SDKissFan - January 2023 - Green Day (x2), Don Henley

I see what happened with the sound. I finally hooked up my microphone and something came unplugged. I should have tried again instead of being in a rush to post. Oh well hopefully the song was halfway decent anyways.

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Thanks Eddie.

Hi John.

Thanks for the feedback. I did listen to the backing track and see what you mean. I honestly try to change the sound to not be exactly like the original artist. Hopefully it sounded decent as is. The song still needs work so I might try your tip to see how it goes.

Jeff

Awesome stuff Jeff, I’m transported back to my teenage years whenever I here Greenday. This song in particular was in my ipod shuffle and was listened to quite a lot.

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Good for recording Jeff. I’d echo trying to adjust your strumming slightly BUT emphasis the third beat/downstrum also reduce the movement of your arm you’re swinging it too much the strumming should be more wrist based on this one. Sounds like there was a mic problem as we predominantly got just the guitar strings rather than your amp and the singing was low in the mix.

A tip for singing and playing is to separate the two. Practice singing that song over the original, practice singing the song just on it’s own (no music). At the moment it still sounds like you are trying to fit the vocal and guitar neatly together which doesn’t always work. Once you are comfortable singing that song over the original AND are comfortable with your guitar track (you can also practice this against the original)…then try bringing them together.

You are on the right track it just takes time.

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I decided to stay true to my goals and record again standing while playing. I still have my music stand so have not memorized yet so baby steps. The title of the category is record yourself - progress not perfection, right lol. No perfection here, but at least I finally played standing up. Last week I broke string after string on 3 different electric guitars so acoustic it is until I change some strings. I hope everyone is off to a good start towards making progress in 2023.

Self feedback: improve singing and tone, sharpen your chords, memorize the song, add some interesting soloing or a lick.

Thanks for listening

Jeff from California

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First off, good on you for sharing your music openly and not posting it as private or unlisted. Get your music out there people!

It’s good that you are self-assessing your own playing, it’s something we all should do. That is how we get better and push our playing forward. Let me know if you are interested in some feedback from a player that is striving toward being mediocre. :slight_smile:

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I would love to hear your feedback.

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I admit to being luke warm on Green Day overall, although I kind of like Ordinary World as a progression, but I do admit that their music is pretty accessible for the most part.

Bring the juice! Play like you care about the words and the tune. Passion is more important than all the other bits and pieces. Make the music have some depth in the context of a rhythm, beat and most of all a groove. It’s music, which is an art form and mode of expression. Take a step back and play something that you are passionate about, no matter how simple the song.

When you can play three blind mice with empathy toward the Farmer’s wife, the mice, and whoever is a witness to this calamity, you will be on the right track. Play on Playa!

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Doing a self assessment is a great idea. Maybe add a couple of things you did well too! I thought you had great timing, and I also really liked the bit of movement / swaying you did. Re suggestions, I love Clint’s note re finding the passion. My additional input would be to explore some dynamics, bring a few changes in for both vocals and strumming.

Keep playing! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thanks for sharing, Jeff, and well done on the playing/singing combo! I am yet to venture down that path (although it may be coming soon) and having the grit to give it a whirl, let alone capturing it for others, is to be applauded my friend! :clap: :clap: :clap:

Agree with the comments above, bring the passion, that’s where it is at! Although I dare say that will come easier with a deeper memorisation of the lyrics, etc., allowing you more freedom to be expressive.

Also, I wonder if having a backing track, sans guitar, would help with getting that vibe going? :thinking: Certainly does help me, maybe worth trying?

Great stuff mate, keeping on bringing it :sunglasses: :+1:

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Good idea to repeat songs, Jeff, to improve the performance.

I’ve done a little ‘tidy-up’ and merged your two Topics for the same song, added a link in the First Post to the second recording, and edited the title so people know what is going.

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Good to see all 3 videos together. Nice to see the improvements.

Try doing the versus with an eight note strum Jeff and then mix the chorus’s up with the strum you are doing in the last video. See what you think.

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Thanks for the feedback everyone. Stefan, I think you first suggested I stand while playing 6 months ago-better late than never lol. Several people gave the recommendation of revise the same song so finally did that too. I was always eager to do a song, call it done and move on. Sharpening up one song makes a lot of sense. I hope everyone out there is making progress towards their guitar playing journey.

Jeff

Hey Jeff!
Sounding good on this end. Like the hat there… Are you a big Yankees fan? This a true Bronx Bomber song and you give it a good run!

All the best and do take care!
LB

Hi LB,

Thanks for listening to the song. I enjoyed playing that one. Yeah I like the Yankees and glad Aaron Judge stayed with the team. I bought that hat in NYC when I visited for the first time on 2019. Keep on rocking

Jeff

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Hi everyone,

I listened to this song many years ago and decided to give it a try, I am still mucking around with it so not much quality yet, but put myself out there anyways. For something unique I did a version acoustic and electric back to back. I think I strum too hard on electric and need a better strumming pattern on both. This is also the longest song I have done so far. Hopefully someone enjoys it anyways. Have a great day and rock on.

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Nice work Jeff

Yeah, the more you do the more you’ll relax. It’s hard to translate the finesse into recording at first but stick with it :+1:

Certainly suits your voice, no tension there :slightly_smiling_face:

Nice job Jeff. I like a lot of Don Henley’s stuff. I am an acoustic guy so that was the version for me!

It was good posting the two versions together. Nicely done on both. For me, although being an acoustic loving guy I think I preferred the electric version on this one Jeff.

I’ve noticed you don’t look at your fretting hand, so if you can stand up man. :stuck_out_tongue:

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