TOVO - Sister Golden Hair
Tony- Great job! That song is barre chord boot camp. I tried working on it a few months ago and then went a.w.o.l. Way too hard for me at that point. I got frustrated trying to get to the next barre on the up-stroke. But your version sounded great- very comfortable and smooth. I miss hearing you sing, but I do like to be able to really concentrate on what you're playing.
Tony- another really solid effort and excellent progress on your barre chords.
You know I can't pass up a chance to be helpful! lol! So here goes:
1. Your strumming is very solid. Perhaps too solid. As you get more comfortable with the chord changes try varying the tempo a little bit especially on the first beat of each measure. You have a tendency to become really mechanical when you concentrate on something other than the tempo of the song. That's better than wandering around with no tempo but with just a very minor tweak you could put a little empahsis on that first beat.
2. This is more personal observation than a comment on your playing but I think barre chords are a double edged sword. They fill a useful role for the guitarist trying to play higher up the fretboard but they also detract from the proverbial "feel" of the song due to their unique sound.
Have you ever watched someone play a song with a lot of barre chords in it and you couldn't even tell what song it was? It happens all the time. Not so much with your song because I knew what it was but barre chorda just destroy the melody of a song unless you mix in more open chords (which ring a little sweeter) or partial chords or open chords sliding up the neck. This song is kind of a banger but try playing it both ways and see which way sounds better to you. Barres versus open chords.
Going from an open chord in the first position to a Emin or B or Bmin at the 7th fret is a real jump and throws the listener for a loop. Unless the song really needs it I try to avoid these major jumps. I think barres usually work better progressively moving up the fretboard and not with the big jumps.
3. Lighten up a bit. You are playing a wonderful instrument and it looks like you have a death grip on it. We all clamp down too hard on our barres but try to let your hand relax between chord changes. If you played the whole song that tense I'll bet your hand, and forearm, will be exhausted and cramped. Always play with the minimum pressure you can get away with. If you don't need all 6 strings in a barre don't try to fret them all to be clean; it's just wasted energy. Use partial barres whenever the song will allow it. And that goes along with No. 1 above playing mechanically. As you loosen up your strumming motion it will be much easier to hit partial barres or just sets of strings.
I don't know if that helps any but I know you want good feedback and not a bunch of "that's wonderful" fluff. It was good but it has a ways to go to be wonderful. lol! :laugh:
Let me know if I didn't make sense which is very possible today!
Cheerio my good friend!!
You know I can't pass up a chance to be helpful! lol! So here goes:
1. Your strumming is very solid. Perhaps too solid. As you get more comfortable with the chord changes try varying the tempo a little bit especially on the first beat of each measure. You have a tendency to become really mechanical when you concentrate on something other than the tempo of the song. That's better than wandering around with no tempo but with just a very minor tweak you could put a little empahsis on that first beat.
2. This is more personal observation than a comment on your playing but I think barre chords are a double edged sword. They fill a useful role for the guitarist trying to play higher up the fretboard but they also detract from the proverbial "feel" of the song due to their unique sound.
Have you ever watched someone play a song with a lot of barre chords in it and you couldn't even tell what song it was? It happens all the time. Not so much with your song because I knew what it was but barre chorda just destroy the melody of a song unless you mix in more open chords (which ring a little sweeter) or partial chords or open chords sliding up the neck. This song is kind of a banger but try playing it both ways and see which way sounds better to you. Barres versus open chords.
Going from an open chord in the first position to a Emin or B or Bmin at the 7th fret is a real jump and throws the listener for a loop. Unless the song really needs it I try to avoid these major jumps. I think barres usually work better progressively moving up the fretboard and not with the big jumps.
3. Lighten up a bit. You are playing a wonderful instrument and it looks like you have a death grip on it. We all clamp down too hard on our barres but try to let your hand relax between chord changes. If you played the whole song that tense I'll bet your hand, and forearm, will be exhausted and cramped. Always play with the minimum pressure you can get away with. If you don't need all 6 strings in a barre don't try to fret them all to be clean; it's just wasted energy. Use partial barres whenever the song will allow it. And that goes along with No. 1 above playing mechanically. As you loosen up your strumming motion it will be much easier to hit partial barres or just sets of strings.
I don't know if that helps any but I know you want good feedback and not a bunch of "that's wonderful" fluff. It was good but it has a ways to go to be wonderful. lol! :laugh:
Let me know if I didn't make sense which is very possible today!
Cheerio my good friend!!
Hey thanks Suzi, looking forward to you posting that song you said was all ready to go. I'm sure everyone else is now also.
