Hey all!
I have been trying to play Cream’s crossroads for the past 2 months. While I managed to make some progress, I’m still having trouble entering and playing the turnaround at the end of the intro. I tried starting slow (where I don’t have much issue) and gradually increasing my speed. I could use some advice on improving the segment and the song in general. I completed the Beginner’s grade 2.
Greatly appreciate the feedback.
That sounds really really well 
Sorry, no suggestions. You’re ahead of me 
. I would only ask if you use a metronome for gradually increasing the tempo. I’ve worked a lot with a metronome for “Nothing Else Matters” and “You shook me all night long” for starting slow and every day increasing just 1 or 2 points.
Keep up the great work!
That’s sounding really good! I find what works best for me is to start at a tempo I can play easily. Then I add 5-10 bpm depending on how complex it is and play for ~5minutes (or until I feel confident at that speed), then increase another 5-10bpm until it’s just slightly above my abilities. Then I drop 20bpm and start over going up. At the end of the practice session I slowly back off 10-20bpm at a time until I’m playing at 60bpm or slower (playing very slow like this really helps my muscle memory learn the rhythm without the distraction of speed). I find I get 5bpm faster every two or three days doing this. Hope this helps!
Thank you. Using the metronome is a good idea. I’ve actually been avoiding it for the song as it has mix of sixteenths and eighths which was hard for me to follow with a metronome.
That was very helpful thank you!
Firstly, you have made great progress and sounding good, Surya.
The advice given to use the metronome is sound. I can only add be patient.
You want to perhaps slower it even further or just spend more time at that tempo until you have no issues. Then speed up slowly. It is all about playing it correctly as much as possible to build muscle memory as you slowly increase speed.
When practicing, spend most of the time practicing the part you are not able to play without issue. I mention this as sometimes people learn the song or piece by playing the whole song over and over. For learning practice you want to play the turnaround over and over, even initially just a portion over and over. For song rehearsal you play it start to finish.
If you struggle with the metronome then I suggest playing with the original using software that can slow it down without changing pitch. Lots of options for that.
Keep on keeping on and you will have it done in due course.
Well done, Surya, thank you for sharing.
I agree with the advice about working with a metronome to nail down the timing. Actually, I tend to prefer using a drumbeat rather than a metronome (I find a drumbeat to be more “musical” and less intrusive than metronome clicks). You can find some good prerecorded drum beats at various tempos here. There’s also phone app named Loopz which is pretty good.
@J.W.C Thank you for this much needed info. I have been trying to find a way listen to metronome over my guitar sound and beats might do the job.
I can’t give you any advice Surya as it’s beyond my skill but man, that rocked!
Some nice play on this and you are ahead of my game. Not sure what you have for software slowdown, but look around as there are as DavidP says, many out there.
All the best and keep up the good rock’n,
LB