It Never Rains In Southern California

mike721
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Fri Mar 15, 2019 12:20 pm

Hi everyone! I finally managed to record a song without staring at my sheet music. I hope you like it.


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daryl
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Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:11 pm

Mike! That was great! So much nicer not having your nose stuck to the lyrics and chord sheet. You seemed so much more relaxed and more focused on the singing and emotion of the song. Great job.!!


mike721
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Fri Mar 15, 2019 8:18 pm

Oh thank you Daryl! Thank you! Thank you! You just put me on cloud nine. Now what time does the westbound 747 depart? :laugh:

Seriously though, I discovered something. It wasn't so much memorizing the chords I had difficulty with. It was the lyrics, which is why people singing karaoke need to look at them while singing. The problem was I would lose track of which verse I was on, so I created what I call a mnemonic sheet consisting of just the first few words of each verse. So for "It Never Rains In Southern California," it looked like this.

Got onboard a westbound 747

chorus,

Out of work, I'm out of my head,

chorus,

Will you tell the folks back home, I nearly made it,

chorus,


It was like eureka to me. :)


TGNesh
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Sat Mar 16, 2019 5:42 am

That was awesome Mike!! Well done! :cheer: And I love your voice. ;)


Craig
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Sat Mar 16, 2019 10:49 am

Hey Mike, Good to see you again and really nice job on this song! Your strumming has come a long way in a short time! Keep up the great work and I look forward to your next one!

Craig

P.S. For the record, it's been raining a lot in Southern California!! :laugh: :laugh:


spinland
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Sat Mar 16, 2019 12:45 pm

I love that tune, and you rocked it! :side:


mike721
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Sun Mar 17, 2019 11:17 pm

You guys and gals at TotallyGuitars are so awesome and nice! I wish general Internet social media was that way. There are too many "trolls" (nasty and mean people) out there ready to burst your balloon.


spinland
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Mon Mar 18, 2019 6:37 am

This bunch is Da Bomb! :side:

I have comments disabled on my YouTube channel. If I care about someone's opinion of what I post they know how to reach me directly. No one else need apply. B)


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neverfoundthetime
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Mon Mar 18, 2019 8:25 am

How good was that! Well done Mike you had me singing along with you, very enjoyable!
Great that you've found a way to anchor the lyrics, it really helps to allow you to perform the song so much better.
I have to rely on similar memory jogs more often these days.... nothing worse than a line of verse suddenly going AWOL!
I've been enjoying your progress and hope you keep posting, Mike.

As for comments on YT. Anyone who appreciates the learning process and courage it takes to put something out there when playing guitar and singing will only give you encouragement. Any other kind of comment is ignorance or just plain meanness of spirit. Never tolerate it or be bothered by it, Its a comment on them (the trolls) not on you.

Best from Switzerland
Chris


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TGNeil
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Mon Mar 18, 2019 2:26 pm

Hey Mike,

Very well done! It looks like you are even enjoying playing this as you go. Really good sound from the lav mike too. One suggestion I have now would be to alter the strumming pattern a little bit from time to time. It could be as simple as putting the down stroke on beat 3 back in to get more of the 'rock' strum sound.

Neil


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