Been working on this for a bit, trying to add songs to my memorized/playable repertoire which means having the whole thing memorized end to end and playing as well as possible. So there’s still a bit to go on this one (man these words are tricky) yet going through the process of recording (took more takes than I care to admit) was a really helpful way for me to focus my practice and push myself to get this better. The end result isn’t ready for Abbey Road Studios - would appreciate any tips that you think might be helpful.
To clarify - I’m calling this “first take” since I know there’s still more room to grow on this song but wanted to use this as a way to mark where I’m at and step back and get some fresh eyes and ears on it. It’s my 3rd or so AVOYP overall
Congratulations on your first published video. My suggestion, which was given to me back in the day when I started: get the chords changes and strumming perfectly before adding the singing. But you are well on your way.
Lovely vocal qualities here Jesse and rich tones from your guitar. I agree with @SandyMusic that it would improve your song to take it apart. Leave the vocal till you get your guitar parts more accurate with fretting, that will further enhance your rhythm. You’ve already got some good dynamics happening in your strum. Then add your vocal.
Bravo, well on your way to achieving all your aspirations, Jesse.
There are a few chord changes that introduce the moments hesitation, break the flow. I’d target the specific changes for One Minute Changes drills on a daily basis. And then slow things down just a little to get the start to finish all smooth and even.
Well done Jesse, a big step to post up a video and you’ve smashed it! You really got into it with a slightly hesitant start but powered on through.
I’ll offer no other comments to the others above, everything has been covered. An awesome debut!
Hi Jesse,
Congratulations on your first recording … the good and tips have already been said,… good luck and have fun with the process, you have taken the most important step
Greetings,Rogier
Thanks all for the feedback and support. Quick clarification that this is the first “take” of this song not the first recording I’ve posted (this is about #3 recording I’ve posted ;)) - I’ve changed the post title to try to represent that better (used to say “first recording”)
@SandyMusic Thanks for the suggestion - definitely agree on the opportunity to sharpen up the chord changes and the idea of building out the song a step at a time.
@batwoman Thanks! This is actually a new guitar for me (got it 4 days ago) so this is that guitar’s debut! Going through the exercise of recording really laid bare how much more work I need to do in terms of getting the guitar parts (chords, rhythm, dynamics) farther along especially with this song where the lyrics (the complexity of the words themselves as well as the challenges of phrasing and breath control with so many words per measure) are so challenging.
@DavidP Thanks for the specific one-minute-changes drill suggestion. Great idea and a good way to focus my practice over the coming week (rather than just playing the song end to end)
@Notter Yeah alot of that hesitation at the beginning is me thinking “is this take going to make it?” and once I get through the slightly more intricate first parts I’m able to go a bit more on auto-pilot (which shows me what I need to focus on :))
@roger_holland Thanks Roger! As mentioned at the top this is officially my 3rd recording for this community but the first take of this particular song (sorry for the original title which I think was misleading) - Does feel like a big step for this song though and now I have a much clearer idea of where my trouble spots are so I can got back and work on them.
I think what Jesse means is this is his first post of that particular songs. Then once he takes all the feedback into consideration. He re-posts a second take showing that he has worked on the things the community has highlighted. Wash rinse and repeat until he nails it.
My definition of a one take first take is you practice a song until you’ve got it as best as you can, then you press the red button and record. It’s always worse but you either post it or you don’t or you redo it and admit it’s take 2, 3 or whatever.
Jesse, I think there are two forms of practice to keep in mind. The first I’d rather call rehearsal. In that you play the song start to finish, working hard to not stop and being thrown off by any mistakes. Just keep playing.
The second is the learning practice. In that form of practice one would not always play the song start to finish. The focus should be such that you spend more time on the problematic and challenging parts. That could be say just playing the chorus over and over if the verse is OK. Or you may focus in on a 4 barre or 8 barre section that includes a tricky bit. The reason for this is to ensure we spend a significant portion of the practice time working on the bits that aren’t going well to get them up to the level of the rest, which wouldn’t happen if you just play the whole song repeatedly.
Sergant, just rub some mud from your eyes from the last obstacle run… Just blame the heat, I did too
Jesse thinks 3 times now before making the title for a new topic
Greetings…
@SgtColon@roger_holland LOL - for me AVOYP is all about learning, I just hadn’t expected in this case that the biggest lesson I’d learn is “how to properly title the topic so you don’t confuse the entire community”
Don’t worry Jesse first take or not it’s just a name I personally don’t care about all that, all I am here for is a performance and you did it justice. Sounded sweet and really interested to see how will you get on with it in the near future. All the best
… the good and tips have already been said,… good luck and have fun with the process, you have taken the most important step 
… no difficult titles and let us think in this sweltering weather huh… 
