Technique for DMB - Grey Street

carrth · #1 12-24-2002, 03:06 PM

I'm just starting to get into Dave Matthews a lot more and I really like the song 'Grey Street'. When I first saw Dave play it, I thought it looked insanely hard (I'm not that accomplished a player yet) but I decided to give it a try anyway.

I saw a post by rsimper (I think) on another thread encouraging someone to go to dmbtabs.com so I went there to look at the tab for Grey Street. I've now got the left hand fingerings pretty much down but I'm really having trouble with my right hand technique.

When Dave plays it he's strumming - but it doesn't sound anything like it does when I strum it (his sounds waaaay better). I think I need to mute the 4th and 5th strings somehow but I'm not sure how to do it... If I just pluck the 3rd and 6th strings it sounds fine but not nearly as full as it would strummed.

Can anyone help me out?

Thanks,
Tom

chtaylo2 · #2 12-24-2002, 08:32 PM

What fingers are you using for the chords with your left hand? It should be pretty easy to mute the 4th and 5th strings with your left hand while fingering the chords.

-Chris

fiftiesdean · #3 12-25-2002, 06:01 AM

Alright, I'm probably one of the dave people you'd probably want to talk to on the boards about playing that kinda stuff. The fingering he uses is the hardest way to play it. If you learn it with your two middle fingers, it will be a lot easier. It will also help you play....Two Step, Tripping Billies, Say Goodbye, etc. - they all use that chord formation. For some reason he uses a very weird fingering when he does it, but it's probably b/c he is used to playing two step, in which the fingering the same. As far as the strumming goes, you want to listen to the album version or a decent live version. It's very fast, but once you get it, it's very cool, sounds great on a 6 string as well. If you want me to explain any further, just drop me an e-mail and we can chat about it....hope this helps...Merry Christmas

-Dean
[email protected]

carrth · #4 12-25-2002, 07:11 AM

When I first looked at the tab, I instinctively used my middle and ring fingers like you suggested, fiftiesdean. After watching video of Dave play it (as well as the little tutorial video on dmbtabs.com) I switched to the harder way. I can play it either way now without much problem.

I'm still not able to strum it and have it sound right, though... After closer inspection, I think I keep hitting the 2nd string (B) when I strum. Whatever it is, when I strum it, it sounds pretty bad. I think you're right, though - I'll just sit down and play along with video until I get it.

Thanks for the advice,
Tom

fiftiesdean · #5 12-25-2002, 07:18 AM

Ok, here's one problem that I can see from your 2nd post. You have to use whichever finger is playing your low E to mute the A string (I think you may have confused it, but correct me if I'm wrong). This way you can strum the strings with that percusion that Dave does. Also, when you strum the intro/verse......memorize the drum line in your head and hum it out before you play....kind of like this.

da, da da da, da da da

This way you have that timing that he does. Let me know, I'll be on the board for the next hour or so...

fiftiesdean · #6 12-25-2002, 07:22 AM

Forgot to mention, you can also try timing it too...the verse is seven chords, each just strummed one....so the timing (this is how I do it, nontechnical)

1
2 3 4
2 3 4

1
2 3 4
2 3 4

Do that over and over, notice the "2 3 4" is on the next line, that's signal to hold for a tad longer, then play the "2 3 4" fast...it's confusing, but you will get it in time

carrth · #7 12-25-2002, 09:15 AM

Ahh, using the finger that covers the low E string to mute the A string has helped a lot. I'm getting there. Thanks for your help!! It's making a big difference

Tom

crowdedstr · #8 12-31-2002, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fiftiesdean
Forgot to mention, you can also try timing it too...the verse is seven chords, each just strummed one....so the timing (this is how I do it, nontechnical)

1
2 3 4
2 3 4

1
2 3 4
2 3 4

Do that over and over, notice the "2 3 4" is on the next line, that's signal to hold for a tad longer, then play the "2 3 4" fast...it's confusing, but you will get it in time

just to complicate things a bit, these chords are *not* only strummed once. dave has a very quick strum pattern during this song -- it's not very easy to pick up on with all the other instruments going around him, but he's constantly strumming. because of this constant strumming pattern, he hits the "3" chord (as it was referred to above) on the upstroke, not the downstroke as the above message would imply.

good luck