Chris Eldridge

Lesson >


Last Thing On My Mind


Playing Tony’s B Part

Chris Eldridge Lesson >

Last Thing On My Mind > Playing Tony’s B Part

Hello All! I hope you had a Happy and thanks-filled Thanksgiving!

This week’s lesson teaches the B part that Tony Rice plays on The Last Thing on My Mind. It kicks off with a particularly poignant way of playing the G7th chord (that some astute pickers may remember from our lesson where we crosspicked the B part of Whiskey Before Breakfast). Otherwise, it’s all pretty straightforward.

Enjoy and keep warm!

Chris

 

 

 

Topics and/or subjects covered in this lesson:
Bluegrass

Print Print Chords & Tab

Loop 0:00 Introduction

Loop 0:52 Breakdown of B Part

Loop 18:24 Practice Loop (Slow and At Tempo)

 

Download the Sheet Music PDF

 

Loop 19:07 Closing Thoughts

 

 

Comments

Log in to leave a comment



James Reed
James Reed Jul 16, 2021

I really enjoyed working on this tune!

I deleted my earlier video as I got my recording nerves under control this afternoon. I'm looking for feedback for the verses and chorus as I'm not sure I've found the balance of not-too-obvious but not-too-planned-out yet :-)

 

Asbjørn
Asbjørn Feb 06, 2020

Asbjørn
Asbjørn Feb 06, 2020

Hello, Chris. Thank you for wonderful feedback on my last upload (Gold Rush). That was a real motivational boost for me. I went and worked on Church Street Blues right after that feedback! Will work some more on that and post later maybe.

I've been working on Last thing on my mind this year. It's not perfect, but it's starting to take form so I can start to pick up speed. And I guess it's typical that my rhythm is a bit off!  I love that there are so many great and fun songs to choose from on this site! 
 
I would love some feedback on this and what to improve.   

Hope you're doing fine! 

Kind regards,

Asbjørn

Kip Marchetti
Kip Marchetti Feb 08, 2020

Really cool ...

Chris Eldridge
Chris Eldridge Apr 12, 2020

Asbjorn, this sounds so lovely! You guys are all sounding so great. So musical and expressive, which is what I'm most interested in! I appreciate the tenderness and flow that you are bringing to the tune. There are different ways of approaching the feel, but this one is nice and sincere. 

There are are a few spots where the beat is getting turned around a bit: 1:31, 1:50 and 1:55. At 1:31 it sounds like you added an extra note. At 1:50 it sounds like you skipped a few notes and at 1:55 it sounds like you are re-straightening out the beat, but it gets a little confusing. Go back and give a little extra attention to those parts making sure that you can count along and that the count comes out right.

The other thing that I would encourage you to work on is your guitar accompaniment to your voice while you play. The strumming that you are doing is very lovely and you are doing a great job of it, but a bit of variety would help. You might try playing less strums at times and more bass notes instead - C note, G note, C note, strum. That sort of thing. Also, some more of those Tony Rice-ish fills between the vocal phrases would be nice if they happened more throughout the tune. For example, you do a nice one at 3:54. 

Overall this is beautiful. Bravo!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Asbjørn
Asbjørn Apr 14, 2020

Thank you for your kind words and good feedback, Chris. I will try to work on the things you've said and maybe I'll repost it in the future.

Thank you also, Kip, for kind words! :) 

Stay safe everyone! 



 

Kip Marchetti
Kip Marchetti Jan 06, 2020

I never know if I did it exactly as you taught or what you expect but it sure is fun to play and I'm very thankful you're here showing us this stuff. These last several years have been so much fun and helpful. Looking forward to whatever you have planned next.

Chris Eldridge
Chris Eldridge Apr 12, 2020

Kip, you never cease to amaze me. This sounds so musical and good. Really proud. A few things to work on:

-You are jumping the beat a handful of times throughout the arrangement: 00:40, 00:47, 01:14 and 1:37. Go back and count the bars out loud along with your video in those spots and see if you can straighten them out. If not, post another vid and I'll get into the details with you on it.

-Your right hand seems quite relaxed, which is great, but it looks like you are getting *most* your movement and motion from your wrist, and it also seems like you are reaching "up" with your wrist quite a bit. The "flow" of the sound of your notes might improve if you can integrate your entire right arm a little bit more into the movement. Try shifting the guitar an inch or two to your left relative to your torso - this might mean moving your leg over a touch - but we want to try shifting the guitar a little bit so that your right forearm arm isn't coming down from *quite* so much of a vertical position. If you can allow it to be just a touch more horizontal - and we're talking subtle degrees here - it would probably allow your forearm to be more integrated into the pick stroke motion and alleviate your wrist from having to do quite so much work. 

Well done as always and happy Easter!

 

Kip Marchetti
Kip Marchetti Apr 12, 2020

Thank you Chris ... your kind words and encouragement mean a lot to me. I'll work on what you have pointed out and i will post another video after a bit  ... or maybe I'll just wing it and sing it ... and if it sounds good move along to the next one.  I've been feeling lately like I may have pushed my playing about as far as I can ... I know the plateu routine and that it takes time but realistically considering where/when I started and where I am ...  I'm really happy.  I do want to get better ... I'm not discouraged ... and I'm very grateful. Happy Easter ... stay safe ... and i'm really looking forward to getting this pandemic stretch behind us so you can work on a new record and play some shows which I'm hopeful of seeing.

John
John Dec 01, 2019

Hi Annabel.

To me it looks like it might be one of the new Authentic-Series?

Annabel
Annabel Nov 30, 2019

Hi Chris.

Guitar-Annabel here :-) What year is that Martin guitar you're playing?

Thanks for everything,

Annabel

Kip Marchetti
Kip Marchetti Dec 01, 2019

It might be "Uncle Johnny" in which case a 1954 D-28 or not.

Chris Eldridge
Chris Eldridge Dec 27, 2019

Hi Annabel, that's an old 1935 D-28 that I borrowed from a friend for a few days. It is an absolute monster! I hated having to give it back!

Cheers,

Chris

Kip Marchetti
Kip Marchetti Nov 30, 2019

Thanks Chris ... that's a beauty. The ascending line that TR doesn't play ... and you can't help but play is actually one of my favorite parts and reminds me of something in church street blues ... not sure why ... which also reminds me I should revisit that one since I kind of bombed out trying to learn it a couple years ago. I really like this and happy for the second part since I've been playing the heck out of the first part and kind of just throwing stuff together on the last part. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.

Chris Eldridge
Chris Eldridge Dec 27, 2019

Haha, thanks Kip! It does just kind of feel to me like that ascending line wants to be there! 🤷‍♂️

Happy Holidays and New Year!

Chris

 
Login popup sm Login popup banner

Member Log In

Forgot your password? Click here

New To Sonic Junction?

See Sign Up Info >

Popup close
 
Login popup sm

New To Sonic Junction?

Try 2 Lessons Free

Popup close