Surviving in The Chord Jungle

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neverfoundthetime
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Wed Jun 12, 2013 1:36 pm



Willem, yeah, I try to foot tap but I'm sure on the original that they move into some sort of free-feel ad lib timing as it really seems to slow down a lot at the "When you wake up part". Then it moves to 4/4 time before going back to 3/4 or more likely 6/8 time. I know I get the feel of it, just can't nail it exactly. But I am already happy with my efforts as its a beautiful song and I can at least do a decent live acoustic rendering... which is not a bad thing as I have never heard anyone else attempt this.

willem wrote:
neverfoundthetime wrote:
Yeah, I think I did that Willem... at least, that was my intention! :-)

Dermot, thanks for listening in, I did promise you the post. You win the special prize... I was waiting for the first jail-house reference! Sure looks like a block house, doesn't it, but its only a bomb shelter! At least I can sing out down there... very Swiss... and talking of very Swiss... as I write, someone is blowing an alp horn out side, nice to hear.

Oh YES,,I looked again now and indeed you did that and then came the sped! up,,maybe then keep your foot tapping in right speed,,,just an Idea again..

Willem


willem
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Wed Jun 12, 2013 2:26 pm

neverfoundthetime wrote:


Willem, yeah, I try to foot tap but I'm sure on the original that they move into some sort of free-feel ad lib timing as it really seems to slow down a lot at the "When you wake up part". Then it moves to 4/4 time before going back to 3/4 or more likely 6/8 time. I know I get the feel of it, just can't nail it exactly. But I am already happy with my efforts as its a beautiful song and I can at least do a decent live acoustic rendering... which is not a bad thing as I have never heard anyone else attempt this.

willem wrote:
neverfoundthetime wrote:
Yeah, I think I did that Willem... at least, that was my intention! :-)

Dermot, thanks for listening in, I did promise you the post. You win the special prize... I was waiting for the first jail-house reference! Sure looks like a block house, doesn't it, but its only a bomb shelter! At least I can sing out down there... very Swiss... and talking of very Swiss... as I write, someone is blowing an alp horn out side, nice to hear.

Oh YES,,I looked again now and indeed you did that and then came the sped! up,,maybe then keep your foot tapping in right speed,,,just an Idea again..

Willem
Oh ThERE are diffrent times,,I should had listen to the orginal..You will sort it out..

Willem

Edit: I listen now to the moody blues,,I count on the verses 3/4 time and on the Aahs 4/4..I could be wrong,,I followed the drummer...


thereshopeyet
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Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:15 pm

Chris Wrote:
You win the special prize... I was waiting for the first jail-house reference!
What's my prize? :ohmy:

Willem Wrote:
Maybe then keep your foot tapping in right speed.
If you practice with a pneumatic drill Chris, you can kill a few birds with one stone.

1. Get you feet tapping
2. Vibrate fast effortlessly
3.Practice Jailhouse Rock
4. Escape !!


Image

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:


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neverfoundthetime
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Wed Jun 12, 2013 3:34 pm

Good suggestion Dermot!

Your prize is listening to the video. 2nd prize is listening twice to the video, 3rd prize is... you guessed it!
;-)


michelew
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Wed Jun 12, 2013 5:13 pm

neverfoundthetime wrote:
Well, as promised, this is the raw run through including all the rough edges. I decided to tune down the guitar by 2 half steps so that I could still play the same chord shapes as mapped out above but be able to sing in the higher register rather than dropping to the lower register (which I'd have to do, other wise as its a bit of scrape for me!). I found out while working out the singing that the song has more time on the Ahhh Ahhhs that the rest and this actually sounds nice in a lower register but the actual lyrics are better higher. Hmmm, tough call, should I stay in the original key and sing low or drop the guitar tuning two half steps and sing high? I went for option B. Playing and singing slow is always more difficult and I thought I was slow enough but I can see I sped up the Ahh Ahhs more than I wanted to, needs to slow down a bit more simply to fit the vocals in. I also added the second verse again to avoid having to go over time on the Ahhh Ahhhs, otherwise the song would be a bit short.

Hey Chris,

You may think it's rough, maybe you can do better, but I think you've captured the feel of this song really well. You've created a otherworldly, dreamy, etherial quality in the verses and the ahhhhs being a little faster actually makes it fun.

You sound really good too.

Nice follow up on your promise to post if the community helped you to work it out.

Oh...and you also look very sporty Mr Handsome. :) :) :)

Thanks for the journey, I enjoyed it.

Shel


wrsomers
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 2:43 am

I think you did quite alright going from 6/8 to 4/4. Sure on the original it's a bit slower, the 4/4 parts. So slowing down a bit there, aaaah you will nail that soon enough! ;) Other than that, I think you did very well! Personally I'd accentuate different beats in the 4/4 parts, but that's indeed personal, it's really fine as it is.

Good one Chris! :cheer:


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neverfoundthetime
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:13 am

Many thanks Shell and Vanessa! In this case, I'm happy to keep my promise :-) especially after all the help I got and the interest in the song and process that folks showed, that made it a very satisfying project indeed. This was really like a collaboration, so, many thanks to all who contributed to me understanding, learning and playing this lovely song, I really appreciate it and enjoyed this one!

Its already moved on and I am able to pick up the guitar and play it through better each time and not mess up the lyrics as I did by singing "Was it all just a dream" instead of "Was it all what it seemed".

:) :) :)


michelew
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 4:19 am

Alternate lyrics, cool!

Dreamed, seemed...same/same. Maybe that should have been the line, maybe it was a line, maybe you're channelling one of the Moodies, maybe.....maybe....but who cares really, it's all good. :) :) :) A very wise person said to me recently that if it sounds good, it is good. She was referring to bass lines, but I think it applies here too. :)

I happen to like it and it fits the song very well. :)


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neverfoundthetime
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 5:39 am

It should have been:

Now as we drift a little further down the stream
Was it all what it seemed
Was it true, was it real
Or just a dream

but as I was concentrating ofr the guitar I made it:

Now as we drift a little further down the stream
Was it all just a dream
Was it true, was it real
Or just a dream

... I know its just me who notices.... still, I'm happy with how it is improving each time I play. :-)


michelew
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Thu Jun 13, 2013 6:20 am

Ahhhhh...got it. Well I'm glad you think it's improving and enjoying the process.

BTW - I often get the words wrong. You might remember that I was sing "wild men" rather than "wise men" in my Elvis, ukulele upload. Fortunately it was cracking me up and making me smile a little.

Well here's to more videos. Cheers. :)

Shel


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