Bill...I thank you my man but....where are my clapping hands??? I'm shocked and chagrined!
Bear thanks so much mate. I REALLY appreciate the time you take. Noted on the mechanical comment. I'll take that aboard. I actually used a much thicker pick than usual today as I am trying to move away from using a really light one (0.53), today was a 1.0 I wonder if that had any affect? I guess being a little mechanical comes from concentrating on chords rather than feeling the song. Anyway, I'll work on it.
Also note your comments on fretting the barres too hard. I don't feel that I do that so much but I understand the need to ease off between changes. Neil made that comment as well, about wearing yourself out. I gotta confess I find full barres easier than partial. Don't know if that's common or not.
Finally Bear, you are spot on. I'm desperate to improve and desperate for honest, useful feedback so you have filled my need. (and we didn't even smoke a cigarette afterwards)
Cheers mate, much appreciated.
Bill...I thank you my man but....where are my clapping hands??? I'm shocked and chagrined!
Bear thanks so much mate. I REALLY appreciate the time you take. Noted on the mechanical comment. I'll take that aboard. I actually used a much thicker pick than usual today as I am trying to move away from using a really light one (0.53), today was a 1.0 I wonder if that had any affect? I guess being a little mechanical comes from concentrating on chords rather than feeling the song. Anyway, I'll work on it.
Also note your comments on fretting the barres too hard. I don't feel that I do that so much but I understand the need to ease off between changes. Neil made that comment as well, about wearing yourself out. I gotta confess I find full barres easier than partial. Don't know if that's common or not.
Finally Bear, you are spot on. I'm desperate to improve and desperate for honest, useful feedback so you have filled my need. (and we didn't even smoke a cigarette afterwards)
Cheers mate, much appreciated.
I thought that was a good exercise for barre chords, and your progress shows very well. And your strumming was just excellent. Thumb over the E chord? Yeah, a little. I think some of you big guys need training aids for that habit.
Great job, and well done!
Great job, and well done!
Tony,
For me, this was the best performance I've seen from you. Not taking anything away from all the other great stuff you have done but I really like this for many reasons. One is that it is just a great song in general. I really forgot about this one unitl D_Dog put it up. Second, is that it shows how hard you have worked on the barre chords and really have got it down pretty good. Yeah there were a few misses but overall it was outstanding. Lastly, I think your strumming in this song is great. I understand what Bear was saying about the "feel" but you were obviously working on technique on this one. You really held a great tempo throughout the song and the chord changes. I'm sure when you get a bit more under your belt and sing it you'll have the feel. All in all Tony this was my favorite from you. Great job and thanks for posting!!!!!
MarkM
For me, this was the best performance I've seen from you. Not taking anything away from all the other great stuff you have done but I really like this for many reasons. One is that it is just a great song in general. I really forgot about this one unitl D_Dog put it up. Second, is that it shows how hard you have worked on the barre chords and really have got it down pretty good. Yeah there were a few misses but overall it was outstanding. Lastly, I think your strumming in this song is great. I understand what Bear was saying about the "feel" but you were obviously working on technique on this one. You really held a great tempo throughout the song and the chord changes. I'm sure when you get a bit more under your belt and sing it you'll have the feel. All in all Tony this was my favorite from you. Great job and thanks for posting!!!!!
MarkM
Tony , you did a nice job with the bars, they sound clean. I agree with the strumming feeling and would add that there are a lot of down strokes in this song not necesseraly followed by an upstroke, something like 3 down strokes followed by a down stroke and the upstroke (while keeping the arm moving as you are doing) then changing chord, particularly in the intro.
great job
Marc
great job
Marc
Tony pretty solid effort mate, the heavier pick i'm guessing has aided your strum somewhat. Good tempo throughout and mostly smooth changes with a song that is not that easy to be smooth with, a couple of times I thought you went to the next chord a bit too quick which again is easy to do on this song given distance to travel at times between frets. After listening to this I watched Dewey play it on You Tube on his 12string, so ... out came my 12 and very quickly damn near paralysed my left hand what a workout, need a lot more practice with my barres i discovered and so this is was a good timely reminder.
Oi! Wheres the compulsory hat? :laugh:
Oi! Wheres the compulsory hat? :laugh:
tovo wrote:
I don't want you to feel weird so here is a shot of me in a cowboy hat. :woohoo:
Tony,buddy wrote:Thanks for the comment Bud. It's weird seeing you in videos without your cowboy hat!Tony,
Good job with the bar chords and nice hand position.
It was weird though seeing you without a green face.
Bud
I don't want you to feel weird so here is a shot of me in a cowboy hat. :woohoo: