New Chords with Jimi and Duane

Jimi Hendrix

Okay, so now I'm gonna go back and pick up some of the stuff I skipped.  There were some interesting lessons in there--chords I not only didn't know, but a few of which I wasn't sure my fingers would perform for me.  As with all the other things I've learned along the way, practice proved to be helpful.  Duh.

These lessons brought me a new chord that looks difficult but one I managed to learn quickly.  Turns out, this was one of Jimi Hendrix's go-to chords.  If you think of "Purple Haze" or "Foxy Lady," you'll know which chord I mean.  It is E7#9 and I thought it would take me forever to be able to get it, but I haven't found it that hard--thank goodness.  However, since I've only learned that lick in "Purple Haze," I can't say I wouldn't find a different chord change to it more formidable in another song.

Duane Allman

When I played it for John the next lesson, he said, "Good.  Now remember just what you did there and apply it in this week's song.  How about "Melissa" by the Allman Brothers?"

Well, who doesn't like that song?  I mean, what a great song, right?  There were several chords in this song that were new to me, but I was up to the challenge.  There were two new E-shaped chords with odd (to me) fingering, two new barre chords, a chord I'd played before but didn't know the name of, and B7, the relative (finger-wise) of E7#9.

So, "Melissa."  John wrote out the whole song and I do alright with it, but the chord changes between the A and the Bm trip me up as does the change between the Cmaj7 and the B7.  I'll keep working on it.  It really is a great song.
The following lesson we changed direction and he showed me a technique I had watched guitarists do and thought, How do they do that?  This is where they use their thumb to press the 6th string (See John?  I do listen.) while playing a chord with the other fingers of the left hand.  Eric Clapton's "Lay Down, Sally" is the one I got for this and if I can keep from overthinking it to get ahead of myself I'm not doing too badly.  And let's face it, it's a fun song to play.

Eric Clapton, early days

P.S   If this posting looks funny and not quite right, you'll have to forgive me.  It looks totally different in "edit mode" than it does in "preview."  Too many pictures, I know, but whaddaya gonna do?  As usual, I totally don't know what I'm doing here.  D'Oh!

From China Grove to Bristol Shore

Yeah, I didn't post last week.  I was a little discouraged, trying to make "Sunshine" fluid.  John gave me the rest of the song so I could play the whole thing, but I wasn't confident I was getting it. 

He also gave me a choice on what new song to learn.  He said, "Eric Johnson or Van Halen?"  Just hearing EJ's name makes me smile and I think I said, "Whaddaya mean?" but who the heck knows?  Anyway, he picked out the intro to "Bristol Shore" and I was grinning like a lunatic.  I told him I definitely wanted to learn that kind of thing--that it was one of the original goals I set for myself. 

And what about Van Halen?  He played VH's cover of "You Really Got Me" which looked more like what I'd been practicing, with the power chords and all, so I chose that.  It looked like I could do it, with enough practice, and he tried to show me how to palm-mute.  He makes it look so easy.

Nephew Conner Fersner
showing off the wah-wah
we bought him

Then on Sunday, we had the opportunity to hear our nephew, Conner, play.  Oh my God!  He is so good!  He made all those songs just . . . flow.  And he made it all look so effortless.  He said, "Here, get Dad's guitar Aunt Mary O.  We can play together."  I was like, "Are you out of your mind?!"  I'm nowhere near his level, and now I can understand why his dad, Joe, is somewhat discouraged with his own lessons.  Man!  That kid's good.

So I was a little down walking into my lesson on Monday.  But as has been the case after all of my lessons, I was grinnin' like crazy upon leaving.  John said I wasn't doing too badly--I was actually doing pretty well.  He reminded me that Conner's been taking lessons from him for a long time--four or five years.  'Course then, I had to laugh--how good did I expect to be in a month and a half?  Hahaha!!

For this next lesson, I'll have two weeks of practice because I'm not going to make it next week.  On top of practicing the songs I've been doing, and the techniques involved, John also gave me the Doobie Brother's "China Grove."  I'm having a lot of fun with that. It's got that string-dulling, chunka-chunka sound I like so much.  I saw Conner do it on Sunday and I was envious of his skill.  (I shouldn't be envious.  I'll never catch up to him, but I sure am proud of him!)

With the extra practice time I'll have before my next lesson, I asked John about "Bristol Shore" and he showed me.  I was so psyched!  I came home and listened to the song and then started to work.  Gosh, I can't believe it, but I'm really doing it!  Not only that, but you can even recognize "China Grove."  That makes me happy!  Chunka-chunka!

