Hi guys just a "progress"? update on HORS
rapsidy learning to play House of the rising sun acoustic guitar
Hey mate, you're making really great progress!! If a guitarist had to learn only one song this would be it! It's mandatory!
A couple of observations in the spirit of helping you get better:
1. Be a little more deliberate with your chords, especially the dreaded F chord. You apply it in a two part motion that I've never seen before. Neil teaches to fret the notes of a chord in the order you need them but most people fret the little barre first and then fill in behind it.
2. Try to get your thumb a little more on the back of the neck and not flying high above it. Your left hand position isn't bad but would be even better, and give you cleaner tones, if you plant your thumb behind the neck. Note: this may not be possible on the F chord.
3. The first note of each measure isn't just important in this song, it's critical!! You are doing a good job empahsizing the bass note but work hard on keeping the speed of your arpeggios consistant. You hurried a few of them and caught yourself doing it.
4. Your timing isn't bad but could be better. Do you have a metronome? This song works really well with a metronome and they cost almost nothing. Start very slowly but accurately. Build up speed as you get more accurate. Never sacrifice accuracy for speed. I was practicing a song tonight so slowly it was driving me nuts but until I played it perfectly I couldn't speed up. I play little head games with myself! LOL! It doesn't help the night I do it but the next time I play it's noticeably better.
I loved your intro! Humor is so important when learning something this frustrating! Non-players all think it's so easy to learn the guitar. Any idiot can play the guitar right? A trained monkey can play Crazy Train with enough treats right? Yeah, right! It's hard work and frustrating. And there is no such thing as too much practice.
For a new player you are doing really well and should feel good about your progress. I'm sure you are frustrated that you aren't Eric Clapton by now but neither am I and I've played off and on for 40 years!
Hang in there, keep practicing and thanks for sharing your video! Please post this song again when you smooth it out a bit. You are very close to mastering this tune and then you will have to sing it!! LOL!
Cheers! :cheer:
A couple of observations in the spirit of helping you get better:
1. Be a little more deliberate with your chords, especially the dreaded F chord. You apply it in a two part motion that I've never seen before. Neil teaches to fret the notes of a chord in the order you need them but most people fret the little barre first and then fill in behind it.
2. Try to get your thumb a little more on the back of the neck and not flying high above it. Your left hand position isn't bad but would be even better, and give you cleaner tones, if you plant your thumb behind the neck. Note: this may not be possible on the F chord.
3. The first note of each measure isn't just important in this song, it's critical!! You are doing a good job empahsizing the bass note but work hard on keeping the speed of your arpeggios consistant. You hurried a few of them and caught yourself doing it.
4. Your timing isn't bad but could be better. Do you have a metronome? This song works really well with a metronome and they cost almost nothing. Start very slowly but accurately. Build up speed as you get more accurate. Never sacrifice accuracy for speed. I was practicing a song tonight so slowly it was driving me nuts but until I played it perfectly I couldn't speed up. I play little head games with myself! LOL! It doesn't help the night I do it but the next time I play it's noticeably better.
I loved your intro! Humor is so important when learning something this frustrating! Non-players all think it's so easy to learn the guitar. Any idiot can play the guitar right? A trained monkey can play Crazy Train with enough treats right? Yeah, right! It's hard work and frustrating. And there is no such thing as too much practice.
For a new player you are doing really well and should feel good about your progress. I'm sure you are frustrated that you aren't Eric Clapton by now but neither am I and I've played off and on for 40 years!
Hang in there, keep practicing and thanks for sharing your video! Please post this song again when you smooth it out a bit. You are very close to mastering this tune and then you will have to sing it!! LOL!
Cheers! :cheer:
Hey man that's coming along. You did seem to relax a bit around the 2.00min mark. But one observation is your timing really goes up and down, answer play along with a metronome slowly at first then build up. Your right hand patterns seem to be ok but more muscle ,memory required for the left hand. I have to agree the dreaded camera does put you off, I have mine permanently set up in my Guitar room facing me so I can get used to it, once I do I'll post more, could be a while off lol
Hi Brad, nice going, it is moving along , much more relax, even if you disagree. The challenge I think is that you are focusing on both hands, causing the left hand to mute some strings sometimes.
One thing I do, to clear the right hand off my mind, is to practice the arpeggio slowly without the left hand doing the chords. I either mute all the strings with the left hand or play all the strings open. I just then do the arpeggio sequence over and over until I do not have to think about it. As Rick suggested using the metronome doing this exercise would address 2 aspects of the songs.
Looking forward to an update
Marc
One thing I do, to clear the right hand off my mind, is to practice the arpeggio slowly without the left hand doing the chords. I either mute all the strings with the left hand or play all the strings open. I just then do the arpeggio sequence over and over until I do not have to think about it. As Rick suggested using the metronome doing this exercise would address 2 aspects of the songs.
