather
• An electric guitar instrumental version of "Caoineadh Cu Chulainn" from Riverdance, attempting to find guitar techniques to emulate Davy Spillane's lovely uilleann pipe techniques

Boy, there's a lot of left-hand technique involved.


bob

I'll respond again since things have changed since Spring 2019.

Just give me a Reason (Pink)
Wind of Change (Scorpions)

Both fingerstyle interpretations by Kelly Valleau.

I want to put myself out there and play some senior living residences in the area so my practice routine is increasing. I need to blow the rust off the songs I know. I’ve been taking stock of my repertoire via a spreadsheet and looking to spread it out with more songs in the same genres. At this point I’ve been playing long enough that it’s not so much about mastering songs but being able to remember their “bones” so that I can flesh them out and put my own spin on them. I’m trying to learn more R&B type of stuff to sprinkle in folk and pop songs from the 60s through the 90s.

The Gospel According to Luke by Skip Ewing. A great song by an incredible songwriter.

One Horse Town - Blackberry Smoke
Old Shoes (& Picture Postcards) - Tom Waits

Next up: Bottom of the World - Tom Waits (haven't been able to find a TAB yet though)

Good for you Neil! The world shrinks to very little for so many seniors. Friends pass on, names and faces of the living are forgotten, and mobility diminishes - sometimes completely.

But music remains a comforting, colorful landscape to explore and revisit fondly. Ironically, I've reached the age where some of the people I would potentially play for in senior centers today might've danced to my noisy bar bands back in the '70s. Same songs too!

Thank you for the inspiration. I think I'd like to put a set together and do what you're doing.

the one rose (that's left in my heart)
 

I came across Leon Redbone playing this, I used his video to mostly
figure out the chords (but none of the pizzazz or talent :) ). I hate
forgetting how to play songs I like, which always happens when I
don't play them for a while, so I videoed the chords to it... he tunes
down two half steps so he can play in b-flat with oboes and stuff,
I couldn't make heads or tails of what he was doing until I tuned down
as well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCKU6mslDY8

-Mike

Most recently I have learned:

The Civil Wars version of Billie Jean
Brandi Carlisle, The Story
ABBA, Lay All Your Love on Me (a twangy acoustic version)

"Wave" & "One Note Samba" by Jobim

I’m starting to get into fingerstyle so right now I’m trying to learn Dust In The Wind by Kansas.

Perpetual Blues Machine by Ken Mo. Got the guitar work down pretty well, but getting the vocals while doing the guitar moves will take some work. Open mic is Thurs, might be ready by then!

I just started working on "Angelina" this weekend, a Tommy Emmanuel instrumental. He uses a hybrid picking technique but I decided to do it fingerstyle. Some interesting chord shapes