The ShadowMusic Web Community

I recorded some of my practice sessions last weekend. There are lots of mistakes but thought I might as well upload them to show that I'm still persevering and having a bit of fun in the process. Any tips or advice would be very welcome. I'm still having intonation problems but hope they'll be sorted when the guitar gets serviced but maybe there's something visibly wrong with my technique (if I have one):). Progress is very slow but each week perhaps one phrase or something becomes a little easier. My connection speed is so slow I can't upload them at higher definition so the sound quality (not just my playing) is pretty poor and is only recorded with a webcam and desktop speakers. I've also been playing around with amp settings and am not entirely sure what I'm doing. It's mainly trial and error.

Anyway I think posting these videos is incentive to upload better ones at a later date and will keep me going.
Best wishes
Rosemary

Dance On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo2vbxmqGm4

Apache

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVQWTIGrwEM
no idea what do do at about 1:10

Wonderful Land (old) - sadly this is still probably my best recording although perhaps I play it a bit better now.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4yOnyAwalE

Hi Rosemary,

You seem to be making excellent progress with the playing - in fact, I've seen players less proficient at some of the UK clubs who have been playing a lot longer than you.

Don't worry too much about the amp/echo settings for the moment - find a sound that you are happy with and concentrate on the playing. You have good fluency in both hands and most players would be happy with your level of expertise after such a relatively short time. Some of us have only achieved overnight success after 40+ years.

Kind regards

Terry

Thanks very much for your comments, Terry.
I'm pretty isolated here as there aren't any Shadows Clubs in Brisbane (well not that I'm aware of) so thought it would be good to post some videos. Hopefully in a few months there will be some better ones.
Best wishes
Rosemary

As Terry rightly says, there are a lot worse players than you at many Shadows clubs I attend. You have made good progress and proven that you will be able to play these tunes very well in due course.

Just one hint, which far too many club players get wrong - invariably backwards!

Your priorities when learning need to be Guitar-Music-Sound

So concentrate on feeling comfortable with the guitar, so your fretting fingers feel comfortable and accurate and your pick is accurate. Work on the easiest tunes to play, get used to the use of the tremolo and bending so you know exactly how far to go to get a semitone or tone up or down. Work on playing in different positions. Ignore tabs and try playing a tune in different positions, not for the sound but what your fingers feel like and how you can use them. Try other different techniques as well such as playing a note on the next string or sliding the finger to the right fret on the same string. All these things are about getting good with the guitar. And you don't even need to have the guitar plugged in when doing these, in fact it might be better not to so you are not distracted by the sound.

Then think about the music. At risk of being banned from the site (not an easy thing to do) I would say ignore Hank and all the other good players who play these tunes. Think about them for yourself, listen to how they sound when playing the guitar in different ways and try to get a feel for the music. Try to find a song and learn the words (yes, really) then play the words. All this will give you a feel for the music and how to make the guitar sing!

And finally, this is the very lowest priority, consider the sound of the guitar, echoes, pickups, amplifiers and so on. Play with the settings until you get a sound YOU like and which seems to suit the music as it feels to YOU.

Keep up the good work and I look forward to hearing you again once you've made a little more progress.

Bob.

Hi Rosemary

Congratulations on your progress.

In the WL video you mention you miss the note. Try to play the main melody at the fifth position and you will find it a lot easier to get from the damped section back to the main melody. At the end of the damped section, you change the position of your hand. Try to find that note by going to the next lower string without changing the position of your hand.

I'm down in Tassie. I don't expect that you will flying south that often but if you're in the Hobart area let me know and we can get together for a jam.

Michael

Hi Rosemary, i agree with the above but don't grip the trem arm(until more profficient), i like to hook my little finger around it for when needed and this stops the note 'bending' when you are striking the string (the slightest pressure on the trem up/down will change the note). keith

Hi Rosemay,

As everyone else has said, you are doing well. Bob says "play the words", I find this helps when I play something like One Moment In Time. (I know a lot of people hate this tune but I like it). I found that like Kieth, using the pinky helped with the trem at first, but my lovely wife bought me a Classic 50's strat for our Ruby wedding anniversary. This has a slightly shorter trem arm and I am able to hold it "properly" like Ian, although I still have to be very careful and not shout(or swear) at it. Keep at it.

Cheers

Brian

Hi Brian, Ian, Keith, Michael, Bob and Terry
Thanks very much to you all for taking the time to listen and give me feedback. I'm taking on board all your advice and very much hope I'll be able to produce some improvements in the future.

Lately I've been forcing myself to learn different positions - sometimes because I've just suddenly discovered it's easier but in other cases very reluctantly because I have to re-learn everything - but know it has to be done and will help in the long run.

Re: the tremolo arm. I was pretty sure I wasn't putting any pressure on it but sometimes have major problems with intonation even when not using it. Once it goes for its service I'll have more of an idea if it's my technique or whether it does need some sort of adjustment. I tune over and over again both by ear starting at A440 and with the electronic tuner which matches pretty closely to the former - but then certain notes sound off on some strings and not others - and in some passages and not others. Even without effects I seem to have problems. I was looking at http://www.rolandus.com/products/produc ... ductId=594 and don't get anything like their sounds e.g.the Black Panel & JC Clean settings effect in their Flash animation -(but warning: the sound is pretty loud on that site so if anyone visits it, it's best to turn down the PC sound first).

Also I do most of my practice during the week at night on an acoustic - just learning notes of tunes and chords (which I'm really bad at) but perhaps I'd do better playing the backup Strat without the amp to get a bit more technique on the electric.

Ian: Thanks so much for explaining that slide in Apache. I've copied your instructions and will practise it on the weekend. I've just been watching your YouTube video. It's fantastic. I'll never reach anywhere near your level but will keep trying. I agree there's a sort of mandolin echo effect on one of my videos. I think I must have changed the settings on the digital delay for that one.

Off topic
Wollemi Pine - Wollemi Wine
A few people have mentioned Wollemi Wine and have even sent me photos of the bottle but I've never seen it here. I became fascinated by the Wollemi Pine when they discovered it in the 1990s and saw a documentary about it in the Blue Mountains (west of Sydney). My Mum lives down there so I'm in that general area a couple of times each year.

Once again thanks for all your advice.
Best wishes
Rosemary

Hi
I got my Fender Strat (the American Standard) back today with new strings. Now it has 10s instead of 9s and I love them. Here's a couple of quick demos (naturally with lots of mistakes but it's so much nicer to play than with the light strings and I enjoyed playing the guitar more than I ever have). I also have a new volume pedal which I'm trying to learn how to use. Still lots to learn but also lots of excitement!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG_k4XlqRdE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edVkpCl7deU
Best wishes
Rosemary