Not so "Sittin Easy Blues"

[fda050]

Ya know...for what it's worth, Griff's  "Before you move on...." note at the end of Sittin Easy Blues is not very encouraging.  He talks of it being at a "slow speed" and "so simple".   Well, even though I'm a beginner, i guess I'm not very good, because its taken me quite a while just to get the fingering, let alone getting the timing right.  As far as I'm concerned, it's not slow and it's not simple!  Can only imagine what's to come!

 

[b0b_b4rk3r]

Hey fda050.....easy and hard are relative terms.....bit like questions really....there's no easy or hard questions...there's questions you know the answer to and those you don't....so the point of this is that you learn the "answers".....if you get my drift....

When you begin playing the guitar you've got a lot to learn....and will continue to learn all through your playing years....but what seems virtually impossible at the moment will seem like a breeze as you progress....but it all comes down to the old mantra......practice, practice, practice

So stick with it and it'll all come together sooner than you think.....

Bob

 

[stratogeezer]

What you are experiencing is totally normal.
Just got to keep practicing, practicing and practicing.

 

[MikeS]

fda050, these guys have nailed it on the head. Learning to play the guitar is hard, but if you keep at it you will look back in a few months and wonder what all the fuss was about.  Hang in there and as Strato so eloquently put it: Practice, Practice, Practice.

 

[IrishRover]

These guys have already said the important stuff ( practice, practice, practice) but here's another little trick - record yourself at the very beginning of your learning, then 2 weeks later, then a month later after you've been doing all that practicing.  You usually don't notice your daily incremental progress but you will notice progress when you look back at how you were two weeks ago and then six weeks ago.  You might just surprise yourself.  And remember - the rest of us are going through the same thing.  Some have just been doing it longer.  Hang in there.

 

[MandyC]

A lot of the BBG lessons seem like mountains when you start. I've not been playing long but BBG did work for me.
I found it easier to break each lesson down into manageable parts and then put it all together. So concentrate on one 'phrase' and then the next etc.
If you've got the fingering down with this one then you're most of the way there.
Once you can hit the chords and notes with reasonable accuracy then worry about the timing but not before or it'll get frustrating.
I know this 'P' word gets a bit monotonous but it IS down to practice.
If you have any specific questions on particular chords or fingering, please post them and I'm sure everyone will do their best to help.

 

[kgarkie]

"Easy" is a relative term--relative to your abilities at the the time.  What's easy to Griff--because he's been playing a long time and is really good, is not so easy to me and I've been playing a long time--I'm just not good.  Easy to Jimi Hendrix is probably difficult to most mortals.  Neil Young who has put on an album a year for a jillion years recently said in an interview that he thinks he sucks as a guitar player.  Could have fooled me.  Carlos Santana said that if Pat Methaney and John McLaughlin's playing was the ocean he would be the swimming pool (and I would be the sweat dripping of an ant). 

We all struggle at learning this stuff.  It just takes time and practice.  Your fingers will eventually learn it or how to compensate for what they can't do.  You have to get your fingers to go into weird positions, you have to learn the timing, you have to learn to mute the right strings at the right time, etc., etc.  Music isn't easy to learn to play.  But, with lots of practice, it can be very rewarding. 

 

[Steve G]

Take heart FDA.  Sittin' Easy was the first song I recorded & posted on the forum.  I wasn't a beginner but it still took a lot of work to get it to the point where it started flowing OK.  As the others have said, keep practicing it and, if possible, record yourself as you go along.  You'll find that you are, in fact, making progress.  Stick with it & you will get it, no doubt. 

 

[fda050]

Yeah, I know I need to practice, and thanks everyone  for the tips and the encouragement.  I just thought maybe he should have recognized that at that point, it can be quite a challenging piece for a beginner.

 

[stratogeezer]

Yeah, I know I need to practice, and thanks everyone  for the tips and the encouragement.  I just thought maybe he should have recognized that at that point, it can be quite a challenging piece for a beginner.

When I began practicing guitar " Yankee Doodle " was challenging for me.

 

[Steve G]

Yeah, I know I need to practice, and thanks everyone  for the tips and the encouragement.  I just thought maybe he should have recognized that at that point, it can be quite a challenging piece for a beginner.

When I began practicing guitar " Yankee Doodle " was challenging for me.

My first 2 "solo" efforts were Ode to Joy & Jingle Bells & I was immensely proud when I nailed them.  Those are beginner songs.  Sittin' Easy Isn't.

