Many thanks to all of you who have taken the trouble to like and comment on my first video post to this community. I was blown away by your words of encouragement and advice on my attempt at Nirvana’s “Come as you are.”
Well… you asked for more from me, so here’s another song that I have been working on, “Can’t Explain” by one of my favourite bands, The Who.
It’s a little repetitive without the vocals, but it’s a great song for practicing sliding power chords up and down the neck. Unlike “Come as you are”, the solo for this one is way too difficult for me to attempt, but at some stage I am going to be trying to do a little improvisation using the E minor pentatonic. I have only briefly touched on improvisation so far, having tried Justin’s exercise in Grade 2, Module 10. I want to add some bends and slides, but don’t know where to start to be honest, apart from just picking out notes of the scale as in Justin’s exercise. Any tips would be gratefully received.
Hey Malcolm what you’ve done sounds pretty good. I know nothing about playing guitar so can’t really make constructive comments, sorry. You’ve got some good goals, so keep working towards them.
Hey @laser_171825, great to get into your second video so quick.
Song was definitely recognisable, sounded good.
You’re after tips. I noticed sometimes you’re behind the beat, try to play along with a metronome or backing track to get that tuning perfect. Also you might want to try muting strings you’re not playing, I saw the low E (6th string) was often unmuted. You can use your thumb or index finger to do that.
+1 on JK’s comment. I suggest you work on positioning your index finger so that the tip of the finger mutes the low E string when playing chords with the root note on the A string. That is a small adjustment in positioning. Using the thumb is another option but for me changes how I form the chords significantly.
Hey cool quick follow-up to come as you are.
Great song and competent rendition.
I’m surprised to be commenting before our resident Who-fanatic @TheMadman_tobyjenner
Beware of treading the improv-path. I believe these days you have to do it to Layla.
Tip of the day: keep your right hand moving up and down to the beat without stopping, even when it’s not striking the strings.
Nice tone on the guitar and pretty consistent playing. Definitely play it against the metronome or backing track I think there were some slight tempo changes. Agree with David that you need to make sure you’re muting the low E string. I couldn’t tell from the angle but it looked like you were muting the other strings with your index finger (I couldn’t hear them so it sounds good). What was the chord you are playing at the high end of the neck? your index finger and middle finger seemed to straddle the fret…was it a barred A chord? it sounded fine when you played it so sure not an issue.
Hi @jkahn, thanks for the feedback.
What isn’t obvious in the video is that I was actually listening to a backing track through ear buds while recording this. Yes, I know that I lagged behind a bit at times… timing is a bit of an issue with me sometimes.
I also take on board your comment about muting the low E string when playing power chords that have the root note on the A string. I feel that I am progressing well with power chords and moving them around the neck, but I can’t seem to get the hang of muting that 6th string with my index finger, getting the touch just right to actually mute the string as I slide between the power chords. Using my thumb isn’t an option at the moment, I just find it to awkward.
As I replied to JK, I am finding it difficult to mute that E string when playing 5th note power chords. Need to practice this some more before I can move on from module 12
Hi @Rossco01 Thanks for the comment. See my other comments here for explanation on my timing issues. Yeah, that was a mini barred A chord that I was playing… which could of course also be played as a power chord. It’s just personal preference.
Ahhh yes that explains it! I wouldn’t worry about it…it all comes with practice and there was a lot of good in how you played the song. Some more practice and you’ll be there. I wouldn’t worry about using your thumb to mute for barre chords. Using your index finger slightly further across will some come with practice and make it quite easy. That is really all it is just positioning your index finger slightly further across.
I’d say move on and keep practicing those power chords. Don’t need to have everything down 100% to move on. Blend new learning with songs that keep working the skills that are ok and need polishing.
