Busking The Rave-Ups: The Tallest Tree

spinland
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Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:55 pm

The main thing I hear when I watch this is the spots where I feel I could have been smoother on the guitar work (and one hesitant spot on the vocals). That being said, I feel I have come such a long way since I teamed up with you guys. I'm having fun, and getting better by the week. I can hardly wait to see you all at IGC and engage in terminal guitar geekitude. This video is also the debut of my new PRS Angelus acoustic: I've decided to name her Rose. :woohoo:

This song means a lot to me. During probably the blackest period of my life one of my dearest friends made me a mix tape of tunes she thought might help get me through the pain. It did. This is my favorite tune from that tape. It's obscure in that I had to arrange this entirely by ear, even the lyrics; nothing exists on the interTubez at all to work with. I enjoyed the challenge, and my resolve to sing it in the original key despite my aging vocal range.

[video type=youtube]7-aBX3p0HIE[/video]

:side:

Mark


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daryl
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Thu Apr 20, 2017 5:13 pm

Good job Mark. You are definitely improving. Was Rose plugged in or was she mic'd? She sounded nice!


spinland
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Thu Apr 20, 2017 6:06 pm

Thanks, Daryl! Mic all the way. I wanted to do this unplugged. :side:

Mark


wrsomers
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Thu Apr 20, 2017 8:23 pm

Good job Mark. Your voice sounds great. You got somewhat pitchy but I think it was in the parts where the guitar was out of rhythm. Rose sounds very nice. Keep working at it, you are definitely getting better. I noticed a few things that if corrected would help you a lot. You still have your left palm facing more toward your right hand instead of the ceiling (like we talked about before). Also your pick attack would be so much better if you angle the pick 45 degrees and brush across the strings instead of at a 90 degrees to the strings. And lastly a metronome for practice would help keep you on the beat, you lost it quite a few times.

All in all you have made great progress. Keep them coming.

Bill


sandysue
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Thu Apr 20, 2017 8:34 pm

Great job Mark, you sound really good. :)

Sandy


familyman4
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Thu Apr 20, 2017 10:17 pm

Hello Mark,

Thanks for sharing your new guitar sound and story with us. I could feel your excitement and anxiousness waiting for "Rose" to arrive.

Now that you have her, I hope you get to enjoy many good times together!

Bart


spinland
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Fri Apr 21, 2017 4:34 am

Thanks, guys!

Bill: Yeah, I was trying to perform that to the original track and just sticking with a metronome is probably a better route. I know the song inside and out, there was no need for that crutch, and I think it distracted more than it helped. I also think that once I'm comfortable singing and playing at the same time some of that hesitation and disconnect from the beat will abate. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway. ;)

Roger on the arm/palm angle. I'm slowly working it into the new, improved position and that process has to overcome decades of poor posture. If I don't think about it the arm wants to drift out again and take my hand with it. It's tiring, but worth working on, and I expect muscle memory to take over eventually.

On the pick angle, do you mean angled on the vertical axis so it's still parallel to the ground but pointing more forward/backward (from the tip to toe of the guitar's perspective), or around the axis that parallels the strings so the tip is pointing more "up" (or down) than level?

Thanks again to everyone, I'm enjoying this journey. My goal is to have a lot of the low hanging fruit worked out of my system before Camp so by then I can focus on refinement and technique and all that other cool stuff. And to play my heart out and have fun. :side:

Mark


wrsomers
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Fri Apr 21, 2017 5:04 am

spinland wrote:
Thanks, guys!

Bill:

On the pick angle, do you mean angled on the vertical axis so it's still parallel to the ground but pointing more forward/backward (from the tip to toe of the guitar's perspective), or around the axis that parallels the strings so the tip is pointing more "up" (or down) than level?

Mark
Mark,
I mean the latter technique. Here's a link to a lesson I got from Neil on "Harvest Moon" Starting at 3:01 he gives an excellent lesson on angling/softening the pick. Click on "Neil's Reply"

http://www.totallyguitars.com/video-rev ... =component

Bill


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neverfoundthetime
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Fri Apr 21, 2017 9:03 am

Well done Mark! I can see you are enjoying the hell out of your Angel rose. Not an easy song to sing but you did well. Keep it up!


willem
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Fri Apr 21, 2017 10:41 am

Wonderful.,, nice guitar, nice singing too..

Willem B)


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