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Old 06-27-2019, 09:15 AM
Riverwolf Riverwolf is offline
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Default Those songs that should be easy but just never sound right?

I'll go first, after six years of daily playing and practice

1- Heart of Gold ( I can play this several ways but none sound like Neil)
2- Bad Moon Rising


Three more that are taking forever -

1- Wild Horses (this one at least is up to a good campfire version)
2- I walk the Line
3- Ring of Fire

Last edited by Kerbie; 06-27-2019 at 10:31 AM.
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Old 06-27-2019, 09:36 AM
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I've been working on a 2 page arrangement of Planxty Irwin which is now on its 2nd guitar. I started learning it on my Guild D-120 and even recorded it, but I was unhappy with mic position/gain issues so I scrapped it. I found it more comfortable and quieter to play on my Larrivee OM for whatever reason. I'm still undecided on some small details - should I stretch for that note first and then leave position for the next or do it as a intermediary position, etc.

Makes a difference when you tend to be a noisy player. Add to that tune other pieces I've been slowly learning. I'm trying to "raise the bar" on what recordings I post publicly so my whole learning/recording process has slowed down.

Fortunately for the world I don't sing (and know I can't) so you are all spared the nonsense that can sprout from someone that "thinks" they can sing. It's bad enough I impose my "playing" on everyone,
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Old 06-27-2019, 09:57 AM
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I've been working up an acoustic rendition of the Pretenders' Back on the Chain Gang, which sounds awesome until the key change at the last verse. There's just no good way to play the Amaj7 to B7 that allows the G# to A notes to be played cleanly on the high E string, and the verse really benefits from those notes. Otherwise, the song is a breeze and sounds good.

I am, however, happy with my "campfire" arrangement of the Faces' You Wear it Well.
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Old 06-27-2019, 10:07 AM
Brent Hahn Brent Hahn is offline
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I've got an original that seems to resonate with a lot of people -- they say it's my best song, which of course I take as a slight on all the others. It's a simple song, easy chords, easy tune, and I hate playing it. I can never seem to keep the tempo steady, my guitar intonation is always a little off, and it just seems like I have to work really hard to get myself through it.
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Old 06-27-2019, 10:30 AM
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Old 06-27-2019, 10:36 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Riverwolf View Post
(mods, if this should be in "Play" section then please move)

I'll go first, after six years of daily playing and practice

2- Bad Moon Rising
BMR and Proud Mary are played in the key of D by tuning the guitar down a whole step and basing the licks around E, A, and B chord shapes. That is where those classic licks come from. Not many people can replicate them out of the traditional D/G/A shapes.

That technique is used on several other CCR songs - Fortunate Son and Run Through the Jungle come to mind. If you watch videos of John Fogerty in concert, he usually plays a black Les Paul on the songs that feature a guitar tuned down a full step.

CK
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Old 06-27-2019, 10:40 AM
J Patrick J Patrick is offline
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...first off...if by right you mean sounding as close to the actual recording as possible...that’s a tall order for any player no matter how good they are...we all have our musical fingerprint that is unique to us...yeah there are some “impersonators” that are remarkable at copying other musicians but they put a lot of work into it and although they may be entertaining to some they are not genuine or interesting because there is nothing there that wasn’t there already musically speaking...

...if otoh you are expressing your own dissatisfaction with your personal renditions and wish to get closer to the original versions there could be any number of factors preventing your progress...without actually hearing you play that’s difficult to assess...

...if you are just asking who else feels this way about certain tunes they attempt I would venture to say most of us...I find there are certain artists and songs I admire and would like to work up my own arrangements of but just can’t find a way to pull it off....I don’t switch a dead horse though and just move on to something else rather than invest too much time and effort...

...as far as the tunes you have cited go...Neil Young and John Fogerty have two of the most unique and identifiable voices out there...I personally find any renditions of their stuff require a really different take than the originals to come up with something i’m comfortable and pleased with...and Johnny Cash and Mick Jagger are also quite distinctive...

...my only advice is to keep at it and focus on developing your own voice and style.....learn lots of new songs...identify what you do best and work on that....the rest will come..

