Getting a bit better I think. Pirate Bruce Inspired me to take another run at this, thanks to Steve A for the "Homework". Getting ready for Interlochen..!
Hi Jeff, Hey, sorry I never comment on your posts but I always watch (...and read) them with interest. You have posted some rants for sure so it's pay back time, ("ha,ha,ha") quoting you bro;-)..
For me your "Ain't No Sunshine" has all the building block for an original tune.
Your there, imho, and your time spent has really paid off...
If I could go a little deeper not as a critique but just to try and communicate a subtle adjustment on fingering of what I would call a left hand bass triad. I am not really very savvy on all the names but I use this shape a lot so I will do my best to try and describe it.
Most teachers that I have experienced (in the flesh) and that would be Greg, Bob, Don, Tom and Steve. I think that Emmett might employ my little trick too though. Probably they all do both (of course they do) and don't really think about it or even mention it, as though it does not really matter, but in the ergonomics of 'shape creation' on the fretboard I see it as the difference between a chord shape that seems to struggle a bit and an effortless "motor" as Emmett would call it...
So it's the simplest thing; on you bass chord shape, instead of placing your ring finger on the eleventh string allow it to go to the twelfth with the middle finger on the eleventh. It is so simple that it's like "well duh!" But as far as 'glide' it makes it easy for those three fingers to make contact with the strings in a roll that requires less concentration so the focus can be devoted to the right hand melody.
Getting back to original tunes, It's just me saying this, so what does it matter(?), but 'who cares about "Ain't No Sunshine?". It's a great song but there was a time when there was no "Ain't No Sunshine" and Bill Withers (I looked it up ) came up with a tune, a lyric, a chord change or a bass line, the chicken or the egg? Who knows, but he brought something from behind the 'creative vail' and now it is one of the most covered and recognizable tunes in pop music. Here is the original:
I chance to say that in the creative process for Bill it was a 'solfege' or singing insight, but possibly the bass line came first and everything built from there. Some people are great at interpretation and to really bring life to another person's song is a gift no doubt. Hendrix and "All along the Watchtower" or Crosby, Stills an Nash' "Woodstock" come to mind.
Those songs never would have happened without Dylan and Joni mitchell who staked out the original territory.
I am really impressed with your "original work" on guitar and like I said I thought you should open for Steve Via but he would not want you to 'show him up' ha...
So I am saying you are so creative, so amazing, so capable of looking beyond the vail that that outside the exercise of playing covers I am chomping at the bit for more original stuff;-).
A case in point:
This is great, I have no problem with this video and the cool experiment of using the old pop song as background to essentially make the guitar the lead vocal. But I don't think she had this in mind. "Eva", without that Bill Withers vocal and the name of the song on the video, but just the drum track and the guitar and her cuteness (and talent) I don't think it would have racked up over 100k of views. Such is modern life. If on the other hand she found her own voice, created a new song...Well for me, aside from being admittedly more challenging it would also be more satisfying.
Just since were on the subject of pop songs, if anyone has gotten this far (I admit I have been hittin the coffee straw and I am on a typing jag;-)...
But mentioning Joni Mitchell and CSN turning her "Woodstock" into a million seller and also just saying that she is my favorite singer song writer, here is Joni doing the trick, covering her own song in the same up beat rocked out style that CSN did with Woodstock. To bad it's about a drowning and not a historic concert .
And the original, a bit depressing but it shows how an old tune can be transformed by the original artist:
jRj *j* .~
_________________ Dreams are set to blossom courage.
Following up on JRJ's tips, you can "motorize" your LH accompaniment bass/chord riff a bit more (which releases concentration to the RH) if you use two adjacent fingers on the two consecutive low bass E notes (root of the dominant 7th in Am).
Such "false fingering" walks nicely in the bass line and allows you to play even more with the rhythm (triplets or doubletime with other notes in the bass line). I know that's not the song anymore but without getting ambitious about it, turning that "hop" into a walk would get you started in this direction.
Such a walking technique encourages position playing as on cello (just get a finger there). Down this road, you can just let 'em fly and there ain't no road no more.
Mon Aug 15, 2016 1:58 pm
Jayesskerr
Elite Contributor
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 9:43 am Posts: 4039
Re: Ain't No Sunshine - Take two
Hey guys; thanks for checking it out, and double thanks for the feedback! Working on it now, good idea JRJ. And thanks, Emmett I'll give it a shot... Not sure though if I can get my mind off the damn thing (LH) and have it be a mindless motor... I've been trying for two years and it seems to require just a bit of concentration diverted to it, if only to just keep the gas on so to speak...
On the bright side, it's a whole ton better than it was two years ago, that's for sure. Let's see what next year brings, eh?
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2015 5:11 am Posts: 1367 Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Re: Ain't No Sunshine - Take two
hey Scott nice job. Looking forward to hearing this live in Michigan. I watched your other video but found the sound a bit quiet. This video was fine. Take Care dude.
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2015 7:40 am Posts: 2884 Location: Detroit, MI
Re: Ain't No Sunshine - Take two
Scott, I agree with Rob--easier to hear you this second time. Video was well done.
I also agree that this is just about half a neuron away from just being an original. And to JRJ's points: I hear Bob Dylan prefers Hendrix's version of All Along the Watchtower to his own, and that's the version he plays live when he plays it. Now THAT'S a cover!
Great comments from many about the left hand and finger placement. Also, I can't wait to see the epiphany Rodrigo had watching you!
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 5:02 am Posts: 2626 Location: Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada
Re: Ain't No Sunshine - Take two
Nice job Scott...only a small detail and it's not the first time I talk about this on this forum. Be careful about what Berklee call the "low interval limit". Your chords (L.H.) are in a very low register. Try to find another position or a higher one and your version will improve a lot. I can see you're improving a lot on your hand's independance...congrats.
Hey guys, thanks for checking it out; and also thanks for the feedback! I take it all into consideration. hahaha I guess from now on I'll do my videos with the audio direct into the interface, it is a lot louder and clearer.
Awright, back to practice been a busy playing week!
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