Circle Game- by Suziko

[MarkM]

Hello Suzi. I am soooooo late to this. I watched your video a few days ago but never had time to give it the attention it deserves. So I watched it again this morning and thought it sounded even better. I know this has already been said I'm sure but I thought this was fantastic!! Fist off the video and audio quality was supurb. The guitar sounded great!! (Now where have I seen that guitar before......) For the playing, you have come a very long way over this past year. Your confidence shows. I thought that while you weren't singing it was very solid. A few tempo changes but that's it. Your hand position was great. How do you do that!?!?!? For the singing part it was a little tougher. Completely understandable as the brain is trying to focus on two things. I'm in the same boat. I can't walk and chew bubble gum at the same time never mind singing and playing. I thought your voice got better as the song went on as you got more confident and forgot about the camera. Really well done Suzi!!! Great to see you back posting a video again. I enjoyed it a great deal.



MarkM

[suziko]

Mark- Thanks for your thoughtful and honest feedback. I completely agree with what you said. I was pretty happy with how my playing sounded on my first time through (w/o singing). Some minor tempo issues and there is one small part where I didn't quite hit the right note, but that's probably more apparent to me since I know the song so well at this point. My biggest challenge was singing and playing at the same time. It's not too hard on a song where I'm just strumming chords, but to do while fingerpicking, it was just too much! I managed it better on Henry Lee because the arpeggio never changes. Not so with this song. Anyway, as I've said before, I think it just takes time and A LOT of practice. Thanks again!

[mcfingers]

Hi Suzi, I have been locked out of the TG members Only forums for about a week and just got it straightened out so, sorry for being late to the party.

Let me start me saying that I know what a stressful thing trying to finger pick, sing and look good for the camera is. You did a terrific job on all three. Yes, there were some rough spots (at least you didn't spit on your leg like I did in one of my takes) and some shakes but for the most part you kept on playing, which is the hardest thing to do IMO. Well done.

Steve

[tovo]

Hi Suzi,

I've been away for a few days.

I was really looking forward to seeing how much you had progressed on this song and it was a pleasure to see how your hard work has been rewarded. Taking up the challenge to add vocals is a serious one, and you did so well. Of course there were a couple of minor stumbles, but that I felt was as a result of the effort to juggle playing with vocals. It appears to me that if you just played it, you would do so quite flawlessly. So the fact that you are pushing yourself beyond what is relatively comfortable by singing as well means you have my great admiration and respect.

As a player your progress is breathtakingly rapid. Perhaps that is your natural talent shining through. I have always been of the opinion that being proud of natural talent is a little illogical, as you did nothing to earn it. It's what you have added with that 4 letter word (work) which is a legitimate cause for pride.

I think Suzi, that you should be very proud.

[suziko]

Steve- no worries, but that must have been frustrating for you! Glad that TG got that fixed for you. See, now, I would argue that posting a video where you spit on your leg could earn you the "most watched video" award! I know I'd watch that Anyway, I appreciate your kind words. This song was a real challenge for me, but it was also something I greatly enjoyed learning. I'll be keeping it in my repetoire of songs to practice!

Tony- I am so glad to see you back. TG without Tony is like chocolate without peanut butter.

Your comment is really thoughtful. I agree that I can play this song relatively well when I'm not singing it, but I wanted to sing it in part because I like when other TG members sing on their videos but also because I always like to push myself a little out of my comfort zone. I think I pushed myself more than a little outside of my comfort zone, and hence the goofs, but that's still ok.

The topic of talent has come up in the past. I really don't feel like I have a lot of natural talent for music. I have a hard time picking out a melody, for example. But I do put in a fair amount of time practicing and I think that makes up at least partly for talent. And I do feel like I've made a lot of progress since joining TG in the fall, and that is an exciting thing. I'm grateful to Neil and TG for that.

[danakay]

Very nice, Suzi!!!

Thank you so much for sharing. You have inspired me to try giving this one a try. Gulp!!!!

Dana
PS - Love the Taylor

[suziko]

Thanks, Dana! The magic is in the alternate tuning. Gives it a much fancier sound than anything I'm actually doing.

Thanks also for the compliment on the Taylor. I'll pass on your kind words

[snipe]

Suzi,

Sorry Im late but just watched and I thought it was really really nice. I liked your singing and the Taylor sounds fabulous.

Thanks for sharing that

Mike

[johnrfeeney]

very smooth and beautiful

[suziko]

Mike and John,

Thank you to you both. This was such a fun song for me to learn. A challenge for me in many ways, but something I hope to keep in my repetoire forever.