As I’ve mentioned before, I really struggle with rhythm, so today I practiced along to a drum beat. It highlights that whilst at a bar level I’m in sync, at a beat level I’m somewhat less so.
A clip from me messing around over what was initially just me practicing a funk rhythm, but I put it in the looper and then had fun over it trying out some different scales and neck positions.
You got this clip today as the rest of the session was hundreds (I’m not kidding) attempts to nail the intro four bars to Slow Dancing In A Burning Room :)
Trying this after seeing Chris Buck suggest it on a tutorial, same riff with same notes in different positions on the neck. First play is where I was taught the riff, second play is where I prefer to play it, and then to Chris’s suggestion played on a single string. Each has a slightly different character to it, at least to my ears in the room.
Today I Practiced: Birth In Reverse by St. Vincent
The riff is deceptive, as it lulls you into thinking this is an easy track to learn, but the rhythm pattern is not (to me), and I’ve no idea what the initial chorus chord is meant to be :)
Never really nailed this one, despite lots of practicing. I struggle with the change in pace from chords to picking, like I have to swap my brain out from one style to the next.
Slide is a lot harder than it looks, as you don’t have frets to save you, just like with a violin or such you have to get the position of your note hand perfect to avoid sounding off. I’m not there yet, but it’s nice having an excuse to practice it now.
Still trying to get this one down. Doing the double string pre-chorus is what I’m currently struggling with. Also, operating a pedal mid song is a lot harder than it should be :)
I’ve generally been trying to do more finger picking of late, but i do find some bits, like this random blues using some jazz style chords, sound better defined with a pick.
I’m still trying to get better at hearing music. If you’re trying to learn to transcribe then nursery rhymes make a nice place to start.
Inspired after seeing Samantha Fish play one at her Cambridge gig, I made myself a cigar box guitar. It’s tuned to GDGD currently, and so I’m having to learn a new set of muscle memory for where notes are, so I spent this morning just exploring the new fretboard
This is about the only Beatles song I know, but it’s good fun to play. Perhaps a little too much fun, add I end up tending to rush it rather than try prefect it.
Whilst I enjoy playing this with full fuzz as per the original, the arpeggios sounds lovely in this quiet Sunday morning way too.