Passing on a tune that's too easy.

[Pnewsom]

That tune sounds great to me. Love the space!

[Nailpicker]

Originally Posted by TBman

I had found a tune that sounded great and I wanted to learn it. Once I got hold of the sheet music for it and started to work on it I realized that although it sounds excellent it's just a little more challenging than Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, lol.

I'm torn between learning the 8 or so pages so I can get a good recording or passing on it as technically it isn't doing anything for me.

There is a lot to be said about putting myself into the tune, the execution, recording, and the final "product", that is always fun to do, but I'm on the fence.

You can put something of your own into any tune. Build a simple, but lovely tune into something bigger, more lovely that you can take a measure of satisfaction from knowing although you didn't write that tune, you put a part of yourself into it.

[dkstott]

Almost every time I made a decision that a tune was easy, I soon discovered that there was a ton of nuances that I had overlooked.

Even if it is easy, I like to vary it by making changes to volume, tone & also work on trying different chord voicings.

[mattbn73]

Anyone who does enough fingerstyle arrangements is going to get to this point. I think it's easy to view the "not complex enough" angle as being the problem, when the real problem might be something ELSE.

Personally, I think that the EIGHT PAGES aspect and the inability to read long-form tablature on-the-fly are the real issues. At a certain level, you're playing melody plus filler. Don't get married to all of the particulars of the "filler". Read through a few times to get some ideas, And then maybe work on simplifying mentally. Maybe sketch out the melody and fill in by ear/memory as you see fit.

There's a huge difference between COMPOSED arrangements and arrangements which are simply TRANSCRIBED from someone's kind of improvised take on something. When you transcribe every nuance from a recording it's easy to assume there's some "meaning" behind things which are maybe just whimsical .

At a certain point, it's really helpful to start arranging things yourself as much as you can. Use transcriptions as reference points and sources of ideas.

Think about it this way: For absolute beginner fingerstyle-ists playing from basic arrangements, it's really helpful to have all of the filler notated out, simply because it expresses the rhythm , without having to understand how rhythm works and how you fill in between different melodic points rhythmically. But at a certain point you want to be able to do that YOURSELF. There's a lot of joy and freedom which comes from being able to play things from a fake book or by ear.

On guitar, there's so much less "real guitar music". Most of what people play in terms of arrangements are simply that: someone else's arrangement of something that was originally played on other instruments. When you recognize that, and understand you don't have to be married to every single NOTE of someone else's arrangement it's helpful . Probably not the case in this specific example. I didn't watch.

I don't think I will ever again spend hours learning someone else's hymn arrangement , wedding song arrangement etc. for one gig. It's well worth spending the time to learn to do a lot of that yourself . Use someone else's for ideas only. Lot more fun in the long run. You really begin playing for YOURSELF at that point.

Anyway, best of luck.

[ljguitar]

Hi Barry

The Uber-simple crowd pleasing songs are a good starting point for a version with the simple version followed by a series of variations (which you cook up on your own for it).

Some of my best growth came from building those type arrangements, and including a second guitarist and turning them into duets.

[Gordon Currie]

This type of piece is all about space, subtlety, dynamic shifts and quick transient rhythms. They are a fun challenge to play because you have to tune into small shadings and differences instead of fast, athletic moves.

I've found that audiences often LOVE these pieces, especially if they are surrounded by more active tunes.

The longer I play, the more I find that the sweet spot for my connection to an audience lies well below my technical ability.

[TBman]

I'm going to keep it in my rotation. I'll just take my time with it.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by TBman

I had found a tune that sounded great and ...it sounds excellent .

Originally Posted by TBman

I...it's just a little more challenging than Twinkle Twinkle Little Star....

Do you want to play it because the music sounds good or do you want to play it because it is fun to play?

Some of my favorite songs to play are simple but I love them because its such nice music.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by fazool

Do you want to play it because the music sounds good or do you want to play it because it is fun to play?

Some of my favorite songs to play are simple but I love them because its such nice music.

It sounds good, so I'm going to go for the best sound I can get out of my fingers.

[RodB]

Originally Posted by TBman

.........I'm torn between learning the 8 or so pages so I can get a good recording or passing on it as technically it isn't doing anything for me...........

Originally Posted by TBman

It sounds good, so I'm going to go for the best sound I can get out of my fingers.

So technically it could do something for you.... The best sound can be elusive and could surely demand some work on technique.

Also, on simpler tunes a player is more ‘exposed’ - different challenges, different requirements to refine technique as well as to express the music.

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by fazool

Do you want to play it because the music sounds good or do you want to play it because it is fun to play?

Some of my favorite songs to play are simple but I love them because its such nice music.

That sounds all good to me. My favorite songs are ones that sound good and are fun to play They also give me a chance to embellish and expand things, which I love to do. They give you a chance to put more you into the song.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by TBman

It sounds good, so I'm going to go for the best sound I can get out of my fingers.

then I say "play it and enjoy it - even if it is simple"

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by TBman

It sounds good, so I'm going to go for the best sound I can get out of my fingers.

Couple of observations... First in full disclosure I am a singing guitar player and I usually have only one or two instrumentals in my set list (if any). So take my view with that in mind.

I enjoy listening and truth be told am somewhat in awe of exceptional solo acoustic guitar performance .. Because I think solo acoustic guitar is one of the most difficult things for the performer to bring across to an audience as Convincing, Heartfelt and Interesting.

So from that view point here is my take. Some of my very favorite songs are quite simple 3 and even 2 chord songs ( perhaps also because of having a vocal as well) . Sometimes the simplicity is the virtue.
And in counter point I am definitely not a fan of athletic gyrations for the sake of athletic gyration, and offering technique display under the "see what I can do" umbrella . For me personally that quickly becomes way more boring than a simple tune well played.

As far as the tune in question in the video I would rate it as a "nice listenable tune" And if I were wearing the "producer hat" I would advise you that: I notice there is a significant amount of reverb in the video . Which is neither good or bad per se, and in a nice un-complex tune, can be a nice addition ( however personally I would back off the reverb by 3 to 6 db)
Also from a "hold the audience interest" standpoint I would shorten it to about about 2/3 rd.'s the length, say about 3:40 or so, and get to the little embellished changes sooner.
And as has been mentioned, you could certainly add some embellishment of your own , provided you do not get to busy with it, as the entire feel of the songs is simple elegance . Anyway just my thoughts. Carry on

BTW here is a song song that has been in my setlist since it came out on the 70's and is a great example of a simple 2 chord song that IMO is great tune and I Have found it to always be a big crowd pleaser. Granted it has the lyrics to help carry it, but it has also great potential and is so very doable as an instrumental as well . When I perform it I do sing but I add a different chord transition embellishments (given I don't have and orchestra backing me up )

[RustyAxe]

I play bass in a classic country band. If I rejected every song that was "too easy" we'd have nothing to play!

[Mr. Jelly]

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

I play bass in a classic country band. If I rejected every song that was "too easy" we'd have nothing to play!

A classic country band! That sounds like a gas. In my mind the posibilities are endless and fun. Give me a tele and a deluxe and kick me off stage when you can't stand me any longer