Mary's little lamb - Acoustic

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jhagan421

Guest
Hey guys
Here is a whack at Mary's Lamb I did a while back.  I should not have even been playing the acoustic at this point - but had to after hearing Emi's version.  

Yamaha FX-310
Kodak Easyshare Z710

http://www.4shared.com/file/165401563/bd7c83d7/Marys_Lamb_Acoustic.html
 

SeattleSlim

Blues Newbie
Hi Josh,
Wow! You are making great strides. Well done. Your practice is paying off big time. Keep up the good work.
 
E

Emilio

Guest
Hi Josh

It’s nice to see you giving this a go on your good ole acoustic. I have to say I found this one quite a challenge at first and I would just like to give you a couple of practice suggestions. I hope you don’t mind ::)

The method I use when I practice a tune I really like (and I love this tune), is to get it down on my acoustic first. Once I have the piece to a reasonable level I pick up my electric. The electric then seems to literally play like butter

I use Audacity and put the “backing track /play along track” on repeat (Usually the default setting which is 10 times). I then play along literally until its gets painful and record everything I do. I then review the results of the practice session and can really see how well I am doing. Others on the forum have mentioned this before and it’s very true.

I would like to add that I think you are doing a great job. It's simply a matter of repetition now to smooth out those chord changes

Keep up the good work dude
 

stratogeezer

Blues Newbie
Good job Josh. You are well on the way to becoming a bluesman.

Emi I just learned something new about Audacity ..very handy to know what the repeat function actually does..I've been copying and pasting or using the other repeat button.
It even works on sections..that's great.
Audacity is an excellent practice tool.
 
I

IrishRover

Guest
Josh you are out front - sore shoulder and all - way to go!
 
J

jhagan421

Guest
Thanks guys I know it isn't as good as the comments. I didn't even have the stumming right at that time.  I do have to get up to speed with audacity and with a different recording medium.  the easy share is pretty good for acoustic but the mic cannot handle the amp very well.

It is comming along - it always sounds better to me live in my den thatn watching it back.
 

Tim

Blues Newbie
First I think it was good! You can play this tune! This tempo maybe a little too fast as of now. Slow it down with audacity and play at a slower speed in order for your hands to get acclimated to the chord changes.

The chords are E7, A7 and B7 correct? (I'm taking the BGU course) With out any music playing practice the changes from one chord to the next. Also push the chord with your fingers (of course) in and out. This creates muscle memory for the chord shape.

One other thing I am not sure what A7 shape Griff has you playing (it may be this one). I like barring the first 4 strings of the 2nd fret with my index finger, leaving the open A (5th string) and using my pinky on the 1st string 3rd fret (G) this has a nice voicing and I think it is easier and faster to move to. On the up strokes of the strum you get the distinctive sound of the G note which is the 7th in the chord (hence A7).

Give that a try. Keep up the hard work.
 
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bplavoie

Guest
Nice work, Josh - keep it up an you'll nail it.

Just went back to my practice notes - I've been working on that one for almost 3 1/2 weeks and still ain't happy with it. And when I first looked at it, I thought it would be easier than the prior lesson...
 
J

jhagan421

Guest
Thanks again guys

Tim You are right abouth te A7 it is sort of Griffs intro to Barreing - I should slow it down  - another reason to get up to soeed on Audacity

Ray - I took this one WAAAY out of sequence becuse I like it so much - To me it is a bit easier than some of the other tunes because there are fewer different Licks
 

Russ

Blues Newbie
Josh, I don't have time right now to read everyone's comments so I hope I'm not repeating too much. I feel for you (the "Holy Crap" breath at the beginning). At the end, you were getting frustrated. That's OK man. Just relax. All in all I gotta tell you that you and Emi are becoming inspirations to me and I liked it. GOOD JOB. Pat yourself on the back and it seemed like something was missing. Oh, I know. No one was whispering to the camera  ;D  ;D  ;D . Just kidding. Again, very nice.
 

johnc

systematic
That's pretty good work Josh.  Thanks for posting the video.

The other guys touched on it and hopefully you are aware of it.  It is very common for all of us to start building in 8th or quarter beat delays on our chord changes.
This is often necessary at first because we have to think about the new chord and get our fingers on to it.

This happens because of out natural tendancy to want to play the piece at full tempo.
Unfortunately the problem with this is that the more we practice like this it becomes part of the muscle memory and hard to shake off.
You have to relearn to play it now which in the long run takes more time.

You know the chords, you can pick the strings. What you need to do now is to slow it down and count it out aloud and play it through perfectly in time no matter how slow you have to go.  

The speed is easy once you get the timing, and can sometimes only take minutes by doing it right. Chances are you may never get the timing by playing at speed and will frustrate you.

Put Griffs example on, slow it down if he doesn't have a slow version.  Count it through and know exactly where the chord changes and notes are on the count.  Everytime you get to "2" hit that chord right on 2 with no pause. You can do it, it is just a mental barrier to overcome now.  Count it out aloud while you are playing the notes and chords, this is so important.

You are going well, this is just a normal part of the learning process.
 
J

jhagan421

Guest
Thanks John - I like the fact that the video gives an opportunity for ths type of criticism - It the bad habits are so hard to break until someone makes you aware of them.
 

MikeS

Student Of The Blues
Staff member
John, That's a great tip! I think that I do that too, I'm gonna have to pay closer attention!
 
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