Busking Tracy Chapman

rapsidy
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Tue Apr 03, 2012 4:42 am

I just found this and yes its a pretty awesome job ness!!!! guitar sounds mint, love the dog lol


michelew
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Sat Jul 13, 2013 11:47 pm

Hi everyone,

I've uploaded this for review. I'm reposting it here for my friends who are not currently Target members.

This is a beautiful song by Tracy Chapman. I still need to work on it. I know I need to play it a million times to get everything working properly, but here is my progress. I can sing it by itself, play it by itself, even do the two together OK. Put me in front of the camera and all of my weaknesses are highlighted.

There'’s a line in the chorus “"look at me losing control...”." How apt. :) When I sing it I lose concentration almost every time and something goes out the window; the percussive strumming, my singing, the words, ... something. Oh well, good thing this is a learning site. I think it’s because I'’m concentrating to ensure I lift my wrist a bit so I can put my pinky flat against the strings and release the tension a little to mute them. I actually particularly enjoy the percussive strumming in this, even though it’s not automatic yet.

I actually considered doing a poll about playing in front of the camera with all of the options being some degree of the camera SUCKS! :) I whinged to Nessa instead... Thanks for the therapy Ness. :)


All comments and advice welcome.

Thanks for the lesson Nessa. I'’ve really enjoyed learning it.



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Craig
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Sun Jul 14, 2013 1:57 am

Michelle,

Very nice! As usual, you are a little too tough on yourself. As usual, you did a great job! I'm not too familiar with this song but it seems to me that the lyrics would be tough to sing and keep everything else going. My little finger doesn't cooperate with me at all so yours is doing great things here!! Well done.

Craig


TGNesh
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Sun Jul 14, 2013 2:28 am

Now what do you know, finally another TC-upload in this thread, you've made my day Shel ánd Cori's!! :P ;) :cheer:

I'll get back to you later, but I can tell you, that was just GREAT!!! :) :) :)

Nessa


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daryl
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Sun Jul 14, 2013 4:52 am

Thanks for letting me see! You did a good job. Your finger-picking was spot on (even while singing and remembering (most of) the words). It's as if your right hand had a mind of its own! And your chord changes were clean and smooth. But I never would attempt to mute the 6 strings with my pinky. That movement seems too foreign to me. I would typically release the pressure on the fretting fingers and "lay them down" slightly to catch the strings I wasn't fingering. I assume the lesson talks about using the pinky. Either way you achieved the effect. It seems the melody/lyrics are typical Chapman, in that their meter is slightly off from the rhythm of the song. Making it tough to sing while playing. But you mostly have it down. Like you said, now you only need to play it a million more times (in front of the camera) to get it down cold.


willem
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Sun Jul 14, 2013 8:41 am

Wow Michele,,I listen and listen,,could'nt make a what to say to you,,then I went back to the play through by Vanessa,,then I went back to you and lay the lyrics across your performence,,now I can say ''you got you a song'', very nicely done...

Willem


lueders
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Sun Jul 14, 2013 2:16 pm

How Nice!! :) :) :)


First of all... before I forget...A BIG thank you for posting this here. :) :) :)
I loved it!!! loved it!! This has it all: You, your nifty performance, Tracy Chapman, Tracy Chapman's beautiful near- perfect songwriting, Vanessa's excellent lesson on said songstress...and of course Vanessa herself by association. All wonderful things. What's not to like? Forgive if I'm writing too much into this but you singing this here with these heartfelt lyrics and knowing what good pals you and Vanessa are...I like to think of your performance as a musical, digital,tribute thank you card to a dear friend. :) :) :) :) :)

Okay now that the mushy stuff has been all typed- out... I can talk about your performance. The crystal clear tone of your finger-picking never disappoints. I wish I could play that cleanly & precisely. I wouldn't sweat the transition...damn camera.

You've probably played it 15 times off camera flawlessly. But, if you played it live JUST LIKE THIS somewhere no one would even know. So the next time you sell out Mt. Smart Stadium just keep going. (I love google! I just wanted to sound worldly. lol )

EDIT: Oops that one is in Aukland, NZ...would have made more sense to say Enmore Theatre in Syndey.

Daryl is right on about Tracy's meter of the melody/vocal line not lining up with the
accompaniment. It seems a bit unorthodox in many of her songs. I think it is one of those nuances that make her songs work so well...such compelling stuff. I love all of it!! What a life force she is. What beautiful simplicity.

Excellent, excellent Michele!!! Nice job! Nice sentiment!


