This is my first attempt at performing a fingerstyle song. It sure is different from what I usually do and it felt pretty awkward, even vulnerable. But it’s a skill I’d like to have in my bag, so there we go.
It’s a lovely tune with a nice mixture of triad shapes and open chord embellishments, so that’s always good exercise. Remembering the various picking patterns and getting them up to speed was the hardest part.
I tried to sing it but that didn’t work out as I’d hoped. The vocal melody falls in between the beats sometimes which makes it go pear-shaped. Not to speak of singing in tune. Someday, maybe.
Really solid finger style version there Jeff.
There’s a lot of different elements to get right all through the song, and JT’s grips can be tricky too, especially some of the hammer ons so well done for getting a great tone throughout.
That was really good Jeff - You’ve clearly got the guitar part and the vocals down, you are probably closer than you think to combining them, the picking needs to be just a little more automatic and you’ll be there.
Very well done Jeff, and very enjoyable mate. This is not an easy song, technically, or rhythmically, so hats off to you mate! Such a beautiful song too.
Wow! That’s awesome, Jeff! Super impressive playing! Sounded great to me, loved it! If you’re only just starting down the finger picking journey you’ve clearly made huge progress already! Well done!
Not easy to play James Taylor as he’s got some very unique chord fingering. You did a terrific job however. Well done. That was a great version of a great song. Have you tried your own vocal on it?
Singing the chorus is no problem (rhythm wise) as the vocals mostly align with the down and upbeats.
The verses didn’t work out though. Removing all the embellishments and sticking to a basic rhythm definitely helps, but it takes away the charm of the song. I’m working on it, but it’ll take some time.
Great Cover Jeff. Beyond my pay grade so suffice to say I really enjoyed your interpretation of JT’s classic song. Fingerstyle…so much to learn, so little time!
In my opinion (which I recognise you did NOT ask for!!) it would be a crime to put the effort into learning to play this tune on the guitar as well as you have (no mean feat in and of itself) and then NOT sing it.
So, as someone who has done a bit of singing and playing (without being an expert by any means and again sitcking my two cents in where it wasn’t solicited) my suggestion would be to play along with the recording (slowly. . .slower than you can easily play it) and have a set of lyrics with the chord changes above the lyrics on your song sheet. Start by listening for the words that fall on the chord changes.
If you have a way to loop sections of the track then go to those sections where the vocal melody falls between the beats and simply loop them till they get easier. I won’t kid you about the amount of repetition it can take to get tricky lyric/rhythm combinations down, but with repetition and using the lyrics/chords sheet (this is a KEY element) you shoulld come right with practice.
Your playing is lovely and the song is such a classic beauty that it deserves a vocal accompaniment. Keep at it!!
I hope to hear you singing and playing it one day on here!!
Thanks Jeremy. I hear you and I am working on the singing and playing. Just not on tunes like this where the finger picking requires quite a lot of focus. I could maybe pull it off if I stuck to a basic strumming pattern and transposed to a different key, but that was not my goal here.
Singing is a skill I need to learn on its own, so I prefer taking basic steps and master those first. There are a few songs on my list, but they’re way easier to play.
