Just one of those days

I have those times when I pick up a guitar and I sound great...of course I never record those times....you, I, all of us should start doing that! :(

Hey Kerbdog, I did that!!! I had a good day and was recording it when it happened. There was a jazz piece that wouldn't come together for me but one day I felt that surge of power and ability far beyond that of mortal guitarists. We often have them when there is no-one around to hear it but I was recording it that day.

There is also the risk of having someone listen to your recording and say, "that was one of your good days?"

I know I run that risk now but here is the recording:

Jazz Solo

Two other reasonable days...
Brick In The Wall
You Shook Me All Night Long

Jonsi, you mentioned when you have a bad day and start improvising stuff and how it gives you song ideas. My best songs have been written after horrible, horrible days. And I have the most musical energy on those days. I still have a sore throat from thursday night when I played Creep by Radiohead and roared through the "RUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN" part. I wish I could've recorded that. Wow.

and many of my song ideas start this way

exactly...Jonsi knows what I'm talking about, it's weird how ideas come at you when it seems nothing should :wink:

Heya Elijah!

Listened to all 3 of your clips...your playing on the Brick in the Wall clip impressed me even though it's not the actual solo, but you have feel and taste....I could tell that, I'll take 3 tastefully played notes over 30 rapid fire ones anytime.

But I can play the solo in "You Shook Me All Night Long" better than you :P

Hey KerbDoG

I am sure you can play anything better than me. I just play my best.

The wall solo has been improved on, that was just how it was at the time.

Still, I don't mind crits. They make you better...

Did you ever have one of those odd days when you pick up your guitar and can just play? And I mean play like it was your purpose in life. I had one of those today, I came home, grabbed my acoustic, wrote some really long run on sentences like this one, and everything clicked. I've been playing about a year and I feel like I've made good progression. I've had people I've jammed with think I'd been playing much longer, but today was like the day. Stuff I've never been able to play was coming as second nature. I felt like I could've learned anything had I wanted to. This makes me very very happy. And maybe this will give the newbies something to look forward to-knowing that one day you will go to run through your practice routine and you'll feel like you inherited the hands of Jimmy Page. T'is a beautiful thing.

It's days like this that drive us; when we're musicians, not just players of notes.

Philosophical Al
:-)

Elijah, nice job on the solo's! I liked your jazz one and the the PF. They both spoke well. You got me beat hands down here,I cannot do any solo's yet. You really had the feel for the "Brick" on that solo, I could feel myself flowing with the song. Thanks for sharing the bytes :)

hi 300m

Thank you for the compliments.

The solos are fun to play but can sometimes take a while to learn. The one that took me the longest to figure out was Hotel California by the Eagles. I spent about 3 weeks on that one, finally got it right and then to my disgust I found it printed in a guitar magazine just two weeks later.

-Alan

Thanks Alan. That would be a bummer to spend all that time to learn a solo and then have it published. That would be another case of Murphy's law for me. As that is my last name, I am quite fimular with the law. :)

I've been playing for a little over a year and a half. Some days better than others.....but at least making steady progress.

We were fortunate to get a short vacation recently. Stayed at a friends cabin in the mountains. Of course, had my guitars (1 acoustic, 1 electric) with me.

At sunset, my wife and I sit out on the back porch which has a vista view of the mountains looking west. After sunset, my wife goes in the cabin but I like to sit out and watch the mountains and valley transition from dusk to dark.

I decided to bring out the acoustic and noodle a bit. As I enjoyed the whole scene, it got dark and I realised I can't glance at the fret board and see anything :shock: . I figured it'd be a good time to practice finding my way around by feel and see what happened. WOW.....like others have described, I stepped into the "zone". I was doing things on the acoustic that I hadn't even nailed on the electric yet (triplett pull offs and hammer ons that just flowed etc).

What a feeling! Got to get some more of that :D .

Jim