P.S. Good call Vanessa! I did love it!! :) :) :)

Cori


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neverfoundthetime
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Sun Jul 14, 2013 3:13 pm

Really nice job all round again Michele! First thing I notice is that your camera presence is becoming ever more smooth and relaxed in spite of your inner turbulences, that's no longer visible. Second thing was how well you managed to sing and phrase the song in spite of it being probably difficult to pick and sing at the same time, that's a sure sign of mastering the beast! You classical position handling the guitar makes it all look even more mastered. Its a nice song very well done! :-)


TGNesh
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Sun Jul 14, 2013 3:57 pm

Gosh Cori always beats me when it comes down to enthousiasm about your upload! :P

Like him, I just LOVED IT!! Can't believe it, the first upload regarding one of my lessons, now HOW COOL is that!!! :woohoo:

And gee woman, you just did a fantástic job! I thought everything in there was just great, you made the fingerpicking look SO easy! :cheer: 'Look at me losing control'! :laugh: :laugh: I'm sorry, but I knów, recording is súch a bitch!! :S Still you got through more than fine anyway. As for the muting, did you also release the strings with your left hand? I couldn't really tell.

AWESOME job Shel, really proud of you, just thrilled to see you play this one and SO well too!! :cheer: :cheer:

Nessa

(Cori: :kiss: :kiss: :) :) :) )


michelew
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Sun Jul 14, 2013 6:07 pm

Thanks SO much everyone. Reading all of these comments this morning has meant I'm starting my day feeling on top of the world. Oh!!! While I'm here I can visit some people in the Northern Hemisphere. ;).

Craig - you're always so sweet to me. Thank you. Having a dicky pinky would make this a challenge to play. You could play it without your pinky, but it's much better with it.

TGVanessa - I love using your new handle (forum name). ;) Well sweet woman I'm playing it as well as I am because of your fabulous teaching. As you know I started off using the wrong fingering because my memory is crappy at the moment. But once I re watched your video and was doing what you suggested the fingerpicking became much smoother. It just made a lot more sense. I'm THRILLED that you like it. ;) :) ;) :) Cori's right, I did post it as a thank you to you, so your reaction really tickled me (and I'm hard to tickle ;) ).

Daryl - hey mate, thanks for commenting so enthusiastically. :) actually I really enjoyed playing the percussive strum this way. It does require me to concentrate more and I need to remember to lift my wrist and let go of the tension, but it adds another string to my bow. And the more techniques the better. Neil also teaches percussive strumming with the picky and with the lying down option. I think he says it in Black's song. That may be a free lesson by now. Of course Nessa is teaching it the way Tracy plays it, which is great in my books since it makes the sound more authentic once mastered. However, i will try the muting as you suggest. its great to be able to use different approaches. The phrasing of the lyrics...yep it does make it harder to sing, but it makes it more expressive too. It's a beautiful song. Thanks for your constant support.

Willem - Thank you! Give it a go. It's a good one to have in your songbook. It's very cool and Nessi gives us everything we need to get it down properly.

Cori - WOW! Thanks SO much sweet man. I was hoping you'd like it since this thread was started for you and you're such a diehard TC fan. You've GOT TO learn this one if you haven't already, it's SUCH a beautiful song and being taught by SweetNess-incarnate is SO COOL!!! You really made my morning with this comments, you're SUCH a beautiful man. Enmore Theatre, :) B) good one!!! I used to live across the road from it actually, which made parking hell and made it hard to sleep at times, but I've seen some cool acts there like Emmy Lou Harris, Mary Chapin Carpenter, the Indigo Girls and Joss Stone. So just the suggestion that I'd get up on stage after that line up is awesome. :) thanks for being so enthusiastic as always. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You're a sweetie.

Chris - I'm glad you think I look more relaxed. Actually I am feeling better than I was even if it is still messing with my playing. I sing it much better in the shower, B) including remembering to hum at the end. It's a beautiful song and the phrasing is brilliant. When I'm on my lounge playing, I don't use the same classical position, similar but without the neck being so high. At my computer desk, the foot stool that I now have trouble ignoring places me in the high neck position, but it works pretty well for this song. Thanks!

Nessa - Well Cori might have beat you to the finish line with the first over the top enthusiasm (though your first response was already pretty GREAT!) but I just LOVED reading your second one. ;) :) :) :) I'm SO glad I got this down well enough to post it before anyone else posted a video for a lesson you've taught. Woo hoo!!! As for releasing the pressure while muting, in truth I don't know if I'm doing it in the video, but I do release when playing it off camera. On camera there's just too many things happening in my head and I get distracted. I love the sound of the percussive strumming. It's very cool. Thanks for helping me to get it down. I LOVE having you as a TG teacher now. I loved that I can go back and watch your video and suck every little gem of information out of it. You've made videos for me before which have always been awesome, but I LOVE seeing you in your new role. It's SO cool. THANKS for the wonderful teaching. Your endless support and encouragement is priceless.

Smiling big time here.

Shel


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