After about 2 months of working on this arrangment of a Genx\Grunge classic, I finally completed my fingerstyle arrangement of Stone Temple Pilots’ “Plush”. Melody is key when arranging a song for instrumental guitar – need something that is recognizable and memorable. From the iconic guitar intro to Scott Weiland’s melody lines, there is not mistaking Plush for any other song. It must have sounded enough like the original because YouTube flagged me for a copyright violation. I challenged it with the reason of fair use (cover song). We’ll see where that goes. I’ll keep you all posted.

Arrangement Notes:

In case you’re interested, here are some details on the song.

• Key: The original song is in G and I kept it there. I prefer to keep the song in the original key. No particular reason, just a preference. Since I’m not singing there really isn’t a need to transpose.
• Tuning: Standard tuning – I rarely do any alternate tunings besides a drop D; which I feel isn’t an alternate tuning since it’s used so much.
• Form: Kept with the oringal form and didn’t try to change anything about the song. Except making it an instrumental that is.

For my second full arrangement for guitar, I’m quite pleased with this one. It’s fun to play and those who have heard it, seem to dig it. Let me know what you think in the comments or better yet, visit my YouTube channel and give the video a like and subscribe. More content to come and if you have any ideas on what my next arrangement should be, let me know.

wife that, at this pace, I might finish it in another year or so.

Anyway….

In my “Back To Basics” post, I mentioned that I needed to work on technique for a bit because I was stuck in a rut and needed to change my practice formula.  Last weeks obstacle was focusing on one song and forgetting the others.  At one point I was saying to myself, “You’ve been playing for 20+ years and you can’t play shit!”   (insert primal scream here).  Just a bit of unnecessary negativity to keep me from playing my best but I’m better now.

Moving on…..

So fresh off of my trip, I come back more relaxed and with a fresh head.  I decided to write down all of the songs that I’ve been working on the last 6 months.  Next thing you know, I had ten songs on that slip of paper to prove that I just might might be able to play this guitar I was cursing last week.   I’m now using this list as a guide for my practicing, treating it as a kind of set-list of sorts.  After finishing the list, I feel a sense of accomplishment and I’m more focused and don’t ignore the other songs.

Lesson Learned?

I’ve read and been told many times to keep a journal of your practice and structure it so this revelation is nothing new.  I used to be able to keep track of everything I do in my head and it was easy but as I grow older and have more things to keep track of, my mind is beginnings to let me down.  I try with the best intentions to keep a log/journal of my playing with bit of success but always fall back into the same old bad habits.

Will this be the start of a continuing good habit or will I be like a dieter falling off the wagon who binges on doughnuts and milkshakes? I can’t say, knowing me, I’ll improve a bit and then stop and have the idea all over again.  We’ll see, but now I’m craving doughnuts.

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Guitar Meditation

After lunch, we had about 5 minutes to kill and I wandered in to by a thumb pick and some strings.  I also had just enough time to noodle around with a beautiful Larrivee and a Blueridge Parlor guitar.  I’ve been in love with Jean Larrivee guitars for quite a while and this one was a joy to play.  Nice bright tone and my fingers seemed to glide over the strings and frets.

I’ve become a fan of the Blueridge parlors just recently and if I had to choose, I would take both : ).  Seriously, I would probably pick up the Blueridge.  Reasons being:

1. The Parlor is a better guitar for me ergonomically
2. I just love the  1 7/8″ neck width.  My fingers have room and feels a bit like a classical in that sense but not too wide so I can still use my thumb in fingerings.
3. It has a V neck.  A lot of electrics have V necks and I thought this might be new for the acoustics.  I asked the owner of the shop about it and he said that V necks were very common for acoustic guitars, especially parlors.

I went home empty handed but got my fix for a while.  One day, one of those suckers will come home with me. 

Links:

http://www.larrivee.com/2_Main/main.html  (Larrivee Guitars)

An example of the Blueridge parlor I liked.  Not the same shop or guitar that I played but nice pics.  Pretty good price too. 

Sidenote:  If you are Posting to YouTube, what are you using to record? I’m using  the Flip Video portable video recorder.  It’s a solid unit for a starter but will want to upgrade sometime because I would like plug in a microphone.

Enjoy!

What Hasn’t Worked for Me:

• I read an interview with Bruce Cockburn where he said that he used to super glue his nails to reinforce them.  Even went as far as getting tissue or toilet paper and cutting them into small strips and glue them onto his nails.  Kind of a type of wallpaper or fiberglass type feel. I tried this and at first it seems to work but overtime it weekend my nails to the point where they would break and chip more often.  Bruce now uses a product called Nail Envy that he’s been using for a long time and swears by it.  I haven’t tried it myself.
• Haven’t tried acrylics but I did try the trick of cutting up a ping pong ball and shaping a fake nail and then gluing it to my finger.  It worked fairly well but you still run into the weakening of your organic nail because of the glue and I didn’t like the feel of fake nails because I felt a disconnect between me and the string.  It just didn’t feel right.  I didn’t think that acrylics would be any better so I didn’t try.  Plus I was a struggling college student and couldn’t afford them.

What Has Worked:

For me to have healthy nails was really more a lifestyle change rather than a quick fix gadget.

• I changed the way I do things with my hands.  For example, I wear gloves a lot to protect my hands or when I’m opening doors or drawers, I make sure I have a good grip because I have some of my worst breaks when opening a door or drawer and my hand slips and my nail catches.  That really pisses me off when I break a nail that way.
• I learned how to manicure my own hands with a nail file and I never use nail clippers.  I can’t remember where I read it but I read that  your nails get stronger if you file them down.  It has worked bunches for me.  I also keep a nail file everywhere I am; car, work, bathroom, etc…
• When I break a nail, I resist the urge to bite it and I can go all day, if I have to until I get to a nail file.  This one was hard for me since I used to be a chronic nail biter.  If the nail isn’t to bad I use a band-aid to re-enforce the nail until it grows out enough or finally breaks.  This works very well and I can usually buy a couple of weeks with this.
• I take a good multivitamin, it’s a Costco equivalent of Centrum.  Had to try 3 or 4 different brands until I found one that worked for me.

With all that said, I feel the constant use of a nail file is what has helped the most for me.  I don’t go more than a day or two before I use it.  It keeps my nails clean from snags, chips and I do believe that it has made my nails stronger.   What do you do, please leave a comment and let me know.

Update (10.27.08):  Recently purchased Nail Envy from amazon and have been using it for about a week.  So far, I have been impressed with the results.  More details in a future post.