Leavin' On A Jet Plane

[Mr Fixit eh]

It's been a while since I've had a chance to record. I thought it was about time I shared something, so I got a chance to record this over the weekend and here it is.

I've enjoyed John Denver's music alot over the years, and this is one of my favorites of his. Now if only I had a 12 string to play it on

As always, any suggestions on how I can improve the performance are most welcome.


Leaving On A Jet Plane

Steve

[RedJoker]

I really enjoyed that!

I do have one suggestion on improving your performance, though. One of the things I really struggle with is that I become way too mechanical when I play and sing at the same time. I could hear just a hint of that in your song. It was almost too perfect with words perfectly hitting the beats without much emotion / feeling. My girlfriend was the first to point it out with my playing and so maybe I'm more sensitive in listening for it.

Please don't take this to mean this isn't a good rendition and you are far more talented than I. It's just something that I'm working on improving so I thought I'd share. In fact, if you go to my soundcloud link below, you'll see I have several versions of the same song where I'm trying to improve my delivery. The two "Anything But Mine" versions seem to show the most improvement but I have a long way to go.

Thanks for sharing!

[noledog]

Nicely done Steve! ...you know I love me some JD, and that's a classic bro. I will add that maybe you have a shot a whiskey and loosin' up a bit because the emotion needs to kick up a notch. You play it perfectly and sing with great pitch but I need to feel it more bro. Think of if you were leavin' your girl and it was breakin' your heart or something. Nicely fingerpicked too, but turn the guitar up a tad in the mix...and lets have that drink now bro!

eric

[Bob1131]

Good stuff, Steve! It's nice to see you posting again!! I can't recall if I ever heard Denver's original but, I am very familiar with the Peter, Paul and Mary rendition. They used a couple of minor chords in the song that helped to emphasize the mood...I recommend looking for a chart with the minors and try that out. It might also give you more mood and space for your vocals.

[Jeremy]

The first time I heard this song was in the movie "Armageddon" sung a capella by Ben Affleck. Definitely better than that.

I like how you varied the right hand attack for musical variety.

[Ranger1964]

Nice job Steve. As Redjoker pointed out, there area couple spots where it sounds a bit mechanical BUT I love how you've incorporated picking and strumming into your songs and that can make you concentrate more because it's not easy! I really feel that if you get rid of that sheet music you'll really free up. When you see many performers they are closing their eyes or looking up. That's not "musical performance cliche", that's because they are FEELING the song, they rhythm, the emotion. I'd love to see you take any song you've recorded reading the music and commit to learning it. Then play it over and over until the song is automatic. THEN just really start to FEEL the song. You'll be amazed at how you relax and embellish chords in ways you didn't imagine you could. A seasoned performer can do this in a matter of minutes and that amazes me! I remember Kyle's SOTW, Every dang week he had a new song, with a new strum and it looked like he'd been working on it for months! Any way, give it a try. You'll amaze yourself. Great job, I'm a big ole JD fan!!

[gibbyguy]

Nice job Steve a a classic song. This is a song I remember and brings back memories of riding in a school bus listening to Peter, Paul and Mary's famous recording of this John Denver song (1967-He wrote this song in the Washington airport). Thanks for sharing Steve!
Ed

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by RedJoker

I really enjoyed that!

I do have one suggestion on improving your performance, though. One of the things I really struggle with is that I become way too mechanical when I play and sing at the same time. I could hear just a hint of that in your song. It was almost too perfect with words perfectly hitting the beats without much emotion / feeling. My girlfriend was the first to point it out with my playing and so maybe I'm more sensitive in listening for it.

Please don't take this to mean this isn't a good rendition and you are far more talented than I. It's just something that I'm working on improving so I thought I'd share. In fact, if you go to my soundcloud link below, you'll see I have several versions of the same song where I'm trying to improve my delivery. The two "Anything But Mine" versions seem to show the most improvement but I have a long way to go.

Thanks for sharing!

Glad you enjoyed it, Red. I find that I'm more mechanical when I do fingerstyle than when I strum. Getting better, but it's a challenge. I appreciate your comments.

It is cool to listen to recordings of a song spaced over time. You've shown a lot of improvement over the span of a few months - I enjoy your tunes.

steve

[marty bradbury]

Very nice!! Thanks !!

[Riverwolf]

Originally Posted by Bob1131

They used a couple of minor chords in the song that helped to emphasize the mood...I recommend looking for a chart with the minors and try that out.

First, I liked it, you are way ahead of me on this song.
I don't remember where I got my version and I since retyped it in MS Word.
But it uses some Em and Am chords.

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by noledog

Nicely done Steve! ...you know I love me some JD, and that's a classic bro. I will add that maybe you have a shot a whiskey and loosin' up a bit because the emotion needs to kick up a notch. You play it perfectly and sing with great pitch but I need to feel it more bro. Think of if you were leavin' your girl and it was breakin' your heart or something. Nicely fingerpicked too, but turn the guitar up a tad in the mix...and lets have that drink now bro!

eric

I had to laugh at this comment, Eric. As you know, I've consistently had trouble demonstrating serious emotion in my playing/singing, and it is a continuing frustration to me. I'm thinking, as some of the posts in this thread suggest, that there are a few things that will help me break out of this plateau - but I hadn't thought about using adult beverages as a tool to increase musicality!

I don't drink much, but I will give it a shot. I'll stock up on my ginger beer

Thanks so much for the feedback and suggestions - very much appreciated.

STeve

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by Bob1131

Good stuff, Steve! It's nice to see you posting again!! I can't recall if I ever heard Denver's original but, I am very familiar with the Peter, Paul and Mary rendition. They used a couple of minor chords in the song that helped to emphasize the mood...I recommend looking for a chart with the minors and try that out. It might also give you more mood and space for your vocals.

Thanks for listening, Bob. I had a bit of back trouble this Spring, and didn't feel much like recording. Starting to feel better now, so it's time to get back on the horse.

I will do a search - thanks for the tip.

Steve

EDIT > I haven't found a chart with the minor chords yet. If anyone has one and would like to send it to me, please send me a PM. Thanks

[Mr Fixit eh]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

The first time I heard this song was in the movie "Armageddon" sung a capella by Ben Affleck. Definitely better than that.

I like how you varied the right hand attack for musical variety.

Thanks, Jeremy, I think I've been working on the right hand, thanks for noticing.

Steve

[Bob1131]

Originally Posted by Mr Fixit eh

Thanks for listening, Bob. I had a bit of back trouble this Spring, and didn't feel much like recording. Starting to feel better now, so it's time to get back on the horse.

I will do a search - thanks for the tip.

Steve

EDIT > I haven't found a chart with the minor chords yet. If anyone has one and would like to send it to me, please send me a PM. Thanks

Try this, Steve: http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/j/jo...e_ver2_crd.htm

[MissouriPicker]

I've liked that song for a long, long time, and I like your version of it. Keep doing what you're doing. Be "you." Glad you're feeling better. I look-forward to seeing more of your videos on here.