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Today I've been trying to record a play through for next weeks lesson. So at one point I was playing through it and I got close to the end, feeling kinda content and then.....I got nervous :ohmy: ...'don't scr%^w it up, don't mess it up' and what do you know, the final two measures.....I mess it up... :S (it's a very delicate fingerpicking song, somewhat trembling fingers don't help..)

Trust me, I felt pretty sorry for myself, since it took me at léast another full hour, if not more, to end up with an okay enough play through. Mentally it's just tough . I'm sure several of you can relate. Who ever said that recording gets easier at one point? ....I can tell you, they lied!!! :S :laugh:

So later, I listened to a few more takes, thinking...'sure, that's not too bad, but I'm not very content either'...

Then it occurred to me that I haven't been very content with several play throughs, in particular the most recent ones (last couple of months), which has a lot to do with having the flu three times :ohmy: , including a cold, throat aches, lots of couching, and for that constantly messed up vocal cords... ...but at one point I obviously need to pull the plug and just upload the lesson. So I do.

Anyway from there, the following question came to mind which I wanted to ask anyone who has ever uploaded a video here at TG. It's not going to be an easy question, but I do want you to try and answer it. Don't be overly modest.

What's your own personal favorite video (that you're happy/content with) and why? Edit: Please post the video as well, if you can. Also, just pick ONE, so think carefully!

Who dares? B)

Yes, I'll answer this one later as well. (Thankfully I can think of one or two. :laugh: )

TGNess

This will be an easy answer for me, Ness: none of them.

I own that I have so far to go before I come close to my musical goals, such as they are, and thus far all I've posted have been Mille Borne (1,000 milestones) towards that goal. I expect there will be many a long season yet between now and the time I post (or perform) anything I feel lives up to the potential I want to see in myself.

I do believe I have reasonable expectations, but also that I have only just begun. :side:

Mark

Vanessa,

Very thought provoking question... your "inner Michele" working! :laugh:

Since I just posted a song yesterday it's all very fresh in my mind! First of all I would like to say how happy I am to hear that you, with all of your talent and experience, have those same thoughts and feelings that us mere mortals do! I normally assume that it's just me feeling like that!

I'm never really content with anything that I post. Mostly because I know I can play it better, and have many times, without the camera rolling! I normally do three takes (unless they are REALLY bad) and pick the one with the least mistakes! I did three takes of the "Goodbye Blue Sky" that I just posted. Ironically, the other two I didn't post were better overall, cleaner notes and better hammer-ons, but both had one HUGE, whopper mistake that just killed it. All three takes had mistakes and all three mistakes were in different places!

Having said that, I'll answer your question. I posted Chicago's "Colour My World" a while back and I was about as pleased with that one as I can be. Even though it had a clunker note or two, I was happy because it was a challenging piece with a lot of finger movement and odd chord shapes. I felt like I was really making music and playing the guitar.

Craig

That's a hard question. I started going through my videos and quickly found six that I'm quite please with (and proud of). I know there are more but I thought I better stop going through them. With just the six I thought I better just choose one. And although they were all quite good (to my ears) for various reasons one just gave me the chills (as it always had) because of the vocals. So that's the one I've chosen.....thank you Claire! I LOVE YOUR VOCALS on this song:

WOW Ness! That's a doozy of a question; a real stumper.

Firstly, recording sucks! I think it was me who said that recording gets easier. It definitely has gotten easier for me over time... but it still well and truly SUCKS. And it sucks for exactly the reason you've stated. You can have a fabulous take and then screw it up close to the end because nerves kick in. Well there are lots more reasons for why it sucks. But that's a big one.

Before I talk about my own experiences, I'd like to make an observation; or actually repeat one that wasn't made to me. You Ness, as a TG teaching guru whom we all love and admire, have HUGE additional pressures on you that we mere mortals don't have. Some of the big ones are that:
- you have time pressures that we don't have - whether you have the flu or a sore throat or not, you still do your best to deliver a lesson every week. And you often develop the lesson from scratch; having only been introduced to it recently - or at least having often never taught it
- your lessons are official TG offerings - which have longevity.

