You Got a Friend - Larry's work in progress

[lw216316]

Larry, I'd like to hear it, even on a digital camera. Always liked that song.

QUEEQUEEG

I decided to share what I've got so far.
If I wait until its finished and I can play it through without a mistake
it might be a long while.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm5XjYzi5LA

I played the same wrong note twice, timing is not there yet and some notes were not clean,
and I played one section twice by mistake not by improv
- I'll be my own critic and save others the trouble.  

I'm feeling pretty good about my progress since last year when I decided to try and learn finger style solos...
I've got a long way to go......hey, I'm enjoying the journey  

Eventually, I want to add James Taylor's intro and maybe do some chord substitution and bass lines.
The chords I use are my own - I don't know what the original song uses.

Please keep in mind I'm doing this by ear - I don't read music or tab...
oh, and I'm 59 years old and my brain cells work... but at a slower speed - just have to work harder and be patient  

This is my own arrangement in the Key of C.
I think J.T. does it in G if I remember correctly.

This song is stretching me to the limits of my current progress ---- that's a good thing !

- Larry

[ryler]

Larry,

That was great.  As the tab-dependant person that I am, I'm always impressed with those who play by ear.   I think you did a smooth, nice job.

[lw216316]

As the tab-dependant person that I am, I'm always impressed with those who play by ear

thank you for the positive comments...it means a lot....

Playing 'by ear' forces you to 'experiment' and that can lead to new discoveries...
...and your 'own style' and 'sound'

next time you want to learn a song...try skipping the tab and try to 'figure it out on your own'
...it just might cause you to GROW  

...not that I'm against sheet music or tab ....someday ...when I have time  (after retirement ?)  ...I plan to learn it.
I'm sure it can help me in some ways.

- Larry

[Danny]

  Pretty good, especially for "by ear". I would think you'll have it all down very soon. (I don't read tabs well either)

[balgit]

thats a challenging piece and you play it well...thx for sharing...all the best .... Dan

[lw216316]

thanks for the positive comments 

I know its not great but its a long way from the 3 chords and a simple folk arpeggio rhythm I was stuck at for years.
This has opened up a whole new world to me.
I'm making progress and really enjoying my playing now.

I'm always impressed with those who play by ear. 

I use to think those who could do that were magicians....
For me, its all based on my STUDY of music.
I don't read sheet music or tab but I do know music theory - scales and chord construction rules, common chord progressions....

Once I have the melody memorized then I test a few different keys to see which one works best for me.
Most of the melody notes can be picked 'out of the chord' - the others are close by - almost always 'in the scale'
- the occasional note that is not in the scale is still within easy reach.

The key I'm in and the melody determine what my options are for the position on the fretboard.
I usually have a choice of a couple of chord inversions -
Most of the time the one that is ' closest ' to where I'm at on the fretboard is the one I pick -
   so I'm not jumping all over the place.

My goals now are to improve timing and articulation, add bass movements, learn more chords and use more chord substitution
and to study training videos and to study other finger style players.

- Larry

[Danny]

  This is extremely interesting to me. Good information for a fellow traveler stuck in "simple folk arpeggio rhythm". I started doing scales and practicing thumb bass finger style. "Travis pickin" one year ago. But I started repairing and refinishing guitars and dropped the daily practice.
  So here I am, exactly where I was one year ago. Except I know a whole lot more about repairing guitars now. I still have volumes to learn on both accounts.
  As soon as I make this hand made Maple/Koa playable I'm going to start a video lesson on fingerstyle. And slow down on the repair /refinish side.

[lw216316]

This is extremely interesting to me. Good information for a fellow traveler stuck in "simple folk arpeggio rhythm".

The simple arpeggios worked ok for me and I used them when singing but I wanted to also be able to play solo instrumentals.
I could play the melody line alone but that by itself was not very satisfying unless you are playing along with a rhythm player.

So now I'm learning to play the melody line while at the same time playing the chords and filling in with arpeggios, half stops, bass runs...

Half of the time now I use the Travis style with alternating bass
and half the time I play ' free style ' like I did on ' You Got a Friend '.

The things that have helped me are knowing
- the rules for chord construction
- the chord forms and how to change them to make minors, suspended, 7ths etc
- the scales
- that for our western music most songs begin on the 1st 3rd or 5th note of the scale
- that the I  IV and V  chords in a key are usually played as major,  II III VI as minor
- most melody notes are in the chord form
- where each of the inversions for a chord are located on the fretboard
- common chord progressions
AND
- practicing changing between each of the chord inversions
- practicing half-stop runs ( up and down )  a.k.a intervals

I think not using sheet music or tabs has helped me in some ways...
like forcing me to dig in and understand how music actually WORKS

and causing me to experiment in order to figure out to arrange a song.

I wish you well in your musical journey 

- Larry