Hideaway Blues

[Drew]

I seem to have reached a plateau on this one, I've not improved over the last few days. I think I shall move on and come back to it later.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/23234617/Recordings/BBG%20Hide%20away%20blues.20111023.mp3

What was looking like being my best take was ruined near the end when I was distracted by a spider crawling over the laptop. I'm sure it did it on purpose, as it had had enough Hideaway Blues for one day.

I see Little Mary's Lamb has got a barre chord in it... In for a penny...

Drew

 

[MuddyFox]

Drew,
I don't know the BBG curriculum (jumped in to BGU) but I took a listen anyways.
First of all, no harm in taking a break and revisiting your "menace" at a later time. You'll probably end up playing it perfectly without any additional practice. 
Second of all, I don't know what that piece is "supposed" to sound like but this sounds good to me. One thing I did notice is that you have timing issues. I don't know whether it's due to your technique (fingering problems or whatnot) or something else. I'd suggest playing this to a click track or a metronome, I think you'll quickly find your weak points.
Don't get me wrong, you did a good job and it shouldn't hold you back.

 

[Drew]

Thanks MuddyFox. The timing is interesting. I've mainly been playing along to the course mp3 and the timing seems obvious when I do that. But when I play without the course track it shows that I don't have a feel for the timing.

You're right, I should get a metronone. It might give me a better feel for the timing, but without the crutch of the full track.

 

[Spencer]

Drew, nice job! Good to see people posting some BBG stuff. You nailed all the notes, and it's not really that the timing was bad, it was just different. This is more of a call and response type song as opposed to playing straight through without any pauses or rests.
        It's time for you to move on for sure, but in the mean time while learning the next one, listen to Griff's version of this a few times every day and work on tapping your foot. The foot tap is a key part of the BBG call and response acoustic feel songs. Pretty soon you'll have the good ol' playing on the porch feel down perfectly.  [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

 

[MuddyFox]

Spencer, I never said the timing was bad, I said he had timing issues. 
If he's going through BBG I think he should do it by the book and focus on timing being spot on and later relax and play with it being late or early. But with a purpose, not just because that's all he can do.  ;D
In the man's own words, he should at least look into why he's not on the beat. Metronome should do the trick, methinks...
I'd check Griff's version and see just how different it is but I don't own BBG. [smiley=beer.gif]

 

[Spencer]

Spencer, I never said the timing was bad, I said he had timing issues. 
If he's going through BBG I think he should do it by the book and focus on timing being spot on and later relax and play with it being late or early. But with a purpose, not just because that's all he can do.  ;D
In the man's own words, he should at least look into why he's not on the beat. Metronome should do the trick, methinks...
I'd check Griff's version and see just how different it is but I don't own BBG. [smiley=beer.gif]

Okay.... I never even saw your response. I listened to it and commented with what I heard. With all do respect, this isn't about you. It's about his recording and completing lessons.

 

[MuddyFox]

And I agree wholeheartedly with you. I'm just putting out what helped me with my timing (eventhough I still have a long way to go on that one). Metronome may not be everyone's cup of tea but I don't see it either as a bad piece of advice nor some sort of ego trip on my behalf?

From what I read, you and I both commented on the same thing (his timing) and you didn't even seen my comment when you made yours. Wouldn't you agree we might have actually been on to something? 

It's a great effort on Drew's behalf, my point was just that it'd be a shame to disregard timing so early in the course. I hope you agree.

 

[Thatman]

Good going Drew I followed it through with my book and the melody was clear there for me. Well Done.   

 

[Cynicure]

Hi Drew... Hope you won't mind a few pointers:

Firstly, your 'double-stops'... Think about this: They are called 'double-STOPS' for a reason! Each note comes to a STOP before the next note is played... Perhaps the best way to achieve this is with a bit of 'palm muting': Use your pick-hand to mute the strings by just resting the palm of your hand lightly just over the bridge... you can leave it there and just pick; it should give your notes the separation they need without requiring too much effort. You could also try to get a bit more 'chop' into your action... making each downstroke a deliberate 'chop'...

Secondly: The secret to reproducing ANY piece of music is LISTENING very carefully to the tune you want to play so you know EXACTLY what you're aiming at; once you know precisely what sound(s) you want to produce it gets easier to do so.

I know there's a lot going on all at the same time and you're learning to apply several new techniques simultaneously, so it can and does get to be very frustrating at times... BUT persevere with it and practice every day and they WILL come, never fear! The greatest part of achieving ANYTHING is PERSEVERENCE! Very soon all those techniques which seem so hard now will become 'natural' and you'll do 'em without thinking... and then you'll really start to make rapid progress.

Keep on pluckin'! Here's a beer to get you in the mood for today's practice:

[smiley=beer.gif]

Having said that, there's no harm whatsoever in moving on to the next lesson; you already have some idea of what you want to do with this one... just keep coming back to it regularly and you'll see how it improves!

 

[Cynicure]

Thanks MuddyFox. The timing is interesting. I've mainly been playing along to the course mp3 and the timing seems obvious when I do that. But when I play without the course track it shows that I don't have a feel for the timing.

You're right, I should get a metronone. It might give me a better feel for the timing, but without the crutch of the full track.

There are plenty of free metronomes available on the 'net Drew... and tapping your feet can be almost as good... (Though personally, I'm trying to re-learn how to tap my foot 'cause my last flat was on the first floor above an octogenarian so I had to deliberately learn NOT to tap my foot to avoid annoying him...)

Again, timing is something that will soon become almost second nature, but you MUST learn to get it right first! Only two things will help you there: practice and TIME!

You're doing well and I hope my advice doesn't suggest otherwise... Just keep on pluckin' and you'll soon get there!

Incidentally, you needn't think of playing along with Griff as being a 'crutch' in any sense of the word; think of it as learning to keep time with another player... which is something you WILL have to learn sometime!

[smiley=beer.gif]

 

[Drew]

Thanks Cynicure.

Double stops have been eluding me, they were also a issue on one of the other tracks. I've found that I can either hit both strings or I can palm mute, but can't have both at the same time, so it's one of the things I'm practicing.

I've just got back from two weeks away without my guitar, and was amazed that I could actually remember three of the tracks without having to look at the tab. Never thought that would happen, something must be sinking in!

Thanks for the beer,
Cheers.

 

[Cynicure]

Thanks Cynicure.

Double stops have been eluding me, they were also a issue on one of the other tracks. I've found that I can either hit both strings or I can palm mute, but can't have both at the same time, so it's one of the things I'm practicing.

I've just got back from two weeks away without my guitar, and was amazed that I could actually remember three of the tracks without having to look at the tab. Never thought that would happen, something must be sinking in!

Thanks for the beer,
Cheers.

Well... they call it 'palm muting'... but in fact the part of the hand which is used to 'mute' the strings is actually the 'heel' of the hand... which should just be resting lightly on your strings just in front of the bridge (and they only really need to touch the two or three 'bass' strings); try to use the 'heel' of your hand as a pivot for your picking action whilst just leaving the heel of your hand in place...

In order to really emphasise the 'stop' part of your double-stops, you could also just ease up the pressure (just slightly!) on your fretting finger(s) after each note; when I analyse my own technique, this is what I find myself doing almost unconsciously... the combination of palm muting and fretting-hand muting is most effective. Experiment with them both 'til you get some combination of these moves going which works for you...

Hope this helps...

[smiley=beer.gif]