Clapton Need Not Worry

Guess what?  John says my rhythm isn't as bad as I think--I just need to practice the one-TWO-three-FOUR count a little more.  I pointed out that not all songs go like that and he agreed but said it was handy when playing with someone else.  Okay.  I'll go with that.

I took the electric guitar with me this week and it was a lot of fun.  After he listened to me play Smoke on the Water, Iron Man and the "hip" chords with hammer-ons (from which the rhythm discussion ensued), I asked him which kind of chords to use with Hotel California and he told me what I had already figured out.  The musician needs to know how to make each chord in all its different forms in order for the song to flow.  Makes sense to me.  Fortunately, I'm not starting from scratch.  Unfortunately, it'll be a while before I master it.

This week's lesson is Cream's Sunshine of Your Love.  It doesn't seem too hard so far, but I'll admit I've only practiced a couple of nights.

Wednesday night I went to writers group at the Barnes & Noble in West Ashley.  Man, what a fun group that is.  Most of the time.  One of the great things about it is the leader, David Moulton, is a singer/songwriter and sometimes he brings his guitar to sing us one his songs.  Lately, a musician friend of his has been coming and bringing his guitar and that's what happened this week.  He sang us two of his songs and along with the lyrics, I was interested in his guitar playing technique.  He finger-picked, which is something I want to learn, and he wore three (or four?) finger picks on his right hand. 

I was not in the right seat to see very well, but it's cool to watch someone do this.  I still don't get it though.  I think I need to study my theory more in order to figure out which strings to pick to make it sound good.  Oh!  And then I have to remember what I just did, when I do make something sound decent, eh?  Hahaha!!

Anyway, I'm making progress.  I hope to get together with my nephew, Conner, sometime and see what I can learn from him.  Just having more than a half hour at a time to play with someone would be helpful. 

In the meantime, Eric Clapton's job and reputation are safe.  Hahaha!!

Year of Guitar

Eric Johnson and Me

Okay, I've decided this blog has sat idle long enough.  And I need something to keep me writing since my fiction muse has gone on an extended vacation.

What I'm most excited about, here in the beginning of 2011, is that my sweet nephew and brother-in-law gave me guitar lessons for Christmas!! My teacher will be the same man who teaches both of them, John Smith at Music Unlimited in Mt. Pleasant.  I haven't scheduled my first lesson yet, but I'm getting reacquainted with my guitars and rebuilding my callouses.  They're coming along nicely, I must say.  I'm very excited!

I began my on-again/off-again relationship with the guitar when I was at Marshall University, way "back in the day" when I started hanging out with musicians.  Through them, I developed a love of live music that is still with me. 

I can't say exactly when my personal music tastes changed from the pop music of my youth to more guitar driven music, but I clearly remember delaying a road trip so I could listen, one last time before we left, to Duane Allman playing "Jessica" on Brothers and Sisters.  Eric Clapton's "Layla" captivated me for not only the guitar, but also that great piano ending.  I did have four years of piano from fourth to eighth grade.  I was never very good at it.

My musician friends helped me get a fairly decent guitar--certainly one good enough for my feeble talents and I learned several chords from them.  I got pretty good at some of the chord changes and 3-chord songs.  I seemed to have better rhythm with the guitar than I did on the piano.

But in 1990 (I know that's a lifetime ago to some people) I became somewhat obsessed with guitar music.  That was the year of Joe Satriani's Surfing with the Alien and Eric Johnson's Ah Via Musicom.  Not only were they released, but they got actual airplay on FM radio!  Thank you to the powers-that-be!  This music was like nothing I'd ever heard before and it I knew I'd been waiting for it my whole life.  Without lyrics, it spoke to me.  It soothed and calmed me.  It defies my description even today.

John Smith, my teacher, has done an incredible job with my nephew, Conner.  He started taking lessons at . . . I think age ten.  Five years in and he rocks!!  I'm so proud of him!  Now, his father is taking lessons from John and soon I will be too.  John also taught the late Wesley Burlingham who, at a party a few years ago inspired me to pick my guitar back up and learn some more on my own. 

(Sigh)  Gosh.  Wesley is so sorely missed.

But I know he'll be right there with me as I begin this adventure in guitar to which I'm so looking forward!  And I hope some of you will follow along as well.  I'm sure there will be successes just as I'm sure there will be struggles.  But I bet I'll have a good time no matter what. 

It's a good thing I can laugh at myself, 'cause there's bound to be a lot of that!