Here's a pretty imperfect pass at Rygar. Man, this tune has such momentum! Every time I finish playing I feel as if I'm dismounting a wild animal (in the best sense possible). Thank you so much for taking the time to deliberately teach this piece. I've so enjoyed trying to wrestle it to the ground; it's one of those songs that gets you excited to practice.
Alex, GREAT JOB! That sounds absolutely wonderful! You took the tempo a little slower than I do but the intensity was high the whole time which gave the whole thing a slow burn, which I loved. Also, special mention for how relaxed but still fully driving the C section is. There are little things here and there but you know what they are. The only spot I'd single out for focus is the quiet A part melody that builds at the end of the song (starting at 2:05). Structurally I think it's nice if that part continues the sense of repose from the previous bridge section but starts building SLOWLY with a quiet intensity. Then you really arrive into the following low B part with a lot of power. I'm really just nitpicking though - you knocked it out of the park!
Thank you, Chris! The reason I admire your playing so much is because you truly grasp the acoustic guitar's strengths and compose/improvise with that impulse in mind. (Finger style is lovely, to be sure, but I prefer that sound on a Gretsch rather than dreadnaught.) Cannot wait to sink my teeth into this!
Alex, sounds great! You might look at the 2-3-3 rhythm in the cross picking at the beginning and make sure that all of those strong beats (ONE two ONE two three ONE two three) are being articulated. That will help give that section purpose. Otherwise it sounds really good!
Thanks for taking us in-depth on singing here! Not to completely side-step the thesis of the video but I was wondering if you had any advice on some of the best ways to improve singing pitch/smoothing out notes. Linking my voice to my ear is something I've struggled with for a while and has often kept me from singing confidentally live. I'll be sure to post a video soon so you can here where I'm starting off, but any tips or "swing thoughts" in the meantime would be greatly appreciated.
Hey Alex, sorry for the delay in answering this! Somehow it got through the last round of answers without me seeing it!
I have 2 tools that have helped me with pitch:
1. Record yourself singing and immediately review. All the better if you're playing guitar at the same time so that you have a stable pitch reference to judge your voice against. Listening back will keep you honest.
2. Try singing against a drone. Any iphone app that has a pitch pipe function works for this.
I realize this lesson is from a few weeks ago but I wanted to share how I've been doing with this tune. This run through is far from perfect but I think its good enough to get your feedback. I tried to accentuate the downbeat nature of the A part with the up-beat feel of the B part to enhance the contrast between the parts. Hoping this doesn't come off as too dramatic.
Are there any tips you have for improving fluency between notes? Do you endorse playing to a slow metronome?
you sound great! Your accentuation of the downbeats in the A part is working perfectly. It sets up the B part to be a nice relief.
One thought for now: it looks like you're holding a bit of tension in your right forearm. Try giving yourself permission to be really sloppy and then actually inhabit a caraciture of looseness in your right arm. Like, make it really loose and let your notes sound sloppy to a ridiculuous degree. What you want to do is feel how loose your arm could be. Take a mental snapshot of this and reference it whenever you're feeling tight. If you practice being loose you'll be sloppy in the short term, but as time goes on your body will figure out how to be both loose and accurate.
Practicing really slowly is a great thing to do, mostly to make sure that you know exactly what you're doing and there aren't any notes that you're glossing over. Also, imagine the sound that you want to be making. It all starts in your head.
Great lesson--lots of things to work on and think about. Two quick questions. First, how should we be thinking about the placement of the heel of our palm when flatpicking single notes? Obviously, we don't want to anchor it onto the bridge, but do we want to avoid all contact? If so, how far from the bridge should we aim to keep our palm? And second, where do you typically like to set the action on your guitar? Thanks so much!
1) I do think it's very important that your hand not rest on the bridge or bridge pins. That is the essential transfer point of energy from the strings to the top. Your hand will absorb some of that mechanical energy and you'll essentially be siphoning off some power. That said, if the heel of your hand lightly brushes the pins, it's ok. I think it's OK to let my hand rest on any strings that I'm not playing. So if I'm playing on the 1st string, the heel of my hand may be brushing or even resting on the low strings. That doesn't affect the resonance of the guitar so no harm, no foul.
2) I don't have numbers unfortunately, but I'd say I keep my action just barely below what would be considered medium action. I don't mind a little bit of buzz at times - Tony Rice even told me once that it was important to have a little buzz in your sound - but I try to strike a balance between comfort and sonic practicality. And I'll only get some buzzing if I'm really driving the guitar hard. It really depends on what kind of music you're mostly playing.
Thanks for the great lesson, Chris. Is this the same strumming pattern you use on tunes like "Brakeman's Blues"? Thanks so much and looking forward to next week.
Thr approach might change several times even over the course of one song (especially Brakeman's Blues, which is so loose and open), but this might be the most fundamental version of the bluegrass strum for me.
Hey Critter!
Here's a pretty imperfect pass at Rygar. Man, this tune has such momentum! Every time I finish playing I feel as if I'm dismounting a wild animal (in the best sense possible). Thank you so much for taking the time to deliberately teach this piece. I've so enjoyed trying to wrestle it to the ground; it's one of those songs that gets you excited to practice.
