Melissa w/ attempted Melody -- by Goldleaf

[goldleaf]

Thanks Bear, I think you've pretty much confirmed my feelings about Melissa. I haven't been able to find a way to combine the melody and keep that all important strumming consistent. Unless someone like Neil is able so show a way to do it I think I will consider moving on to some other songs that will probably be more fruitful for me. I think it is time for me to take on a few finger picking songs. I've been staying in my comfort zone with picking and strumming. There are some really nice songs I heard TGer's play, but they require finger picking. I can always come back to strumming songs in the future. See just posting back and forth helped be move forward, even if it is falling on my face. Gary

[goldleaf]

I noticed that others are having problems trying to add melody to songs and have posted their questions for tomorrows video conference. Since we all have access to this lesson "Melissa" I think it would be good to hear what Neil has to say on the subject, in general and hopefully on Melissa if he sees fit. Gary

[waggis]

That was a really beautiful song Gary and I really enjoyed listening to it. Thanks for sharing. I can only imagine how difficult it is to keep the strumming pattern steady with so many difficult chord changes.
I am still trying to figure out how to hold the UFO (Unidentified Finger Object) and can only hope to strum songs like that. Keep up the good work and hope to see more videos from you.

David

[d_dog]

Great job Gary, I think Big Bear has the best advice so far, I won't tread on his input. I love it when people push the envelope in learning, it's the only time there is great improvement. I really think that Neil encourages this. However as I mentioned I do agree with Big Bear, there is a certain amount of timing structure that is important in many songs that if lost really takes away from the song, and adding other aspects does not make up for this.

[goldleaf]

David & D-Dog, thanks for your input, it all helps. I posted the question about adding melody to Melissa on tomorrows Videocast, maybe Neil will talk about these issues about the importance of keeping the strumming or rythym vs adding melody. If it can be done I'm sure he could do it, but his input maybe not to try it on this type of song. It would be interesting to hear. It's all adding to my learning and to me that is the most important thing. I appreciate all your support. Gary

[AcousticAl]

Lots of good feedback in this thread, gary. I've tried to add melody to a few songs now, and it's tough for sure. You need to be able to keep your strumming hand moving in a constant up & down motion-- even if you're not hitting strings.

Anyways, yours and Reiver's post of this song has moved it up on my 'to do list'.

[goldleaf]

Thanks Al, Reiver check out about having to keep your hand moving up and down whether you are hitting strings or not. Let me know if you figure that one out. You have a good start at anyway. Gary

[reiver]

goldleaf wrote:

Thanks Al, Reiver check out about having to keep your hand moving up and down whether you are hitting strings or not. Let me know if you figure that one out. You have a good start at anyway. Gary

Gary
Al is quite right. If you are strumming to a specific pattern then you should maintain a continuous up and down motion to sustain your timing. However, if you are picking out a melody line then this is less applicable, but you do need to have some sort of technique for keeping the timing correct as you move between the strumming/picking sections. I don't use a metronome but I do keep my feet tapping always when I'm playing. I think that something as simple as this is really useful for improving time keeping.

[goldleaf]

reiver, I know what you mean about keeping tempo, when I did the Loner I was playing much faster than I thought, although I did keep tempo up all the way through, just way to fast w/ no reference. RE: Melissa I was referring to keeping your hand moving up and down while you are plucking individual notes, which was most of the comments, keep the hand going up and down, not the tempo was slow then fast. I still haven't figured out how you keep your hand moving up and down contunuously and pick out notes (as you did) at the same time. Maybe with enough different approaches I'll find a middle ground. Cool. Keep em coming. I have been working on the D modal tuning 4 & 20 , Suite Judy Blue eyes, hope to do another vid some day soon. I frequently use the TG lesson by Neil to keep time, just use an ear bud so I can hear and usually have my laptop where I can see Neil's changes to stay in time. Tapping your foot is a good one also. Gary

[reiver]

Gary, playing along with Neil's videos is very useful for getting the timing right. I should add about foot tapping that it is very important that you can play along with the tempo of the foot tapping rather than tapping your foot along with the tempo of your playing. There is an important distinction!

I would suggest that there are some fundamentals that have to be in place before we start playing if we want to achieve a good/correct tempo;

i) we have to be clear about exactly what sound we are trying to achieve. A bit like the golfer who pictures the path the ball is going to take before he strikes it, we have to be able to hear the song we're about to play. Counting yourself into a song in tempo, even silently, is a good way to assist in this.

ii) we have to be able to play the piece with a good level of competence. We'll never get good keeping the tempo if we're worrying about what chord comes next.

iii) we have to be relaxed. Any tension in the shoulder/arm/wrist will make it very difficult to maintain a steady tempo without sounding too mechanical.

If I'm struggling, I try to work out which of these is/are the obstacle(s).

r