Riders on the Storm

The sound files for the lesson will be with the lesson itself.

Does anyone know which fills and arpeggios David uses between the Em and Am Shuffles and also after the D to C transition in the sound files for Riders on the Storm? They really add to the song and make it sound fantastic. I've had a difficult time figuring them out.

Thanks!

Those particular fills, if you're referring to the ones on the final MP3 in the lesson, are simple pull-offs on the G and D strings:
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
G - 2 (P) 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D - - - - - 2 (P) 0 - - - - - - - - - - - -
A - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They're simple to play, easy to finger from the chords in question in the shuffle pattern, and, as you've noted, add a lot to the sound.

Most of the "fancy fills" in the final MP3 are either this one or using an arpeggio pattern instead of a strumming pattern to vary the sound of the chordal riffs.

Hope this helps.

Peace

PS - Funny thing listening to this stuff sometimes. The very beginning of this MP3 sounds like the start of Summer Breeze :wink: I think I need to get some sleep...

Yeah but, does it make you feel fine? Blowing like the jasmine in your mind?

LOL! No, it doesn't make me feel like that! :wink:

But it does start wheels going in my head. Next bit of free time I have I'll see whether or not I can make a smooth transition between the two songs. In either direction. Then I'll take a stab at playing them by running them right into each other and then see which way I prefer - Riders first or Summer Breeze first. Might end up ditching the whole idea but might also come up with something nice for performance.

These ideas have to start someplace, I guess.

Speaking of ideas, I also got this question recently in an email:
When you put all the parts together, I see you start out using Em shuffle #1 (or something similar to it). Which Em shuffles do you use after you play the Am line and the D to C transition?

And in answer to that, it's not a specific shuffle that I wrote out. Rather it's a combination of ideas taken from what's written in the text as "Em Shuffles 1, 2 and 4" (at least, I think so! :wink: ) I dug out the hard files so I could listen to them and, taking the basic ideas, you can break it down this way for the first measure:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - - - - 0 - - 0 - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - -
B - - - - - - - - 0 - - 2 - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - 0 - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - -
D - - - - - 2 - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And this way for the second measure:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

E - - - - - 0 - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - - - - - - - 3 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
G (S) 4 - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - 2 (P) 0 - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 (P) 0 -
A - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This is, at heart, the base that I'm using for what we'll call the "hybrid Em shuffle" in the MP3. But it changes a little each time as well. If I were to sit down with a recorder right now and try to do this MP3 again, chances are very likely it would be different. Not very different - a change of an arpeggio here or there, more of a stress on a particular strum, I might hit a percussive stroke sharper (or not) - but different all the same.

The point of this "hybrid shuffle" is, again and always, to get the reader into not going by "the book," but rather to explore ideas on his or her own. This may sound kind of strange, but I don't want to teach people to play like me. I'd much rather they find out who they are and then play like themselves. We're all a combination of styles, ideas and techniques, all of which are changing all the time.

Don't worry about copying me. Instead take some time and play around and hear what you come up with. It's bound to be just as good. Maybe even better!

Peace

oh... oh... pick me!... pick me!
... oh the giddy rush of becoming a presence on the world wide web LOL :roll: .. so anyway I just recorded my FIRST music video haha , second take BTW and I have been playing just under a year so not the definitive textbook version by any means ...it just happens to be RIders of the Storm thank you Guitarnoise!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ksOgwmScfeE

... thought I would throw it in here cuz I made a couple of minor changes - hopefully David Hodge approves :wink:
The first couple of measures are "keyboard" riff fingerstyle and then I try to strum more for the verse which (in my head anyway) signifies the rest of the band kicking in .. anyway the biggest change is that I barre the first 4 strings for the Am variations - instead of playing xx5550 and xx7770 I play xx5555 and xx7777 (for the sound and also easier to play) and then for D substitute Dm which gives a bluer sound... or something like that 8)
... feedback welcome - as long as it's good - just kidding :twisted:

Very cool! And very soulful. The Dm (instead of D) right before the C threw me the first time and I found myself looking forward to hearing it on the second pass. Nice tweak.

You should post this link on the "Hear Here" page as well - you'll get a little more notice (not to mention feedback! :wink: ) on that page.

Looking forward to more!

Peace

:oops: :oops: :oops: thank you very much for your kind words but I am still an egg! :oops: hardly concert material - but you're right, this is a great beginner song and a lot of fun to play!
Thinking to post some other covers of easy/beginner songs... I find it easier to listen to a song than to pick up the rhythm from the written music, maybe share some ideas ? ...

Maybe we have a trend here - VIRTUAL BUSKING - you make no money - just like real busking! and you get real-world feedback without the rotten tomatoes LOL