Last edited by J Patrick; 06-27-2019 at 01:31 PM.
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Old 06-27-2019, 11:07 AM
rokdog49 rokdog49 is offline
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I can relate to the OP's frustration.
This morning I was working on "A Rainy Night in Georgia". I subscribe to a YouTube Channel by Morrisman Smith who does a great job as a teacher with this R&B stuff, i.e. chord inversions, triads and the like.
The subtle parts that are going on with the guitar are not hard to play but the timing and touch are. Then top that off with singing it...whew!
We do a couple of the songs you mentioned at our gigs. The hardest thing is fine-tuning these songs to get the original true "feel", if you will.
Try playing Mr. Bojangles or Amie the way they were recorded. At some point, we find a comfort zone playing these types of songs and let it go at that.
Life's too short.

Anyway try a little of this:

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Last edited by rokdog49; 06-27-2019 at 11:28 AM.
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Old 06-27-2019, 11:23 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Willie_D View Post
Mike's comments on the Art of the Guitar are well taken, by me, at least. I have had much the same kind of enlightenment over the years about how difficult it can be do to a really good job on what seems like a simple 3-chord song.

Recently in Show & Tell I put up my rendition of Tom Petty's Free Fallin' in the style of John Mayer. Someone had recommended this to me, so I listened, I thought, cool!, I should be able to do this! And then after about 2 weeks of working on this I realized that it was not all that easy to do a passable job on this song. There is so much more than just 3 chords!

I think supposedly easy songs take more effort than we expect because there is more to these songs than we realize on a first listen.

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Old 06-27-2019, 12:29 PM
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I've been wrassling with "The Song is Love," a Peter, Paul and Mary piece, for close to 50 years. It moves from a fingerstyle verse to a driving strum in the chorus, and the intense tempo of both sections makes it difficult to sing at the same time. I've played it fingerstyle, strummed, flat-picked, and every sort of hybrid. Every time I think I've got it, I change my basic approach, or at least my tempo.

Fortunately, audiences are less critical of the piece every time I perform it. These days, few remember the original.
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Old 06-27-2019, 12:42 PM
Riverwolf Riverwolf is offline
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Quote:
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That was very good.
Thanks.
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Old 06-27-2019, 03:01 PM
Pnewsom Pnewsom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bufflehead View Post
I've been wrassling with "The Song is Love," a Peter, Paul and Mary piece, for close to 50 years. It moves from a fingerstyle verse to a driving strum in the chorus, and the intense tempo of both sections makes it difficult to sing at the same time. I've played it fingerstyle, strummed, flat-picked, and every sort of hybrid. Every time I think I've got it, I change my basic approach, or at least my tempo.

Fortunately, audiences are less critical of the piece every time I perform it. These days, few remember the original.
Singing and playing at the same time usually requires getting one or both parts memorized at a muscle memory level so that you can mentally focus on the other part without screwing up. Takes time, but it's worth it.
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Old 06-27-2019, 03:42 PM
paulp1960 paulp1960 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Riverwolf View Post
I'll go first, after six years of daily playing and practice

1- Heart of Gold ( I can play this several ways but none sound like Neil)
2- Bad Moon Rising


Three more that are taking forever -

1- Wild Horses (this one at least is up to a good campfire version)
2- I walk the Line
3- Ring of Fire
I don't know if this will be any help for you for I walk the line:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5_SmAlnJcc&t=25s
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Old 06-27-2019, 08:04 PM
Riverwolf Riverwolf is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J Patrick View Post
...first off...if by right you mean sounding as close to the actual recording as possible...

...if otoh you are expressing your own dissatisfaction with your personal renditions
I never try to sound exactly like the original recording for any song.
Which means I never play along with the record either.
On the other hand, I strive to be very close in some parts to keep the song's vibe.
A lot of songs I slow way down, sometimes my version will be several minutes longer.

I had meant that some songs even if played very close and cleanly just don't sound right to me.
Heart of Gold seems to be liked by whoever I play it for, except me.

Thanks for your reply.
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Old 06-27-2019, 09:12 PM
Chipotle Chipotle is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cypress Knee View Post
BMR and Proud Mary are played in the key of D by tuning the guitar down a whole step and basing the licks around E, A, and B chord shapes. That is where those classic licks come from. Not many people can replicate them out of the traditional D/G/A shapes.
This can definitely throw a curve if you're trying to learn a song. I played in a cover band for a long while and we had the English Beat's "Save It for Later" in our repertoire. I played it passably but knew it wasn't right. Years later, I learned... The Tuning that Flummoxed Pete Townshend and David Gilmour. And the article doesn't even mention--he plays it on a left-handed guitar flipped over, so the bass and treble strings are reversed!

Same goes for transcriptions of songs; very often they are, tbh, not quite correct. Even if I don't know how to play it myself, I can hear that's not actually what is on the recording.
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