I'm constantly amazed at the quality and quantity of lessons you churn out. And I can't think of a playthrough that wasn't stellar. That includes the last one which I thought was AWESOME.

But I'll try to answer your question (or not really answer it). My uploads fall into three types of videos; highly produced collaborations, busking with just me and my guitar and progress videos where I'm asking for advice.

Which one is my favorite? Well ... I rarely go back and watch my videos. There's always something that I wish I could have done better (I'm never quiet happy with my singing). But, I guess my favourite would probably be one of the collaborations I've done with TG people; probably Ness one of the ones I've done with you or David.

Why are the collaborations my favorites? Because they're fun and because of the creative components; e.g. that I've found a way to enhance something that was already pretty cool, that I've created something myself (a song, a choir, lyrics, a complementary melody, a solo).

But, I've also been able to work on the project until I was (we were) happy enough to post it. I was pretty happy with how the last TZZ video came out. But you know I started that project months earlier. Part of the reason it took so long was that I kept rerecording the vocals ... That's part of the reason why I record vocals and other instruments separately - so I can improve them where needed, rather than having to record everything again.

There's my non answer for the moment. In short my favorites would be the ones I had the most fun doing and the ones I found the most satisfying. Which one... hmmm ... too hard. I've enjoyed them all for different reasons, but yes some more than others I guess. Hmmm... maybe I'll return later with a video... maybe... :p



By the way - did I mention that I always LOVE your playthroughs?

Many of your videos come to mind, but I think I've have trouble picking a favorite there too.

michelew wrote:

I'm constantly amazed at the quality and quantity of lessons you churn out. And I can't think of a playthrough that wasn't stellar. That includes the last one which I thought was AWESOME.

Quoted for so much agreement the needle of my agreement meter flew off and is now stuck into the ceiling. :silly:

Mark

Good question Ness. Immediately our Africa play through comes to mind. That was so much fun that it clicked into place on the very first take when it had not worked out at all all afternoon as we were practicing it (mainly due to some error I would make). That was a magical moment and folks can go to your lesson on it to listen to the play through.

But if I pick something I was playing then it would be Eyes of A Child with Corina as something special happened there, we both got a deeper sense of what we can do together as we were listening to ourselves sing in the moment and then everything just clicked. Magical. I am also pretty chuffed to see its the only cover of this song (parts 1 & 2 together) on Youtube.

I have to agree with everyone, your play-throughs are consistently magic! And Daryl, thanks for reminding us of that fabulous song with Claire, truly wonderful!

Hi all,

Vanessa, your question is a doozy ...
My own TG video post that I'm the most fond of is from 2010 (!) when this site was in it's gurgling infancy.
I managed to locate it ... it is posted on the TG Student Channel.

Why this video ? I guess because it shows how sincerely I hoped to express myself playing and singing, even with such raw and limited musical abilities.
Also, I obviously had no clue about audio or video tech (you have to play with the volume and ignore the hissing audio).

So it is gratifying that I can now see at least some progress has been made since then, and also the "importance of being earnest"

TG has helped me greatly along the way ... these days I am flitting in and out of here very irregularly ...
Ya never know, I might eventually show up more often Everything changes, huh!

So here's the link:


See ya,
Pierre

daryl wrote:

That's a hard question. I started going through my videos and quickly found six that I'm quite please with (and proud of). I know there are more but I thought I better stop going through them. With just the six I thought I better just choose one. And although they were all quite good (to my ears) for various reasons one just gave me the chills (as it always had) because of the vocals. So that's the one I've chosen.....thank you Claire! I LOVE YOUR VOCALS on this song:

Wow Daryl, just saw this video. Of all the videos you have posted and this is your favourite. Claire will probably be as amazed as I am, but pleased I'm sure non the less.
She really did nail this song and you didn't do too badly yourself.

Cheers,


Tom N.

So much goodness in this thread...

Maybe this will become a "Greatest Hits" collection from the TG Masters? :silly:

I want to dial back the self-flagellating in my previous post and change my answer to: my next one. Every time I do one of these it will be better than the last, and that's beyond cool with me. B)

Mark