>>New Target and Pay Per Lesson release - Mood For A Day - Steve Howe/Yes

What we have so far, new songs added weekly!
tgjameela
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 1:00 pm

Hi Everyone,

Today's Target and Pay Per Lesson release is now live.

Mood For A Day is a retro/neo/quasi-classical piece by Steve Howe which first appeared on Yes's landmark album Fragile. It includes many techniques that are very challenging- flamenco strumming, rapid scales and variations, trill-like hammer-ons and pull-offs, and even a trace of romantic expression from the late nineteenth century. It is a veritable smorgasbord of guitar delights, all of which make it a virtuosic endeavor for any guitar player.

This lesson is presented in our old drip-feed manner to help simplify and isolate parts, many of which require pyrotechnic chops to be effective. Section A is really just the intro, the first seven measures. It consists of a syncopated strumming pattern over a couple of barre chords and a minor scale run into a Bm chord. There are important techniques to master here before moving on.

Enjoy this level 9 lesson.

http://www.totallyguitars.com/target-so ... esson.html





BigBear
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:04 pm

Neil- Like most of us here I have always been in awe of your virtuosity but this song is really over the top. When I saw Level 9 I thought, no way. Now I don't know if 9 is high enough. I don't have enough lifetime left to learn a song that difficult but it is a joyful experience to listen to you play it.

Thank you! :cheer:


unclewalt
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:37 pm

My own experience with this song is that it's actually *easier* than I thought it was going to be, to my own amazement. I learned it off a tab. It no doubt helped that the song is basically burned into my brain from my having listened to it countless times over about 40 years. Which is not to say it's easy, of course. It took me many weeks -- several months, I think, of near-daily work -- just to get off the tab. And not only are there still rough spots, but getting the techniques and tonality to my satisfaction will probably take me another year or two. This lesson will no doubt help with that, though. There are some different fingerings here, too, which I will experiment with.

I was positive this would be "Clap," after reading the thread about last week's news wrapup. That one seems more like a 9 to me than this does. But then, I thought the same about this one til I started working on it.


abiliog
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 2:59 pm

Thank you thank you thank you thank you, Neil.
:woohoo: :silly: :silly: :woohoo: :silly: :woohoo: :silly:
Yes yes yes :woohoo:
Will I ever be able to play this one? I must. When? I don't know, beyond eternity for sure, but I'm starting today. B)
Thank you Neil,
Abilio


thereshopeyet
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:48 pm

Thanks


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TGNeil
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 4:12 pm

unclewalt wrote:
My own experience with this song is that it's actually *easier* than I thought it was going to be, to my own amazement. I learned it off a tab. It no doubt helped that the song is basically burned into my brain from my having listened to it countless times over about 40 years. Which is not to say it's easy, of course. It took me many weeks -- several months, I think, of near-daily work -- just to get off the tab. And not only are there still rough spots, but getting the techniques and tonality to my satisfaction will probably take me another year or two. This lesson will no doubt help with that, though. There are some different fingerings here, too, which I will experiment with.

I was positive this would be "Clap," after reading the thread about last week's news wrapup. That one seems more like a 9 to me than this does. But then, I thought the same about this one til I started working on it.
Walt,

Great comments on difficulty levels (which are usually hard for me to determine), particularly the observation that once you get into a piece it starts seeming easier. With this one there are enough rapid passages and other assorted techniques that must be mastered before they can be easily integrated into a run through of the tune.

It has been quite a while since I mentioned that once we get into the Level 9 songs there is another break down by decimal points that might separate the pieces into another 10 sub-levels. With that in mind I might give this one a 9.2 or so. Clap is a bit higher, maybe a 9.4573 or 74, according to my best guess/scientific calculations/horoscope for today.

I think it would be great if you would take this opportunity to join the folks who have uploaded videos to the review channel and let us check out your progress on the tune. I'm sure it would help a lot of people as they start working on it.

Neil


tvarga
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:11 pm

Thanks Neil. The dream has come true! :)

Now, I must be off and put a whole lot more wear on my fingers!

-Tom


unclewalt
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:19 pm

TGNeil wrote:
unclewalt wrote:
My own experience with this song is that it's actually *easier* than I thought it was going to be, to my own amazement. I learned it off a tab. It no doubt helped that the song is basically burned into my brain from my having listened to it countless times over about 40 years. Which is not to say it's easy, of course. It took me many weeks -- several months, I think, of near-daily work -- just to get off the tab. And not only are there still rough spots, but getting the techniques and tonality to my satisfaction will probably take me another year or two. This lesson will no doubt help with that, though. There are some different fingerings here, too, which I will experiment with.

I was positive this would be "Clap," after reading the thread about last week's news wrapup. That one seems more like a 9 to me than this does. But then, I thought the same about this one til I started working on it.
Walt,

Great comments on difficulty levels (which are usually hard for me to determine), particularly the observation that once you get into a piece it starts seeming easier. With this one there are enough rapid passages and other assorted techniques that must be mastered before they can be easily integrated into a run through of the tune.

It has been quite a while since I mentioned that once we get into the Level 9 songs there is another break down by decimal points that might separate the pieces into another 10 sub-levels. With that in mind I might give this one a 9.2 or so. Clap is a bit higher, maybe a 9.4573 or 74, according to my best guess/scientific calculations/horoscope for today.

I think it would be great if you would take this opportunity to join the folks who have uploaded videos to the review channel and let us check out your progress on the tune. I'm sure it would help a lot of people as they start working on it.

Neil

Oh, I'm not second guessing at all. I think everybody needs to take those difficulty levels as general comparative guidelines. And even decimals wouldn't be perfect because the core issue is that what's hard for one person is relatively easy for another. It actually took me quite a while to get "Ain't No Tellin'" - which I think was a 4. I just had trouble hitting the right strings at speed on the C/G in the verse for whatever reason. Finally got it, though.

This one will no doubt be a 9 for lots of folks, and maybe a 7 for others. I can't imagine it going any lower than that for anyone coming to it fresh.

My own thought would be the opposite of decimals -- to actually have *fewer* levels, each of which would contain a range. Like maybe "Beginner" "Low Intermediate" "High Intermediate" and "Advanced." So, Advanced could include this and, say, the easier but still hard "Take on Me." And I just now noticed that you actually do that with color coding. Maybe just make that the system, and lose the precise numbers?

In any case, I would encourage everyone to plunge into this and pick up what they can, because it's a *really* fun song to play. As for video -- maybe, but I really need to practice this one for a while because I've been working on so much other stuff, I've neglected it. I messed with it today a little and found that I'd actually forgotten some sizable chunks already.


BigBear
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 9:58 pm

Dan- I'd love to hear you give it a go!! :cheer:


familyman4
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Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:04 pm

Ok, I will be a good student and bite this off in chunks as instructed. I have part "A" down now (with all kinds of chicken scratches on the printed chart to help me remember as time goes along) and will anxiously await for part "B". By the looks of things, this song will not only get harder as we go on but it is a fairly long song so there will be a lot to memorize. I can't believe that I am 50 years old and have never heard this song before. It is beautiful :)

Oh well, I have 6 months until Christmas, maybe that will be my goal for this song. Have it down cold before the holidays. Ok, so it is written, so shall it be done....

I am courious about one thing though: when Neil does a lesson in pieces like this, how long is there between each post? Anyone???

Thanks again for the challenge! I Love TG....
Bart :woohoo:


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