Thanks Mari. I probably should’ve added a bit more force into the strums when I switched to those for that last chorus, but I’m glad you liked that little change up 
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Hi all,
I finally took out my guitar again late last week and got back into messing around with it over the weekend.
Unfortunately my current phone’s selfie video cam (and sound mic) seems to be much worse than my old phone haha. So I had to find a random app to flip the image of the video, and to my surprise that app also lets me cut/edit segments out.
For that reason I decided to play around with Stairway To Heaven… because I could just attempt to do it in sections, rather than having the pressure of trying to tackle it in one single take. I also had to use headphones to help me keep track of timing, because I’d been very out of practice lately
So this is just mainly a W.I.P./placeholder for me to see what I have to go back to and work on.
Below is the Youtube link for the recording that I did yesterday, and the SoundCloud link for a much older audio version of me learning the intro part only.
Section 1 (0:00) - Relying on simpler chords here like avoiding the Am barre chord on a couple of verses, and playing a regular D instead of D/F#. But I think I can mostly get away with it if I can clean up the finger pattern aspect.
Section 2 (2:15) - Again, need to clean up the finger pattern. and I stuffed up the simplest part with a very sloppy exchange of chords at the very end of this section (I was probably focusing too much on the timing of them in my earphones).
Section 3 (5:56) - Mini attempt at the very first part of the solo, which I abandoned learning when I figured out that I’d run out of frets that my fingers could reach 
I stuffed up the part that I learnt anyway, but just left it in as a note to myself in case I try to tackle it again.
Section 4 (6:32) - Work on a suitable strum pattern for this outro, but need to also focus more on the chord changes; unwanted strings ringing out a lot. There is also a little lick in between a couple of chord changes during the outro section that I might try to learn also.
That’s about it for this one. In the meantime I will go review some of my other old audio files for shorter simpler songs to practice, which hopefully I can record new videos of without relying too much on the editing/cutting gimmicks or the use of earphones.
Cheers
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It’s a decent foundation to start with, there’s a lot of places where you’ve got unwanted strings sounding, you need to learn to mute them.
The Classical guitar isn’t going you any favours on this, it’s ok for the intro but it’s difficult to get some of the chords you should be using with it. I play it using a Classical guitar for some of it but go to Electric basically after the intro. You can play all of it on Electric as Jimmy Page does live.
I’ve done the solo to a backing track….
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Good work Sandro. You’re en route with that one.
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Hi,
I enjoyed you word on this one and it is a big undertaking. It would seem you have most of the parts down and in pretty good shape. There are spots where your chords are very soft. To me it is clear you do have a good foundation to build off of, just need a lot more glue to pull it all together. That glue is practice… Probably not telling you much there.
All the best with Zep!
LB
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Can’t really add to what’s already been said Sandro, but I can certainly encourage you to keep going.
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And it’s a great start with that in mind as well. I’m with Darrell in an electric guitar for the solo. It can be done on an acoustic I’m sure - but not by many! 
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Sounds cool mate, I havent got too far into fingerstyle so no techincal feedback from me but can see this being a great endeavour.
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Well done, Sandro, you are well on your way getting the parts under the fingers, already sounding pretty good. Keep at it.
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@DarrellW Thanks for sharing your solo, it sounded great. Yeah I definitely need to work on muting the unwanted strings in general. I haven’t tried any different types of guitars at this stage, and am kind of intimidated of Electric to be honest because I may as well be playing left handed whenever I try to use a pick. But maybe later one day at some stage I’ll give it a crack.
@sairfingers thanks Gordon, appreciate it mate.
@Lbro thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I think I’m relying too much on the timing of the actual beat in my ears here rather than my strumming/picking/changes at certain places. I might try it with a basic backing track in the background next time to help me feel a bit looser.
@batwoman thanks Maggie. I was probably a bit too eager to get straight into this song once I had the guitar back in my hands… but I had to give it a go since the last time that I was regularly practicing guitar I just gave up on this one after the first verse section. And yes I hope to keep going with this fun hobby this time around.
