I've come across songs that I had not quite gotten the feel for and like many, I just push them aside for another go months down the road. Sometimes I get them the next time, and sometimes not. Rarely a case of not being able to play a chord, rather just not getting or feeling the rhythm pattern. All part of the fun of learning.
Well, today I broke out my Rollings Stones folder. It hit the standard tuning ones first. I was able to make much headway on Under My Thumb, Let Me Go and Saint Of Me. Saint of me I had gotten along with some before, but not great. One song I've actually been trying to nail for two years on and off was Thru and Thru and had been OK, but too slow on one of the changes. Doing that switch all of a sudden clicked today.
So, after that I broke out the keef-o-caster (Tele, no low-e string and open tuned to G) and warmed up with Happy, which I've played for a while now. I then made major headway with Brown Sugar and Before They Make Me Run. Both of them have given me fits in the past.
So in summary, I made major headway into 6 songs that were in my "Work On Later" folder. In typical fashion, I did this in three different sittings totalling about 1.5 hours. I've still got a rough spot or two in a few of them, but I've got the majority of the songs down to recognizable form.
Two reasons why I wasted a precious thread on this is because of a couple of recent threads. One was by someone who was anguishing over a no progress slump, and the other and more recent one was learning the songs off of chord charts and we went on to discuss different tools out there. I had to break out Guitar Pro to figure out what a couple of phrases were supposed to sound like on "Before They Make Me Run" and on "Brown Sugar".
Now as far as not having it at some point in time, earlier this week I couldn't even play "Knocking On Heaven's Door" or anything else worth a hoot. Sometimes switching guitars helps, but that did nothing that day. I just set it down and did something else.
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
It's definitely helpful to hear how others make continual progress and have 'breakthrough moments' as well as ways that they're able to organize and manage their practice time. It's encouraging to a noob like myself - so thanks for sharing! :D
Hopefully not too OT (but certainly Keef related): Do you play on an open tuned guitar and switch to another when it's time to practice something in a different (e.g., concert) tuning? The reason I ask is I tend to favor the same guitar again and again (though I have more than one) and I'd eat in to what little time I have - just tuning up! I guess tuning itself is another thing that might benefit from practice.
It sure does save time and energy when you can devote guitars to tunings, but I've always retuned.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Do you play on an open tuned guitar and switch to another when it's time to practice something in a different (e.g., concert) tuning?
I've pretty much kept my MIM Tele in keef mode from the day I got it. In fact, I think I remember tuning it to G before even plugging it in on the test drive. Otherwise, all my others are in standard tuning. I am considering, though, doing the drop D or double drop D on my HSH ESP LTD. I dropped the low E once either a 1/2 a step or a whole step once and dug it. I tuned it back to standard soon afterwards as the type of music I think it's mainly used for I'm not able to really play much due to an ear issue. I got a couple of multi-effects board settings to give me some good metal tones at low volume. Maybe by Summer.....
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
Great Job R, and thanks for posting. The frustrating days aren't few or far between, and it's good to be reminded of breakthrough days!
I had one recently- its cookout season here, which means guitars around fires. I usually don't take one, cause I'm shy...but the last two weekends, I've been out in the country someplace around a fire, and the guitar gets passed to me, and I actually PLAYED! Knockin on heaven's door, Wonderwall, and Hallelujah. Everybody sang the first two, I sang the last one on my own, and passed the guitar on. Felt GREAT!
Responding to another poster- I always used to retune, but my newest, and favorite, axe has a floyd rose floating bridge.
Now I just keep my old stratocopy in drop d. (Which is one of the only non-standard tunings I know.) The other I sometimes use is open E, a la Bob Dylan/Joni Mitchell- but for that one, I have to change guitars anyway- only use it on acoustic.
best,
Ande