Looking forward to an update
Marc
Hi guys big thanks for watching and great advice
Bear- you have gone beyond the call of duty thanks for taking the time out to give such in depth reply, much appreciated,
1. more deliberate buy this i assume you mean put ALL the chord down at same time instead of the F A then the bare like i am doing, i suppose i just followed the same method as how the D chord was shown in the lesson or should that be deloberate as well ? my problem is that Neil maybe demonstrating a techniques in slow mo and i probably assume that is how it is ment to be done lol.
2 thumb posy is always a problem for me i am aware of it but i have lazy fingers and thumb that likes to sneak into comfy mode.
3.yes sometimes my fingers get stuck on the strings so i have to hurry. Noted...
4.yes i do have a metronome with dust on it, we dont like each other... to be honest and this is embarrassing i dont know how to use it
eg.. 4 beats does that mean i have to do 1 note per beat ?? 1234 Am bass pluck 1 appegios 2 3 4 5 6 or do u count them bass 1 2+3+4 next chord .... hope that makes sense.
5.I really appreciated 5 as i was one of those non players the problem is people like you (guitarists) make it look easy so its your fault
seriously though yes it is so hard and so frustrating and yes at times i am proud of my achievements then i get despondent again this guitar thing is giving me emotions like a woman lol. Humor i dont try to be funny it is just who i am i like to see the positives and funny side to things as edder vedder says "there is to much in this world to make me bleed" so i want to be a positive influence. thanks for your help u must get sick of helping us slow aussies out :blink:
thanks chas- metronome any advice on how to use it lol seriously straight struming im ok with but finger picking and little intros like the one on across the universe and two of us i get lost and dont know how to keep time, i can play along with neil fine when he uses his but on my own im hopeless
Marc- good tip i will try that out, my problem is i like to run before i can crawl
Rick- you see and no one pinged me for slouching yes metronome is the common theme i am going to start a thread called help brad use a metronome thread.
Bear- you have gone beyond the call of duty
thanks for taking the time out to give such in depth reply, much appreciated, 1. more deliberate buy this i assume you mean put ALL the chord down at same time instead of the F A then the bare like i am doing, i suppose i just followed the same method as how the D chord was shown in the lesson or should that be deloberate as well ? my problem is that Neil maybe demonstrating a techniques in slow mo and i probably assume that is how it is ment to be done lol.
2 thumb posy is always a problem for me i am aware of it but i have lazy fingers and thumb that likes to sneak into comfy mode.
3.yes sometimes my fingers get stuck on the strings so i have to hurry. Noted...
4.yes i do have a metronome with dust on it, we dont like each other... to be honest and this is embarrassing i dont know how to use it
eg.. 4 beats does that mean i have to do 1 note per beat ?? 1234 Am bass pluck 1 appegios 2 3 4 5 6 or do u count them bass 1 2+3+4 next chord .... hope that makes sense.5.I really appreciated 5 as i was one of those non players the problem is people like you (guitarists) make it look easy so its your fault
seriously though yes it is so hard and so frustrating and yes at times i am proud of my achievements then i get despondent again this guitar thing is giving me emotions like a woman lol. Humor i dont try to be funny it is just who i am i like to see the positives and funny side to things as edder vedder says "there is to much in this world to make me bleed" so i want to be a positive influence. thanks for your help u must get sick of helping us slow aussies out :blink: thanks chas- metronome any advice on how to use it lol seriously straight struming im ok with but finger picking and little intros like the one on across the universe and two of us i get lost and dont know how to keep time, i can play along with neil fine when he uses his but on my own im hopeless
Marc- good tip i will try that out, my problem is i like to run before i can crawl
Rick- you see and no one pinged me for slouching
yes metronome is the common theme i am going to start a thread called help brad use a metronome thread.Nice work, Brad. I enjoyed watching your video. Don't be so hard on yourself. Playing is difficult enough without the added pressure of a camera in your face. One tip from an old producer that may help you with that, record multiple takes with each session. When you finish the first take, leave the camera rolling and do the song again, then again, and again. By doing this you are removing the pressure of this being "THE" take. It does get easier with repetition. When you are finished, watch them all and select the one you like best for upload. Every professional music video you have ever watched is the result of multiple takes.
The advice you have received about using the metronome is great. Dust yours off! It is a great learning tool. Slow it down at first and let your fingers begin to create the 'muscle memory' and then gradually speed it up. Personally, I continue to practice and speed up the metronome until I am about 10-20% faster than it should be and still able to play it smoothly. When you finally slow it down to normal speed, the chord transitions are much easier.
Thanks for posting your video.
Bill
The advice you have received about using the metronome is great. Dust yours off!
It is a great learning tool. Slow it down at first and let your fingers begin to create the 'muscle memory' and then gradually speed it up. Personally, I continue to practice and speed up the metronome until I am about 10-20% faster than it should be and still able to play it smoothly. When you finally slow it down to normal speed, the chord transitions are much easier. Thanks for posting your video.
Bill