FIRE AND RAIN WITH VOCALS

[buddy]

After working on this song for some time I did not have any finger nails left, any finger nail care tips would be appreciated

This song has a lot of meaning for me as I lost a brother to cancer when we were both in our twenties.

It still has some rough spots, but any comments, tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. ( Bear that means yours to if you would like, and peace brother)



Added this retake without the amp or the microphone per MC suggestion.

[MarkM]

Bud,

Nice work!! You can see that you spent a lot of time on this one. I can't really speculate as to what you need to work on as I'm in no position with my lack of fingerpicking skills. It seemed as if you kept a good tempo throughout the song and for the most part all of you notes were very clear. I must commend you on your pinking stretching out to catch those notes. Well done there. I think just spending more time on this and you will have it nailed in short order. Great job on the singing as well. This song suits your voice well. I'm sure the others will be able to assist in much greater detail.




MarkM

[TGMatt]

Buddy...

You look really uncomfortable in that position..not that it seemed to effect your playing, but Neil gets out a wooden spoon and wacks me over the legs if he doesnt see me in optimal position everytime ...The old it sets a bad physical anchor and wires you wrong ..anyways my short opinion..nicely done otherwise..

[buddy]

Matt,

Your funny and I like your sense of humor. I was standing like that so I could cheat and look down at the words while still having the neck of the guitar in the corner of my eye. If I see Neil with a wooden spoon I am going to run for my life!

[AcousticAl]

Hey Buddy,

Nice work on this one.

I'd take a look (another look?) at Neil's intro section of the lesson. I think you're missing a few notes, and therefore the timing suffers as well. It's such a great intro that it's worth getting it down perfectly.

I enjoyed your singing and can tell the song means a lot to you. If anything, I'd like to hear your voice a little less effected.

Cheers!

[mcfingers]

A cheater eh? Nothing wrong with cheating the words, you just need to be sneakier about it, like me. :laugh:
My comments are more about the technical aspects of how you recorded. Like Al mentioned there seemed to be a lot of reverb. You have a strong voice and I think I would like to hear more of it without effects too. You seem to have a lot of high end (treble) in you guitar, maybe the way it's amped? I am guessing that Seagull (right?) has a nice mellow sound that isn't coming through. As I said these are nit picky things I noticed about the technical part of you video. I loved the pacing, emotion and the playing seemed to be progressing nicely as well. I enjoyed it Bud, nice going.

I just went back and listened again and I don't think the guitar sounded as tinny as I first thought. I think the reverb is overpowering it somewhat. Just tell me to stuffit if I am being too picky I won't be offended. Not meant to be.

[AndyT]

I'll echo Al and Steve and add that it looks like your picking your fingers way off the fretboard when you change chords. Neil makes a point about keeping them low and just clearing the strings.

Other than that, I think it was really well done. Music doesn't have to be perfect to be good. Quite often a less perfect version will sound better, especially when it has a lot of emotion attached to it. Great job.

[tovo]

Hey Buddy...has anyone ever told you that you post a lot of videos??

Anyhoo, I liked it. Songs that have a lot of meaning for a member always shine through I think. I'm with Al and the others, I'd prefer a cleaner sound.

As a general point, it will be better when you don't have to think about the changes. I felt that I could see you thinking about getting the changes right (not surprising it's not exactly 3 open chords is it!) But when you have the tune down so well you can play without thinking, then the emotion you have for the song and the reason it resonates with you will really shine through.

Nice one.

[d_dog]

Really nice work Bud. Looks like you've been working on this one a while. It's difficult to make any comments on the fingering as it's not my strong point, and honestly, it's difficult to see. I'll will give one piece of advice I can hardly follow myself, and that is, work on the song without singing it for awhile. I think you're playing would improve greatly much quicker than trying to do both. As I said, I know this is difficult, I like to sing every song that I play too, for me it's just not as satisfying otherwise, but the truth remains, it can detract from your playing until both are subconscious events.
Really great work though, I am going crazy focusing on one or two songs at a time, so many good ones keep popping up!

[neverfoundthetime]

Nice Buddy... great song... look forward to the day I can post that. Agree with Al's comment on the intro. I'd like to hear this when you get it perfected it's well on the way and some diligent practice on it will perfect it. Good going!