who wants to join a friendly "learn an new song" challenge?

Originally Posted by creamburmese

Congratulations on a mistake-free run-through J-Doug!

thanks! I appreciate the encouragement.

Originally Posted by creamburmese

I like ragtime

Me too. I play a lot of guitar rags. I blame it on the movie the Sting from when I was a kid. I'm going to try to learn Scott Joplin's The Entertainer soon. It'll probably kill me though.

[mc1]

[mc1]

Originally Posted by creamburmese

Hi Mc1 - I like ragtime - would also like the music to the piece you recommended that's nice but not too hard....

Originally Posted by J-Doug

Me too. I play a lot of guitar rags. I blame it on the movie the Sting from when I was a kid. I'm going to try to learn Scott Joplin's The Entertainer soon. It'll probably kill me though.

i'll try and look around for the tune and make my own version, but i've looked before without luck. otherwise, it's in a book so i might send it to you guys. it is really quite cool.

i think the entertainer may be a very tough piece of music on the guitar. i believe i have a version or two laying around in sheet music.

Originally Posted by mc1

i think the entertainer may be a very tough piece of music on the guitar.

I got this video for Xmas: http://www.guitarvideos.com/styles-1...nd-joseph-lamb I know it won't be easy but I feel like I'm for a challenge.

Day 8: not a lot of time left last night after repetoire practice. But I played the first two verses prefectly on the first try so that was good. Then I spend some time solidifying the chorus. Since I have more time tonight I'll try to stitch it (almost) all together.

[AX17609]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

I got this video for Xmas: http://www.guitarvideos.com/styles-1...nd-joseph-lamb I know it won't be easy but I feel like I'm for a challenge.

Let us know how you do. Those arrangements are monsters.

[creamburmese]

Well I had a guitar lesson today, and needless to say the performance anxiety kyboshed the *** waltz. However week 2 will no doubt see VAST improvements (I hope). On the other hand, got major compliments on Scarborough Fair - all good until the very last harmonic. Sigh.

Originally Posted by AX17609

Let us know how you do. Those arrangements are monsters.

Pray for me.

Day 9: played the whole song through (2 verses, 1 chorus, 2 verses, 1 chorus, 2 verses) after some false starts. I'm feeling pretty happy with my progress after 9 days. So the only thing I'm missing now is the ending lick so I gave it a listen. Seems doable.

[mc1]

Originally Posted by creamburmese

Well I had a guitar lesson today, and needless to say the performance anxiety kyboshed the *** waltz. However week 2 will no doubt see VAST improvements (I hope). On the other hand, got major compliments on Scarborough Fair - all good until the very last harmonic. Sigh.

there a video of jeff beck playing patty griffin's "up to the mountain" with kelly clarkson and he flubs the final harmonic twice if i recall correctly. it didn't faze him, however, as far as i could tell. sounds like scarborough fair went pretty well, so that's great. it's easy to mess up the endings of pieces, happens to me all the time. it keeps us humble, and lets our listeners know we are human, lol.

here is the music to american flag rag. it's not that easy overall, but it's fairly approachable for a cool ragtime piece. please save a copy as i might remove it at some point. it's 2 pages:

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/a...c.jpg~original

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/a...a.jpg~original

for my update i'm playing through my piece slowly, usually with a metronome, for about an a hour or two a day. i also work on the little tricky parts where i struggle or where my fingers seem to want to go somewhere other than i ultimately want them to go. overall it's coming along.

[Staredge]

Haven't been playing much. The Taylor I bought ended up joy working out, so I sold it. Heading down to look at an Alvarez jumbo tomorrow. I've decided that I'm going to work on Jerry Garcia's version of Shady Grove. Probably be Tuesday before I start working on it.

[RedJoker]

Didn't get a ton of time this weekend to practice but I was able to get my 15 minute pre-work practice in this morning. After work, my plan is to run, get a couple things done around the house and then hopefully get an hour or more of practice in.

I feel like I'm making slow progress though...

Day 10: worked on solidifying what I know. I was eventually able to play it all the way through (except for the closing lick) without mistakes. I'll spend some time working out the closing lick tonight. I'm setting a goal for finishing this piece up in 4 more days.

[mc1]

i've now run through the piece 115 times, and most parts are pretty good. there are still a couple of sections that are tough, and oddly enough i still don't have it completely memorized.

i was searching for an inspiring quote about progress, as i'm sure i heard a pretty good one the other day, but i couldn't find it. anyway, progress shouldn't necessarily be measured entirely through results, but also through the effort and attention given to moving in the right direction.

[Cypress Knee]

Well, life intervened and has slowed me down...I have made a bit of progress, but am not 100% there yet on the first half and then the middle double time has just done me in on the lead, I can barely play along with the rhythm, but hopefully being accountable will get me there.

CK
Tab link to project - http://www.petehuttlinger.com/pdf/Late_Winter_Score.pdf

[creamburmese]

Thanks for the score mc1! I tried to download it on my phone yesterday unsuccessfully and then forgot last night , so will try the laptop today. Am making some progress (finally) with the waltz. I got derailed because I have an exercise to practice at the same time and found out Saturday I had been doing it wrong... Since then been spending a lot of time on my personal bugbear (thumb planting). I will get it, I will get it, I will get it. But maybe not this week! The second half of the waltz turns out to be easier than the first half hence the progress. Both halves are now at approximately the same stage - hesitant but recognizable. And so long as I actually think about relaxing my right hand it doesn't sound bad (for me anyway).