@mari63 thanks Mari, yep we all have to start off somewhere I suppose. I’d probably have to check out some other type of guitar with a cutaway if I want to attempt the full solo… (or just nose dive into an electric and hope that I don’t drown within the first few seconds )
@funkyfingers thanks Rhys. yeah, breaking up this long song into sections helps it be a bit less intimidating. And as Darrell pointed out above, all parts of this song can be done on electric from start to finish and it’s more suitable for this tune → so you are already a step ahead in that aspect. (I just checked the AVoYP song that you did on your Electric… awesome song choice mate and nicely done 
)
@davidP thanks David. Joining this site a couple of weeks ago has renewed my interest in getting back into it and learning again. So I will try to keep at it this time indeed.
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You don’t have to use a pick, I don’t quite often, neither does Mark Knopfler, Lindsay Buckingham and quite a few others. I sometimes use a pick where fast legato runs the need fast alternate picking (up/down) but that’s about it really. What might suit you better is a hybrid, like this: Review of the ESP LTD TL-6N Nylon classical guitar. Where to buy it?
It’s a really great option, I really would like one myself!
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Sounds like you’ve almost got the song down Sandro. Just some more practice and you’ll have it. Impressive.
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It’s sounding pretty sweet Sandro. Nicely done.
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@jkahn @SgtColon Thanks guys. I might try some shorter songs for now, but will swing back to this one later on after I hopefully brush up on a few things.
Hi all,
Since there seemed to be a few Doors fans here (based on some comments on one of my previous videos), I thought I would try to do another song of theirs acoustically - Light My Fire.
I used the basic strum pattern from my old audio recording of this song, but experimented with adding some random finger stuff in this video so that the whole song hopefully doesn’t sound too repetitive.
I used the fingers for verses 1,2,3 while sticking to a strum for the chorus, the non-singing break and for the 4th verse where Morrison increases his vocals a little bit.
The finger stuff kind of sounded ok to my ear when I was testing things out today, but I could well be wrong - so yeah please let me know if it sounds out of place for this tune.
Below are the links for the video and the old audio recording. There’s only strumming in the audio version because I wasn’t familiar with anything related to finger-picking/arppegios at that earlier stage.
Oh and in case nobody noticed, I finally tilted the phone camera to a higher angle so that people can now see the weird and creepy face expressions that I do when I’m playing and when I inevitably hit some dud notes.
But I promise I’m not some shady creepish guy, despite the looks that I give during the intro
Feedback and general comments are welcome as always. Thanks
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Nicely played, Sandro, I enjoyed and was able to sing along for a verse and chorus. The switch between strumming and picking worked and the groove was there.
I don’t usually talk beyond the performance, about the song, but for a change I have a thought and happy to delete if you ask me to.
I think it may be fair to say that LMF may well be The Doors most well-known, perhaps if ‘successful’ song. If folk agree with that, for me it is another case where I think there are so many better songs that are not well known. In the case of The Doors, where would one start … perhaps LA Woman, or When The Music’s Over’, The End, Break On Through, Soul Kitchen, People Are Strange …
Other examples are Springsteen’s Born In The USA, and to lesser extent Dancing in the Dark … many, many better songs IMHO from the preceding albums. And Deep Purple with Smoke on the Water, compared to Highway Star on the same album, the Rolling Stones and Satisfaction.
OK, let me get out the rabbit hole …
Most enjoyable Sandro, look forward to your next …
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Yes the contrast between strum and fingerstyle worked for me Sandro. You got the groove going with the ‘slap’ too. Well done.
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Hi Sandro,
Good job. Nicely stripped own to the essence of the song - certainly had me singing along.
Nice variation between strumming and finger style.
David - with you 100%. I listen to the Doors regularly and LMF isn’t one that gets much rotation. The End is simply awesome, but I also prefer things like Crystal Ship, Roadhouse Blues, Spanish Caravan, etc.
Digger
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That was a nice listen. I enjoyed the acoustic version and you were definitely in a groove I was able to bounce to. Thanks for sharing. Great song, and great playing!
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Your version sounded cool Sandro.
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