OK, so that was corny. :mrgreen:
As I've posted, and asked questions about, I've been working on 12 bar blues, and shuffle. My first day of lessons with my new teacher was a review of 12 bar blues and shuffle. I happened to mention it so he said well, let's do it, and tabbed some for me.
I'm honest with him and told him I get lessons from this site as well as Youtube videos; he said that's great, no problem. It actually gives us stuff to springboard off of. So I told him I used Siggi Merten's videos of Get Back and I Hear You Knocking, and another simple one of Come Together from someone else. Btw, I'm working on doing the D and A shuffles @ frets 5-9. I can almost make the stretch now. I'll do a little bit every day or so. I was happy; the D shuffle on the D & G strings sounds a little light and thin.
Anyhoo...
I play the shuffles exactly as shown in the videos, and play along with them. I'm right on target. But I said to Mark (my teacher) "Is there something wrong with my rhythm or technique, because the shuffle rhythms of all three of them sound exactly the same" (Get Back, A & D shuffle; I Hear You Knocking, E & A; Come Together, D & A).
He said... Because they are the same; yes, you got it. It's the vocals, and other instruments, and fills etc. that make the songs different. He said I understand and can do the shuffles (blues, 12 bar) very well; he said a lot of people just can't get it. I found that hard to believe but he said it's true (at least in his experience, I guess).
So I am pretty pleased that I am doing these right; now I'll just work on adding some little doodads like fills, maybe a walking bass line here or there to punch them up.
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.
A shuffle is a shuffle no matter what key it's in. I think my instructor told me something similar about alot of people not getting the shuffle thing but I didn't find that very difficult, pretty much one of the only things I didn't find difficult.
The only other thing was barre chords, for some reason I never had much of a problem with them and they were probably the easiest thing I've learned on guitar go figure.
Everyone is so different one person struggles with a shuffle and someone else with barre chords. there are so many things to learn about the guitar that's why comparing yourself to other people can be deceiving and frustrating.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
A shuffle is a shuffle no matter what key it's in. I think my instructor told me something similar about alot of people not getting the shuffle thing but I didn't find that very difficult, pretty much one of the only things I didn't find difficult.
Yes, isn't that strange! I think it's mental outlook too. When you really want to do something, it's easy. Take my love/hate relationship with pentatonic scales. I have no need for them right now, so they are lost on me. But once I decide I want to do something that needs them, I will probably pick them up like that *snap*.
The only other thing was barre chords, for some reason I never had much of a problem with them and they were probably the easiest thing I've learned on guitar go figure.
They are still a challenge sometimes, but they are much easier. I found myself using the full Fmaj last night. We are starting Losing My Religion, which like the shuffles, I thought was going to be hard. Not so.
I've even gotten much, much better at that dreaded B7sus4 in Venus (Shocking Blue):
Everyone is so different one person struggles with a shuffle and someone else with barre chords. there are so many things to learn about the guitar that's why comparing yourself to other people can be deceiving and frustrating.
Yes. I said to him the other week that sometimes I feel that for almost a year and a half, I should be further along. He said everyone feels that way. I think part of the problem is seeing people (mostly young people) write "I started playing last week" or "I got a guitar for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yule/Sol Invictus (did I miss or insult anyone? :wink: ) and I've been playing since December". I rarely ever say "I play" or "I'm playing"; it's always "practice". I think that's a bad mental approach.
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.
Frank you are very normal in your outlook a least from my point of view since I feel the same way and yes there are people that can pick it up and rip it in no time and I have met a few but they are rare and most of the time these people that are posting this stuff like I learned Stairway to Heaven after one week of playing is a lot of BS. You can say anything on the internet.
I met a young guy at an open mic aa few weeks ago and he could really solo well he came over and jammed with the band. After a few songs I asked him how long he had been playing and he said like 6 years. Approximately the same as me but he seemed to blow me away with his soloing skills.
Now I'm not taking anything away from him but he was great at soloing to some 12 bar blues and a few other things but when it came down to knowing alot of songs he didn't no many. For awhile it was really depressing me that someone was that much better than me (not that there aren't millions out there I just don't have to see them)that has played relatively the same amount as I have. Now after talking with him he said he almost exclusively played the blues so it wasn't too suprising that his skills were very well developed in that area.
I'm more of a generalist, can play a decent rhythm when needed, some leads and for the most part can pick up songs relatively quickly now.
