Well, a little turn for the worse had me laid up for a week or so, but getting back up to speed this past week or so and ready to rock & roll as much as I can.
Tonight, my son on the drums and I on my PRS gee-tar. We did "Hotel California", "Sympathy For The Devil", "Bad Moon Rising", "Hey Joe", "Brown Eyed Girl", "Folsom Prison Blues" and "American Girl". He's heard them all before and likes them enough and got the beat down pretty good after he listened to a verse or so.
I have a homework assignment. Actually my third from him. I've avoided the harder rock songs for a few weeks due to ear pain recurrance thing, but that's subsided enough to handle a little bit of it with ear plugs. I have 1 Metallica, 1 AC/DC and now 1 Quiet Riot song to learn. Good news is that it's mostly now a question of putting the pieces together and staying in time.
My bass playing friend is coming over Thursday. I am really over my head with the song he wants me to play, but I am working on it. Odd song. It's from the Beatles white album, "Everyone's Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey". It's got two lead riffs, the shuffle has that 5 fret stretch that I can now do, but not cleanly, and it has an unusual beginning three strum riff that kind of sets the pace. Neat song.
I sent him 4 youtube vids of some Neil Young, hoping he likes one of them. They are the harder rocking ones, but he may not have been exposed to them all that much.
The really good news is that both my friend and my son now want to play altogether. How sweet is that???? Looks like we'll be three piece for some of this Thursday.
Now if I can get either one of our wives doing vocals....... My wife has already laughed that one off and said "NON,BFN". :mrgreen:
Oh, and my other big learning curve project shared with a friend is starting to sound good. Each of us are learning lots. Sometimes you just gotta bite off more than you can chew just so you can learn what exactly it is that you have to learn.
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
That sounds like fun Roy! Keep up the good work.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Hi TR! Thanks, man. How are the impromptu james going with TF these days?
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
Actually we haven't jammed in a while. He has been working alot and has a girlfriend so he isn't home as much. I got some time off coming up so we will fix that though. :wink: His girlfriend's grandfather and uncles have a country band. Haven't met them yet but will have to some day.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
That sounds like fun. A change for you, but still fun.
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
Roy ounds like you have a plan there...go for it. I know you have some issue with loud noise and everything but can't you play unplugged during those times or does the pain just get in thew way of everything?
Most of the time when I'm learning a new song actually all the time I don't plug in until I have the song down pretty well. Nowadays that doesn't take more than a day or sometimes an hour or so but even then I still mostly play unplugged.
I plug in for two nights when we practice and when I crank the PA up and play along with a CD.
There is a bit of an issue with that though you kind of lose the dynamics of being plugged in and if your technique is sloppy it won't sound bad until you plug in then you'll start hearing all the string noises and muting etc. So you have to be a bit careful as to not ingrain bad habits.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
.....but can't you play unplugged during those times or does the pain just get in thew way of everything?
When I get nailed, I get nailed hard. Not much goes on or gets done.
I got into a really big bad habbit over the past few years of not being able to have much of any volume. Now that it's sarting to ease a bit, I'm able to do the ear plugs thing which lets me play a little bit louder. I have to pull in the reigns a little with my pick hand. Ease up, as it were.
I'll still plug in when learning a new song, but it's very low volume. Just barely enough to hear it above the acoustics of my solid body. Your'e right, there are charactaristics that need to be dealt with when learning a new tune. And then I forget the tune I learned by the time the next day rolls around and I start over. :roll: (no, it's not that bad. )
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
Alrighty. Tonight was the first for all three of us at once. It was quite an experience. It was the first time doing the power trio for me and my son. WE ROCKED!!!!!! Even my wife was impressed.
We practiced "For Whom The Bell tolls" for an hour. There's one spot where I need to do a lead, but I just go over it with the other guitar part's single chord strike per bar instead. The rest of it is power chord heaven. My son's drums were decisive and my friend's bass was a driving force. None of us have the hair for the Metallica twirl thing. Too old.
We also did:
American Girl
Folsom Prison Blues
Before You Accuse Me
Sympathy For The Devil
Brown Eyed Girl
I did vocals into the mic on 'Folsom Prison, Brown Eyed Girl and Sympathy for the Devil. My friend did American Girl and Before You Accuse Me. It's just so much easier to follow along with the song and know where you are with some VOX going on.
Well, meds taken and I'll be really feeling this in an hour despite the ear plugs. Worth every ounce of pain. What a night. I'm almost giddy.
I have to practice the Metallica song and the Beatles song I mentioned earlier. The good news is that I think I get to add a Neil Young song to the list. "Keep On Rocking In The Free World" is the one.
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
Way to go sounds like it's rockin down in NC. Hey I'll actually be in the Charlotte airport in a couple hours I'm waiting for a plane in Orlando now.
Now that you've got the momentum going there won't be any stopping you now.
If you're interested I have a tab for a Van Halen song, Ain't talkin bout love that I can send you. It would be perfect since it's really only a one guitar song and the solo doesn't get much easier than on that song. If you have heard it in a while take a listen and let me know.
Rockin in the free world can be a cool song and it's another one that only has 3-4 chords and you can get that one up to speed in a few minutes..we haven't played that one in awhile but I like to crank that one up.
"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, I expect there will be some jamming action here tonight. It's TF's 23rd birthday and we are having a party. :twisted:
+1 on Ain't Talking Bout Love. Anyone have the free Power Tab program? If so, I have ooodles of files with cool songs.
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
I've got Ain't Talking About Love in a book,at least one, and on Guitar Pro too. 4 different versions. I just took a look at it and listened to the CD. Sounds mostly doable. <sigh, what a good band they were....it still sucks after 25 years that they broke up>
Last night's most comedic moments were at my expense. For whatever reason, and it was a good one, mp (my son) started us off with a 6 count. Without fail, I jumped in on the 4 count 2-3 times before getting it right. It was like the scene in the Holy Grail with the guards & boss explaining what to do. :oops: :roll:
Giving the whole VH debut album a listen now. I've had a hard time listening to them because of Eddie's antics. Good Rock music, though. I should probably rip "II" and "'Woman and Children".
I keep hearing dogbites' advice to me for recording. To paraphrase, "make sure you really, really know the song". The Beatles song bombed because neither of us really knew the whole song, and I would have been much better if I listened to the Metallica song a bunch of times. Will do starting today.
Hey I'll actually be in the Charlotte airport in a couple hours
Just don't step outside. It's cold here. :(
It's TF's 23rd birthday and we are having a party.
Alright! Happy birthday wishes to TF! Easy on brew, eh? You gotta wake up tomorrow. :)
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
Yea the VH song is definitely doable and I think you guys can make it sound good nothing too difficult but it's got some good energy to the song.
As for comedic moments that happens with us at least once a week it's usually the bass player but we all have our Alzheimer moments I'm probably second on the list. My problem is usually not cuz I don't know it but I start having random thoughts about other things and lose my concentration.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Pretty cools, Roy.
I'm glad to hear you getting some use of that PRS.
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
