There are two very good (imo) versions of Bill Withers' Ain't No Sunshine that are done strumming, and not bass/pick like he does, as well as other covers. I like both ways. While I can't yet do the bass/pick method with any degree of satisfaction, for the life of me I cannot discern the strumming patterns in either of these two versions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1seEFYtX28&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuS-MB7ppFY&feature=related
The chords are simple enough. It looks like the Em and G get one strum each, but I can't figure out how long they stay on the Am. I don't usually have this much trouble anymore figuring out a song but this is driving me to distraction.
Ain't No Sunshine - Bill Withers
Verse 1:
(n.c.) Am Em G
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
Am Em G
It's not warm when she's a-way.
Am Em7
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone,
Dm7
And she's always gone too long,
Am Em G
Anytime she goes a-way.
Verse 2:
(n.c.) Am Em G
Wonder this time where she's gone,
Am Em G
Wonder if she's gone to stay.
Am Em7
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone,
Dm7
And this house just ain't no home,
Am Em G
Anytime she goes a-way.
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.
Are you concerned about only the length of the Am in the verses or about the down / up direction of their strumming? Both are using different variations on the latter but both are pretty much the same in terms of the length of time of the Am chord during the verses.
The Am is one and a half measures, a total of six beats: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Am Em G
The guy in the second video throws in an Em on the fourth beat of the first measure as well: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Am Em Am Em G
Hope this helps. If you're looking for what they're actually strumming (or are strumming on an "overall" feel, since they both make many minor variations throughout the song), just let me know. I may be able to get a few minutes to work that out at some point.
Peace
Are you concerned about only the length of the Am in the verses or about the down / up direction of their strumming?
Well it was pretty much both. I detected that they have a different stroke pattern.
Both are using different variations on the latter but both are pretty much the same in terms of the length of time of the Am chord during the verses.
The Am is one and a half measures, a total of six beats: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Am Em G
The guy in the second video throws in an Em on the fourth beat of the first measure as well: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Am Em Am Em G
I thought so, but I couldn't put my finger on it. So I could use something like... ?
D D U U D U D D
Am (Em Am) Em G
Or... ?
D U D U D U D D
Am (Em Am) Em G
I thought the second guy was throwing in another Em. I saw a chord sheet that had an extra Em in that spot.
Hope this helps. If you're looking for what they're actually strumming (or are strumming on an "overall" feel, since they both make many minor variations throughout the song), just let me know. I may be able to get a few minutes to work that out at some point.
Peace
This helps immensely! I think I was probably overthinking it. I know the song is 4/4 but it didn't occur to me the Am would be 1 1/2 measure.
Thanks David. :wink:
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.
Usually you want to have your strumming so that you're making downstrums on each beat, so the "up" on the fourth beat would probably tend to throw off one's rhythm a bit. Not necessarily, but a good deal of the time for some guitarists.
If you count along with the beat, it's easy to hear that the first guy is strumming in sixteenth notes even though he's not hitting all of them. That means he's making downstrokes on both the beat and the offbeat. More often than not he's got something like this going on: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D D D U D D U D D U
And he varies the strumming a bit by adding muted strums (which I've noted as " * ") here and there like this: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D * D U D D U * D U
Or this: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D * * U D D U * * U
The second guy also is strumming in sixteenth notes but is filling things out a little more: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D D D U D (U) D U D U D U
The (U) is an upstroke he hits about two thirds of the time.
It's interersting that both patterns are fairly similar. Yet with both guitarists, especially since one is using a steel string acoustic with a pick and the other classical with his fingers, the fun comes in the dynamics given to any particular strum. Some are stressed and some are hardly even noticable. That's the sort of thing that people often mistake for a pattern when the reality is that it's just a personal touch and likely to be different (although usually not significantly) if recorded a second time.
Hope this helps.
Peace
Usually you want to have your strumming so that you're making downstrums on each beat, so the "up" on the fourth beat would probably tend to throw off one's rhythm a bit. Not necessarily, but a good deal of the time for some guitarists.
Yes I can understand that. It causes a pause sometimes. Sometimes you want that.
If you count along with the beat, it's easy to hear that the first guy is strumming in sixteenth notes even though he's not hitting all of them. That means he's making downstrokes on both the beat and the offbeat. More often than not he's got something like this going on: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D D D U D D U D D U
And he varies the strumming a bit by adding muted strums (which I've noted as " * ") here and there like this: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D * D U D D U * D U
Or this: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D * * U D D U * * U
The second guy also is strumming in sixteenth notes but is filling things out a little more: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D D D U D (U) D U D U D U
The (U) is an upstroke he hits about two thirds of the time.
It's interersting that both patterns are fairly similar. Yet with both guitarists, especially since one is using a steel string acoustic with a pick and the other classical with his fingers, the fun comes in the dynamics given to any particular strum. Some are stressed and some are hardly even noticable. That's the sort of thing that people often mistake for a pattern when the reality is that it's just a personal touch and likely to be different (although usually not significantly) if recorded a second time.
Hope this helps.
Peace
Yes, this does help. Now I have a lot more to go on and practice. Thanks. :D
It is difficult to answer when one does not understand the question.