Some kinda Wonderful request

This is such a great song, I'm glad you brought it up. I'd never really looked at in terms of playing it on guitar before now. I'm really not sure what the best way to convey a strumming pattern is, but I'll give it a shot. Here's what I came up with:

The progression is D-G-D for the verses and D-A-G-A for the prechorus and just D for the chorus (listent to the recordings to know when to change. In general it stays on the D's for quite a long time compared to the other chords).
As for a rythm, I'm playing swing-eights along with the bass guitar, only putting plam-slaps on beats 2 and 4 where the (original) recording has the claps. To imitate the bass guitar feel a little more, I used power chords to get a nice chunky low sound for the verses and then opened it up into full chords for the refrains. Just remember to swing those eight-notes...that's where it's all at!

I hope that's all intelligable :D ! Let me know what you think.

Thanks for the reply though it means nothing to me ;)
No Idea what 'swing-eights' are but that's my fault not yours, I'll see if I can make sense whilst trying it out

hi biker

swing eights means to play it with the blues rhythm (also known as shuffle). Basically instead of playing two notes of the same lenght for each beat (straight eight notes beat like in rock music), the first note is roughly twice as long as the second one, gibving you a feeling of swing.

To play it just use this small trick: at the end the downstrum, just make a small circle under the strings with your right hand BEFORE you play the upstrum. The time you spend for the circle movement gives you the needed delay

Matteo

That;'s wierd! Whilst trying it myself early I was strumming in a triangle to make a delay! I might be getting the hang of this stuff ;)

Jim

To play this swing, it is necessary to divide each quarter note into three eighth notes.

Now, why they are still eighth notes, I don't know. Seems they should be twelfth notes. But they're not.

To get this swing, you play the first and third eighth note for each beat, four beats total per measure.

This is exactly what the bass is playing in the Grand Funk Railroad version of this song. So you are familiar with this swing beat.


Quarter notes

One two three, Two two three, Three two three, Four two three
/ / / / / / / /


Wes
thanks again, but do you have, or know of an example of just the rhythm in mp3 or wav? As I may have mentioned I struggle convert print to sound without hearing what I read?

Jim

Here you go, the Master of the Blues shuffle, Chuck Berry. Just listen to the rhythm he uses throughout the song. This is what this shuffle sounds like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zopPb2hw2Jg&search=chuck%20berry

Here is another example. It is not so important to know what chords and notes this player is using. It is the timing that is important.

Remember the eighth note triplets:

One two three, Two two three, Three two three, Four two three

Well, if you only pronounce the notes you play, your count will sound like

One.. three Two.. three Three.. three Four.. three One.. three Two.. three Three.. three Four

I hope you understand that.

But this rhythm can be applied to chords or even single notes like the bass line Some Kind of Wonderful by Grand Funk. Chuck Berry was using this rhythm with whole chords in the clip I showed.

Here is a great example of the Blues shuffle. Just listen to the rhythm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkJkBorWQTM&search=blues%20shuffle

Listen especially to the bass guitar.

a little OT but how would you play the Blues riff in Babysitting Blues?
Or the one in Gangster of Love by Johnny 'Guitar' Watson, the Der-dum-der-dum riff, as opposed to the der-duh-duh-duh-der of 'Bad to the Bone'?

Can't comment on the first two songs, but in Bad to the Bone, it is not the guitar that is playing this shuffle. It is the drums and bass. Then George plays his riff OVER this shuffle.

Go back to that last song and listen just to the bass. Doesn't it sound remarkably like the Grand Funk bassline only faster?

Bump ba Bump ba Bump ba Bump ba Bump.... That is a shuffle.

Jim

Here are a few straight forward examples that I threw together. They don't sound the greatest (the clicks are a bit loud) but I hope they help:

-Straight Eight-Notes (No Swing/Shuffle): http://www.nd.edu/~jwitten2/Eights.mp3
-Swing/Shuffle Eight-Notes: http://www.nd.edu/~jwitten2/Swing.mp3
-And just for kicks, here the strumming pattern that I was talking about for 'Some Kinda Wonderful': http://www.nd.edu/~jwitten2/Rythm.mp3

Thanks guys, hopefully I will get the hang of this one day ;)
Do you use barrepower chords for this?
The shuffle sounds good, but is there a goodeasy way to play the de-der-de-duh riff after a couple of bars? (Just listening to 'My name is Bocephus' by Hank Jr)

While I'm here ;)
Is there anywhere I could find the melody line or a little solo-riff thing like the harmonicaguitar in the first link I posted? And is there a way to work it out? I have heard it in Angel from Montgomery and others and it really adds to the tune IMO

Jim

You should pick up a couple of Blues harps, which are quite different from a chromatic harmonica.

You can find many free lessons for Blues harp on the web.

With a Blues harp, you do not play with a harp in the same key as the other musicians, you play with a harp a 4th above.

So, if a song is in the key of C, you need a Blues harp in the key of F

For D, you need G

For E, you A

For F, you need Bb

For G, you need a C harp

For A, you need a D harp

and to play along with a song in B, you need an E harp.

But there are harps for every key available.

There is some written music for Blues harp, but not too much. Most harp players learn by ear.

Jim

Oh yeah, one last thing. After I got off the computer last night, I was trying to think of ways to explain the Blues shuffle that would be easy to understand. And something very funny occured to me.

Where were most of the great Blues players from? The Deep South.

Like Alabama and Mississippi.

Well, both of those state names are excellent examples of the timing and feel of the Blues shuffle. Say each state name very slowly.

Al-a-bam-a

Now say that 5 times fast. You cannot help but have a Blues shuffle. :D

Same with Mississippi

Miss-is-sipp-i

Say that 5 times fast. There is your Blues shuffle.

There are a whole bunch of states with names like this.

Cal-i-forn-ia

Ar-i-zon-a

Car-o-lin-a

Penn-syl-van-ia

Probably even more, but that's when I fell asleep. :D

But say any of these names 5 times fast and you cannot help but have a Blues shuffle rhythm.