My two areas I need to work on are my leads and improvs.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Frank you are very normal in your outlook a least from my point of view since I feel the same way and yes there are people that can pick it up and rip it in no time and I have met a few but they are rare and most of the time these people that are posting this stuff like I learned Stairway to Heaven after one week of playing is a lot of BS. You can say anything on the internet.
This is a banner week for me... I am finding out more and more that I really am normal! :D
Yeah, there's a lot of internet bs. On the weight lifting forums we call them e-stats. You know... a 16 year old who weighs 150 lbs, just started lifting and can now bench 245. :roll:
I'm more of a generalist, can play a decent rhythm when needed, some leads and for the most part can pick up songs relatively quickly now.
My two areas I need to work on are my leads and improvs.
I always liked playing melodies, and in fact when I was a teenager and first tried to learn guitar, melodies were all I could play. Chords and rhythm were totally out of my league, as I had no teacher. Now, the closest I've come to a melody is the harmonica from Heart of Gold. I've worked it in. Sounds really good except that I have to segue from the rhythm to the melody. The irony is that, while I go on and on about pentatonic scales and not needing them now, the little riffs and fills in the songs I want to and do work on are probably in a pentatonic scale. I just have a mental block. I'm going to look over those little riffs and fills and see if they fit the patterns.
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.
Well let's not get too carried away I said I thought the same but normal is a relative term and I my friend am not normal so...
I'm with you on the melodies I like to play those too and thought when I first started that playing melodies/lead would be easier than rhtym but then I started working on my strumming and rhythm and that didn't seem that difficult but "really" learning how to solo is proving to be much more difficult.
There was another thread about this awhile ago and it really depends on what specifically you are talking about. Not all solo's are difficult for me it's just the really fast ones and I can improv with sometimes suprisingly good results but I don't do enough of it and it's still a hit or miss thing, when it becomes second nature then I will feel I have it down.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Well let's not get too carried away I said I thought the same but normal is a relative term and I my friend am not normal so...
:lol:
Well, admittedly... when I got my other ear pierced, years ago after the first one, my sister asked me why I got the two. I said because with just one I felt off-balance. She said "but you are off-balance".
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.
Congrats on your progress. :)
It's an amazing feeling when things start falling into place.
Congrats on your progress. :)
It's an amazing feeling when things start falling into place.
Thanks. I hope to keep it going. I think it may have something to do with how I'm relating to my teacher. He's got even more of a twisted sense of humor than I do. :twisted:
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.
I think it may have something to do with how I'm relating to my teacher. He's got even more of a twisted sense of humor than I do.
Sounds like you've got a good teacher - at least, you're interacting at more than a teacher/pupil level. I've never had a teacher, save for a few group lessons when I was in my teens (back when Glam Rock and Disco ruled the airwaves....) but if I did have one, I'd like to think we were on the same wavelength on more than just a musical level.
Hey, Frank, you deserve kudos for your sheer bloody mindedness and perseverance - your reward will come, eventually, when you master "Werewolves Of London." It WILL happen - you've got the right attitude, and the willingness to work at it, and you refuse to be beaten.....
Keep up the good work, mate!
You got the blues, and you're just shufflin' along,
You got the blues, and you're just shufflin' along,
Maybe one day I'll see you in the SSG, writin' original songs?
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
Thanks Vic.
Yeah, I get my moments of stubbornness and refusing to give up. :mrgreen:
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.
That's what you need. I remember a doctor looking at my torn, bleeding, disfigured hand - shook his head and tutted. "Will they be able to fix that tendon so's I'll be able to play guitar?" I asked tentatively....he shook his hand and tutted again. "Maybe, we'll have to see about it...."
Huh, no maybe about it, I thought - I bloody well WILL play guitar again. AND - I'll get better. I was right on both counts....
Never caught the surgeon's name - but he has my everlasting thanks for a great job.
"Do you want a general, or a local anaesthetic," I was asked....
"Ummmm - does it make a difference?"
Well - with a general anaesthetic, you'll have to stay overnight....with a local, you can go home after the op."
"I'll have the local, then..." - I wasn't going to stay in there one second longer than I had to!
Still can't do a five-fret shuffle unless I'm up at the 12th fret or thereabouts - but there are ways around that.
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
I started off doing melody lines too. A buddy of mine, who was also learning and had been at that state for years really turned me on to chords and rhythm. I didn't look back for about 3 years. I'm at 5-1/2 years, but I took way too much time off early on. I think I added up somethng like 2 years altogether. I think that was my biggest mistake so far. That, and not spending enough time doing single note playing or practicing scales or whatever. I am not well balanced. BUT, I do have fun. :mrgreen:
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Siggi has some good vids out there.
