I listened a little closer

As I was uploading the short, I watched it one more time watching the thumb. What do you know? There were some pauses in my playing that I was sure didn’t exist. I’ve worked for years and years to get that thumb consistent and independent but sometimes one falls back into old patterns..

You gotta record yourself

I make it a habit to record myself quite a bit and this is why. We have plenty of resources so there isn’t an excuse to not record yourself. You can make up excuses like I did to not record like “It’s too much to organize after awhile” “I don’t have the time to listen” ” I don’t like hearing or watching me play” . The list goes on and on but there are more reasons to record than not.

• The tape doesn’t lie: Every note, every dynamic, every nuance is going to be on the recording. you can’t ignore it. You can, however, improve upon it.
• A great way to document progress
• You can’t rely on your memory or impression of your practice session:
  • An inflated sense of how well you did can mask the mistakes you did make. Like I said, the tape doesn’t lie.
  • Conversely, maybe you had a bad day and your playing sucks and practice was a waste of time. (I’ve had this happen to me). The next day, I’ll listen to the session and I’m like “wow” that was pretty damn good!
• A repository for song ideas to come back to when you’re stumped

The list can go on and on but the reality is that there isn’t an excuse in the world to not record yourself. I have found that recording for YouTube has been a great way to stay consistent. I have to review each video to cut out what I want to post which means many times over I listen. Just like with the short I posted, I find something to improve upon and/or work on more!

Below is the YouTube Short in question: see if you can spot the anomalies in my thumb

I’ve been playing guitar for close to 40 years and have played many arrangements of popular songs, but I had never fully created my own arrangement until now. The process came naturally once I dove in. The song I chose was White Lion’s “When the Children Cry,” and after many months of working out the arrangement, changing voicings, and practicing it over and over, I finally posted it to my YouTube channel. Along the way, I uncovered some insights about arranging for guitar that I thought I’d share with you.

My Steps in Arranging Songs for Fingerstyle Guitar

1. Know the song forward and backward

• Listen to the piece over and over until you can play the whole song in your head. It helps with arranging/voicing and gives you the ability to work on it without having a playback device with you; you won’t always have your phone handy when inspired.

2. Learn the chords first

• Just stick with the base chords and recognize what they are and where they go in the songs. This is the foundation of your arrangement. Learn the root. Once you know the base chords, then you can move to alternate chords like adding a 6th, 11 or a borrowed chord, etc.. to add some color.

3. Be able to play the melody in more than one way

• This is the essential part of your arrangement so the listener will be able to identify the song. It’s a good idea to learn it in different positions as well; more options for when you bring it all together. Once you are know the melody forward and back, you can then add your own flair to the song and make it your own

4. Mess around and keep it simple at first

• I’ll go through the chords and start to incorporate the melody. Kind of like a jam session of sorts; playing it by ear and along with the original song.
• Playing the melody with only the root of the chord as the accompaniment. Keeps it simple and a good base to build from there.
• Once I get that base I’m happy with, I start building upon it; different chord types, variations on the melodies, etc… I want to make it my own without taking away or losing the vibe of the original. Tommy Emmanuel is the king of arranging a song that you recognize but when he plays, you know it’s him and the song stays true to the original sogwriter.

This is just a small list of what I’ve found useful in tackling guitar arrangements. As I continue developing this skill, my approach will evolve—but the key to creating original arrangements is consistent practice. Arranging is a craft that must be honed and polished over time. I know I’ll look back someday and cringe at my earlier work, but that’s okay—each arrangement represents the best I could do at that moment. Keep playing, and let me know what you’re working on right now!

My First Complete Guitar Arrangement:

About a month ago, I met again with my friend and we broke out the guitars and played.  Success!!!  We both got into that zone where you couldn’t make out whose guitar was whose and the melodies and chords filled the room.  This is one of the reason why I play, for moments like this. 

I spent many days thinking about what was different between the two sessions. What I came to realize was the success came from me staying true to my ability as a guitarist instead of trying to match my friends style.  He and I have played together for 20+ years and know each others ways very well.  We can anticipate each others progressions and ideas in while playing.  It’s a beautiful ting.  As guitarists, we are two sides of a coin when it comes to our style.  I’m a fingerstyle acoustic player and he’s an progressive electric guitarist/shredder. 

In the past, my problem has always been that I try to play in they style of my friend instead of mine.  I grab a pick and attempt to play fast and even though, I’m not bad with a pick, I’m much better using my fingernails.  I struggled in past jams because I was featuring my weakness instead of my strengths.   Our last successful jam, I utilized my strengths and funny thing happened;  I played pretty damn well.

It’s a great thing to be flexible and well-rounded as a guitar/player musician.  I try to expand my boundaries as a guitarist everyday and will continue to do so.  I have become a better player not because I practiced more, I became a better musician because I learned to embrace and be true to my style.

My first selection is Bruce Cockburn’s “Speechless.”  I chose Bruce because it was his playing that inspired me to study fingerstyle guitar  with his signature alternating bass lines with that unwavering thumb and his melodies continue to make my draw drop.  Speechless came out in 2005 and is a collection of his instrumentals throughout his almost 40 year career.  I think every song on this release is wonderful but here are some of my favorites.

• Rouler Sa Bosse: He has been performing this live quite a bit now.  Took me over a year to get that sucker down.
• Sunrise on the Mississippi: Great blues tune. A great example of how his thumb is independent from his entire body. Make you feel like you’re on the front porch down south  with some of the old greats.
• Deep Lake: Slow meditative song that reminds me of a trip I took to the English River in Canada.
• Water Into Wine and Sunwheel Dance: Both of these songs are perfect examples of his mastery of fingerstyle guitar. There is so much happening in these songs, you sometimes wonder if there is someone playing with him.
• Mistress of Storms: Another “thumb” song but he adds vibes to this for a more jazzy feel.  If you can get a hold of him doing this live, get it!  His improv is incredible.

