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!!
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2 comments:
It was fun reading your guitar blog. I'm looking forward to seeing you and Conner and Joe perform together at the next recital ... er, excuse me ... "gig" at WindJammer.
Hahaha!! Yeah, don't hold your breath! Thanks for checking out the blog and leaving a comment! I'm posting another one soon, so check back. Conner's all over this next one.
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