I have worked on this song off and on for a year. It was always on of my favorite NY songs and then I picked up the Massey Hall cd and fell in love with it all over again. Recently I was able to get a cd of 4way street and it happened all over again. It is pretty self taught and I use alittle from both versions and I know too much of my own.
It would make a great lesson from Neil at some point.
Pete
Cowgirl in the Sand
Hey Pete- good effort on this really great song! It's always been one of my favorites.
If I could make a couple of suggestions:
1. Your timing is too steady and it makes the song sound the same all the way through. This song has a heavy downbeat on the first beat of the measure then followed by another lighter downbeat followed by a light up and down beat. And listen carefully for the pauses NY inserts to give the tune dramatic effect.
2. Neil Young's playing style rarely uses all six strings at once, instead focusing on 2 or 3-note string combinations. Often he plays 3 high strings and then 3 bass strings ie. Needle and the Damage Done, Old Man etc. By playing all the strings at once the chords sound "heavy handed". Work on a lighter touch.
3. Your "walking bass" line must fit the timing of the song. Usually, this means you have to start the walking bass run during the prior chord and walk right into the next chord. It can't be added to the song or it will be wildly out of place.
4. When you are ready, there are a couple of easy adornments that will make the song sound more like NY. The index finger on the Am chord you can play around with and you can add the high G to the F chord using your pinky. Both sound really cool.
Overall, your chord changes are really good. Just work on being smoother and softer. And constantly work on the emphasis of the first beat.
If you don't have a tab for this song, PM me with your email address and I'll send it to you. This system won't allow us to send .pdf files.
Thanks for sharing your song and please accept my suggestions in the helpful spirit they were intended!
Again, nice job and cheers! :cheer:
If I could make a couple of suggestions:
1. Your timing is too steady and it makes the song sound the same all the way through. This song has a heavy downbeat on the first beat of the measure then followed by another lighter downbeat followed by a light up and down beat. And listen carefully for the pauses NY inserts to give the tune dramatic effect.
2. Neil Young's playing style rarely uses all six strings at once, instead focusing on 2 or 3-note string combinations. Often he plays 3 high strings and then 3 bass strings ie. Needle and the Damage Done, Old Man etc. By playing all the strings at once the chords sound "heavy handed". Work on a lighter touch.
3. Your "walking bass" line must fit the timing of the song. Usually, this means you have to start the walking bass run during the prior chord and walk right into the next chord. It can't be added to the song or it will be wildly out of place.
4. When you are ready, there are a couple of easy adornments that will make the song sound more like NY. The index finger on the Am chord you can play around with and you can add the high G to the F chord using your pinky. Both sound really cool.
Overall, your chord changes are really good. Just work on being smoother and softer. And constantly work on the emphasis of the first beat.
If you don't have a tab for this song, PM me with your email address and I'll send it to you. This system won't allow us to send .pdf files.
Thanks for sharing your song and please accept my suggestions in the helpful spirit they were intended!
Again, nice job and cheers! :cheer:
I enjoyed this video very much. One thing you might do to break up the monotony of the chords is to hit the base note prior to the strum. Not sure if NY does that, but I think it sould sound nice for this song. Keep up the good work!