Links of Interest:

Cockburn Project

Rounder Records

What’s your favorite strings?  Do you go for price, brand or whatever is available?

A guitarist by the name of Rob Bourassa is giving a “7 week primer” on YouTube which will “..enable the student to learn to play by ear.”  It is a course with a weekly lesson video and 5 minute practice companions to help you stay on task.  The first 3 courses covers scales and and fingerpicking (Travis).  I’m running through the lessons myself because I’m curious on what the lessons will bring and  my daughter is learning the guitar and he has great insight on teaching.  Rob has been playing for 40 years and is an incredible guitarist and is a  frequent contributor to the Acoustic Guitar Magazine Forum.  

So if you are just learning or know someone who is, check it out.  What Rob has done is incredibly generous.  Lessons like these would cost thirty to forty dollars if you wanted to get it on DVD.

Rob’s YouTube Lessons

7 Week Lesson Forum Thread

• Songster has a great Tab of “You Needed Me”.
  • *I like that Songster will many times, have the YouTube Video to play along with. If you upgrade to Songster Plus, you can then loop a section, slow down the music, print the tab, ect.. The free version is enough as well. If there is a Songster option, that is my goto and this particular tab for “You Needed Me” is pretty good.
• Freight Train/Trambone:  Pretty good transcription from, what seems to me, the “Up Close” DVD.  Very similar to the “Note for Note” transcription which was based off of that DVD as well.  Choose the acoustic power link and you will need Power Tab to read it.
• Dixie McGuire:  Another transcription that is close to the “Note for Note” one.  I used the Power Tab version from the Ultimate Guitar Archive.  It is worth noting that the “Note for Note” version was a great help filling in a couple of fingering holes that the other missed. The same goes for Blue Moon.
• Those Who Wait:  Great transcription and pretty accurate to the “Only” CD version.  I then used that to adapt it to the “Live One” CD and the PBS Sierra Nevada version.  He really never does it the same way twice, it seems.  Anyway, choose the Ultimate Guitar Archive link and the Guitar Pro and Power Tab versions are both good versions.
• Borsalino:  Currently working on this myself an it’s  the best version I can find and is accurate enough.  A few of the fingerings are wrong and the transcription is incomplete but if you have a video version of Tommy playing this live, you’ll be able to figure it out.  Used the the Guitar Pro version from the Ultimate Guitar Archive.
• Angelina:  My first Tommy E. that I learned.  I didn’t use this tab myself, I used the transcription that was in December 2005 issue of Acoustic Guitar Magazine, which is the best Angelina transcprition out there.    I would use the Guitar Pro tab but there is a high rated ASCII version of the tab but I’m not a big fan of that kind of transcription. Hint: If your trying to figure it out yourself, it’s in drop D tuning with the capo on the 2nd fret.
• Blue Moon:  Once again this is very similar to the “Note for Note” songbook. I used the Guitar Pro transcription that could be found at Ultimate Guitar Archive.  Still struggling with this song, got the notes down but the feel is lacking.

That’s a short list on the Tommy E songs I have been working on.  Of those, I could probably perform Dixie, Angelina and Those Who Wait without too much trouble.  I would still say they need some polishing.  So if you need to Tommy E songs to work on, I hope this helps.  If you can afford it, I would strongly recommend getting the “Note for Note.”  Not only for the great transcriptions but there is some useful information on Tommy’s playing and his influences.  Like it says in the book, you need to learn about what influenced him if you really want to play like him.  Anyway, I hope this helps and if you find any good transcriptions, please leave a comment.

Keep Playin’

More Tommy E song books here.

So twenty four years later, after picking up my first guitar, I am now a big fanatic for fingerstyle guitar and want to learn everything I can about it.  My problem is that I’m resorting to some bad habits that I had as a teenager.  The big one was that I was practicing a song over and over again but not really making any progress.  What I was lacking was some fundamentals, I was good but raw and not very clean in my playing. 

I was never formally trained for the guitar, my degree is in music but it was for voice, mainly because I couldn’t read music very well, I wasn’t that confident in my playing and at the time, I wanted to be a choral teacher.  Anyway, the point is that I just learned as I went but didn’t know warm-up techniques, scales or any
other exercises that could help me.  Constantly hitting a wall, I gave in and started to take guitar lessons.    Took the lessons for about a year until my teacher moved out of state.  But in that time he taught me the scales, movable chords and songs in a way that stuck with me this time.  I was able to approach the guitar from a different angle and things opened up for me.    I have made more progress in the past year than I have in the last 10 and it was not because I learned more pieces of music but I learned new exercises to improve my technique.

One of the things that really helped my technique was a fingerboard stretching exercise that was on John Petrucci’s DVD “Rock Discipline.”   It used chord shapes to get your left hand out of it’s comfort zone.  It really helped my articulation and ability to do some of the more difficult arrangements that Tommy Emmanuel does.  An example of the exercise can be found here.  I’m also working on my flatpicking ability, which was always pretty weak, by trying Paul Gilbert’s three notes per string excerises and building from there. 

That’s just a few of things I’m doing to build my fundamentals and technique and it’s helped a great deal.  So, what are you trying?  Leave a comment witih some ideas, excercises or whatever.  Especially fingerstyle stuff particularly for arranging fingerstyle.  That is where I feel I’m lacking right now.

 Keep playing