 

[RALKITE]

I started in December when I got BBG as a Christmas present.
had had my guitar for 4 months before that and pretty much had only the first 4 licks barely worked out from Griff's free emails.
Sitting easy blues to start with was more like "sitting on concrete with piles" blues.

Now I am working on Barre chords which are the new "how do I do this" tune. and Sitting easy blues is in fact my favourite sitting easy tune to play. I play it slower and use the full chords just sink back into couch shut my eyes, relax and cruise it.

So if the difference for me is five months then considering the hack I am, you will click on that one very soon.

 

[devere_woods@yahoo.com]

fda, your reaction is perfectly normal. It did not seem so simple when I first attempted it. Keep at it, as everyone has said, and it won't be long before you too see it as simple. You are right, the course will get more difficult, but your skill level will improve with each step. Before long, you will think of Sitting Easy as a good warm up exercise. [smiley=beer.gif]

 

[Russ]

fda, If I can't get something I move on or leave it alone for a few days. For instance, I can't for the life of me get Full Out Blues to sound good or be in time. I moved onto the strumming patterns of which I really enjoy. I go back to FOB every couple days and it gets better each time. I also video myself when I really think I'm getting better.

 

[DesmoDog]

I've done the same thing Russ has suggested, moved around when I get hung up. it helps. I'm finding the exercises near the end are easier for me than some of the middle ones for instance.

The real reason I'm posting though is I was thinking about something related to this a few days ago. I put the cd examples on itunes, and then I can set them to repeat, so I can play along and not have to keep hitting "replay" or whatever.

Anyway... one of the options in the software is a "play count" that tallys how many times a song has been played. It seems it takes me 50-75 times playing along on some of these to get somewhat comfy with them, and on Muddy 'A' Blues for example I'm at abotu 75 plays and still screw up each time I try to record.

Point being, it takes time. That's 75 times playing along, not counting the times I play it by myself, or the times I'm playin galong in Garage Band trying to record it.

Some of them come easier than others. And maybe "easy" isn't the right word for it but the first ones are more simple than some of the later stuff. But you'd expect that, right?

And if you put th etime in, it will get easy. I STRUGGLED with the B7 chord at first. Avoided practicing it. Thought it was really tough. Now it's not really any more difficult than most other chords.

It'll get better, you just need to keep at it. But... progress never gets truly easy. When a piece gets easy you'll just start working on something more complicated, and that's what makes you get better.

 

[mw1954]

I guess i'll throw my 2 cents in on this . I came on board in Feb . as a pretty much a beginner . I've worked my way pretty much all the way through BBG . Just my 5th string barres to get recorded . I can tell you that every lesson I've done has been a challenge . I really didn't believe I'd get to where I'm at . You can listen to my early recordings and the the last few and hear the difference . They aren't the best by far but I've definitely grown as a guitar player ( if I can call myself a guitar player yet ) . Put your time in and you'll work through this too . I think what really helped me improve was recording myself . ( I really wish there had been no guitar backing tracks available for more of the BBG stuff . That's where you really get a true representation of where you are at ) Take advantage of this forum as there are some very knowledgable people on here who wiil help you with any issues . Anyway my 2 cents turned into a nickle . Hang in there .

 

[Griff]

While "Sitting Easy Blues" may not seem easy now, you'll see soon that it's about as easy as it can be. Also, there isn't really anything in it that hasn't come up already - so if you find yourself struggling with that tune, it may because you don't quite have one of the earlier lessons down yet.

If you have the ability, take a quick video of you trying to play it, and post it up on youtube or 4shared. I'll take a look and tell you where you could make changes to improve it. Plus, it'll make a good benchmark for 30 days from now when you won't even recognize yourself.

Griff

 

[Russ]

Read Emi's post. He's been with us quite a while, so just have a read.
http://bluesguitarunleashed.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1275652422/0#0

 

[fda050]

Thanks for the offer Griff, but I don't think I'm stuck.  I think I'm making progress and will get it soon enough if I keep at it.  I realize "Sittin Easy Blues" will be simple relative to what is to come, but I'm just trying to say that relative to where I started, (considering getting the fingering and timing as a beginner) it seems more than simple.

 

[luckylarry]

FD,  I am also a beginner. I find some things easy and can't understand why others are taking so long. On Griffs advice to all of us, I bought RiffMaster Pro. What a difference. I took solo 1 in SWS and slowed it down so I could hear clearly what was going on. It lets you slow a song or riff down as much as you like and it keeps the pitch. You can cut out just a section, make it keep looping and you can slow it down and gradually speed it up. They have a ten day free trial. Give that a try.