Wagon Wheel

[Mr Fixit eh]

EDIT>>I wasn't happy with either 'take 1' or 'take 2' that I originally posted below. I spent a good chunk of time practicing with a metronome set to 120 (original OCMS tempo) and I tried to incorporate some of the feedback and suggestions provided in the following posts. So here is 'take 3' - do let me know what you think. I promise it will be the last version - at least for a while :-)

Wagon Wheel - take 3



ORIGINAL POST>>I've been working on this for a while now and it's time to share, now that it's too late to enjoy Christmas tunes I loved this upbeat country/pop song from the moment I first heard OCMS perform it.

As always, I'd welcome any and all suggestions on how to improve the performance.

Wagon Wheel - Take 1


I'm not really very happy with this, so I've posted a second attempt:

Wagon Wheel - Take 2
Let me know what you think now....

Steve

[battlegraduate]

have you tried the strum pattern of DDU-UDU ? Thats how I play it

[pugsley-do-rite]

I think the tempo you are playing is too fast for this tune. You seem to be rushing the lyrics to fit to the tempo.

[Ruppster]

I live and gig in a college town and the most popular watering hole has a sign on the stage that says, "No Wagon Wheel." It's becoming the Brown Eyed Girl of this decade.

Not suggesting it's a bad song or should not be played, just thought it funny that the bar owner had had enough and felt compelled to put up the sign.

Cheers.

[Jeremy]

Nice job, Steve. I think if you varied your attack a bit more, it could make the performance a little more catchy. What you did briefly around the three minute mark was a nice change in pace.

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by battlegraduate

have you tried the strum pattern of DDU-UDU ? Thats how I play it

Hi Battlegraduate,

Thanks for posting. I listened to this clip again, and wasn't happy with the groove. Funny how it can seem right the first time, wishful thinking?

Anyhoo, here's my second version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4gWqKkiyQw

Steve

[gibbyguy]

Enjoyed the song Steve. Those are a lot of words sung quickly. You did a good job my friend.
Ed

[JoeCharter]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

Nice job, Steve. I think if you varied your attack a bit more, it could make the performance a little more catchy. What you did briefly around the three minute mark was a nice change in pace.

+1

Solid performance, Steve.

I was also thinking of some advice to spice up this tune as it's not an easy one to play solo. The melody is pretty repetitive and in full band versions there are many instrumental breaks as well as a gradual build up.

Typically in pop music you would want to have the chorus stand out -- and you would also want the song to eventually climax. This can be done via the intensity of the vocals, the intensity of the strumming, the strumming pattern, the chord location (e.g. higher up the neck or down in open position), the amount of bass support, etc.

To replace the instrumental breaks you can play some flatpicking melodies, add a harmonica to the mix, etc.

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by pugsley-do-rite

I think the tempo you are playing is too fast for this tune. You seem to be rushing the lyrics to fit to the tempo.

Hi pugsley-do-rite,

You thought that was fast, check out the second version (link at bottom)

This is an interesting observation. It also matches my perception, I feel like I'm really rushed to fit in the vocals, however the tempo seemed to match (more-or-less) the original - in my head - in version 1 (the one you commented on).

So, I went to the YT player to check the elapsed time of each part of the song - intro, verse + chorus I, interlude, verse + chorus II, interlude, verse + chorus III. Extremely interesting stuff. I'm guessing that the YT timer is reasonably reliable for this sort of rough analysis.


OCMS 26 intro + 50 vI/chorus + 13 inter + 51 vII/chorus + 26 inter + 51 vIII/chorus = 217 sec (3:62 min)
My version 1 29 intro + 56 vI/chorus + 18 inter + 56 vII/chorus + 30 inter + 57 vIII/chorus = 246 sec (4:01 min)
My version 2 27 intro + 46vI/chorus +11 inter + 44 vII/chorus + 22 inter + 44 vIII/chorus = 194 sec (3:23 min)


I was very surprised to see that in version one I actually was playing 15 % MORE SLOWLY than the original OCMS track. WHAT!!! I'm trying to figure out why my vocals seem so rushed. I'm wondering if I'm enunciating the words more fully than OCMS?

In my second recording,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4gWqKkiyQw I was trying to get a better groove. Somehow, while doing that, I managed to pick up the tempo by 20% over my version 1. How did I manage that! Growl. At the faster tempo, it's 11% faster than the original, so no wonder version 2 sounds rushed.

Having said all that, thanks very much for listening and commenting, pugsley. It sure got me to thinking.....

Steve

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by Ruppster

I live and gig in a college town and the most popular watering hole has a sign on the stage that says, "No Wagon Wheel." It's becoming the Brown Eyed Girl of this decade.

Not suggesting it's a bad song or should not be played, just thought it funny that the bar owner had had enough and felt compelled to put up the sign.

Cheers.

Thanks for dropping by, Ruppster. Funny story.

Steve

[RedJoker]

I did a bit of a guitar comparison for my buddies and it happened to be the wagon wheel chord progression. It's a bit fast and I'm a beginner (3.5 months) so take it with a grain of salt.

First guitar is a Squier SA100 with 2 month old strings and the second guitar is my new (to me) Guild D125 with brand new strings. Anyway, don't laugh too much...

http://youtu.be/82fb3GIHL8c

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

Nice job, Steve. I think if you varied your attack a bit more, it could make the performance a little more catchy. What you did briefly around the three minute mark was a nice change in pace.

Thanks, Jeremy. I'm still not happy even after two attempts - I'm going to post another try when I get a few minutes.

It's funny (and ironic) that sometimes the simple songs are hard to perform well.

Steve

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by gibbyguy

Enjoyed the song Steve. Those are a lot of words sung quickly. You did a good job my friend.
Ed

Thanks, Ed, I appreciate your comments. A tongue-twister, for sure...

Steve

[AJRed]

Fine job, thanks for posting.

[patentcad]

JD and I are working this song up for our duo, it's a tricky song, the lyrics don't flow so great, you have to learn the phrasing. The harmonies on the refrain are very cool. Love this song.