Cheers!
Alex
Bravo, my friend! Excellent rendition.
Alex, GREAT JOB! That sounds absolutely wonderful! You took the tempo a little slower than I do but the intensity was high the whole time which gave the whole thing a slow burn, which I loved. Also, special mention for how relaxed but still fully driving the C section is. There are little things here and there but you know what they are. The only spot I'd single out for focus is the quiet A part melody that builds at the end of the song (starting at 2:05). Structurally I think it's nice if that part continues the sense of repose from the previous bridge section but starts building SLOWLY with a quiet intensity. Then you really arrive into the following low B part with a lot of power. I'm really just nitpicking though - you knocked it out of the park!
Thank you, Chris! The reason I admire your playing so much is because you truly grasp the acoustic guitar's strengths and compose/improvise with that impulse in mind. (Finger style is lovely, to be sure, but I prefer that sound on a Gretsch rather than dreadnaught.) Cannot wait to sink my teeth into this!
Here's a quick and dirty take!
Alex, sounds great! You might look at the 2-3-3 rhythm in the cross picking at the beginning and make sure that all of those strong beats (ONE two ONE two three ONE two three) are being articulated. That will help give that section purpose. Otherwise it sounds really good!
Hey Chris,
Thanks for taking us in-depth on singing here! Not to completely side-step the thesis of the video but I was wondering if you had any advice on some of the best ways to improve singing pitch/smoothing out notes. Linking my voice to my ear is something I've struggled with for a while and has often kept me from singing confidentally live. I'll be sure to post a video soon so you can here where I'm starting off, but any tips or "swing thoughts" in the meantime would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Alex
Hey Alex, sorry for the delay in answering this! Somehow it got through the last round of answers without me seeing it!
I have 2 tools that have helped me with pitch:
1. Record yourself singing and immediately review. All the better if you're playing guitar at the same time so that you have a stable pitch reference to judge your voice against. Listening back will keep you honest.
2. Try singing against a drone. Any iphone app that has a pitch pipe function works for this.
Good luck!
C
What an incredibly nice thing to say, Mike. Thank you very much!
Howdy Chris,
I realize this lesson is from a few weeks ago but I wanted to share how I've been doing with this tune. This run through is far from perfect but I think its good enough to get your feedback. I tried to accentuate the downbeat nature of the A part with the up-beat feel of the B part to enhance the contrast between the parts. Hoping this doesn't come off as too dramatic.
Are there any tips you have for improving fluency between notes? Do you endorse playing to a slow metronome?
Thanks so much!
That is some great picking Alex. Inspiring.
What an incredibly nice thing to say, Mike. Thank you very much!
Alex,
you sound great! Your accentuation of the downbeats in the A part is working perfectly. It sets up the B part to be a nice relief.
One thought for now: it looks like you're holding a bit of tension in your right forearm. Try giving yourself permission to be really sloppy and then actually inhabit a caraciture of looseness in your right arm. Like, make it really loose and let your notes sound sloppy to a ridiculuous degree. What you want to do is feel how loose your arm could be. Take a mental snapshot of this and reference it whenever you're feeling tight. If you practice being loose you'll be sloppy in the short term, but as time goes on your body will figure out how to be both loose and accurate.
Practicing really slowly is a great thing to do, mostly to make sure that you know exactly what you're doing and there aren't any notes that you're glossing over. Also, imagine the sound that you want to be making. It all starts in your head.
Great job though. I look forward to hearing more!
Chris
Hey Chris,
Great lesson--lots of things to work on and think about. Two quick questions. First, how should we be thinking about the placement of the heel of our palm when flatpicking single notes? Obviously, we don't want to anchor it onto the bridge, but do we want to avoid all contact? If so, how far from the bridge should we aim to keep our palm? And second, where do you typically like to set the action on your guitar? Thanks so much!
Hey Alex,
1) I do think it's very important that your hand not rest on the bridge or bridge pins. That is the essential transfer point of energy from the strings to the top. Your hand will absorb some of that mechanical energy and you'll essentially be siphoning off some power. That said, if the heel of your hand lightly brushes the pins, it's ok. I think it's OK to let my hand rest on any strings that I'm not playing. So if I'm playing on the 1st string, the heel of my hand may be brushing or even resting on the low strings. That doesn't affect the resonance of the guitar so no harm, no foul.
2) I don't have numbers unfortunately, but I'd say I keep my action just barely below what would be considered medium action. I don't mind a little bit of buzz at times - Tony Rice even told me once that it was important to have a little buzz in your sound - but I try to strike a balance between comfort and sonic practicality. And I'll only get some buzzing if I'm really driving the guitar hard. It really depends on what kind of music you're mostly playing.
Cheers,
Chris
Thanks for the great lesson, Chris. Is this the same strumming pattern you use on tunes like "Brakeman's Blues"? Thanks so much and looking forward to next week.
Cheers,
Alex
Hey Alex,
Thr approach might change several times even over the course of one song (especially Brakeman's Blues, which is so loose and open), but this might be the most fundamental version of the bluegrass strum for me.