Flexing Time: The Falling Leaf

Beginner Grade 3 Module 16: Playing Melodies & Moving Chords Up
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Let's talk about flexing time to manipulate dynamics and add movement to your guitar playing!


View the full lesson at Flexing Time: The Falling Leaf | JustinGuitar

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Thanks a lot for this lesson! Really a great picture - the falling leaf! And I couldn’t agree more that it is so important to interpret this way. That is the reason why so many classical pieces are so incredibly interpreted, but of course not only the classical ones. As a (maybe advanced) beginner I try it in every piece. My recommendation as a former gospel choir singer is to sing the song/piece/line with closed eyes and get the feeling how to interpret the dynamic, so you can try to do it the same on the guitar - btw much harder for me.

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Hey everyone!

Just finished this module and I’m having a hard time figuring out the falling leaf technique.

I understand it when I listen to Justin playing that way, but it’s almost impossible to do it myself.

I struggle particularly with combining this new idea of time with a melody, my fingers seem to forget where to go.

I also have two questions:

  • does the speed affect the intensity/ volume (eg piano with slower tempo, forte with faster tempo)
  • how do I make the melody sound the same? Do I count the same way just slower? And how slower? And for how long? I know it’s mostly a feeling, but it gets pretty messed up.

If someone has figured this out, I’d really appreciate some tips!

Thanks!

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Hi Helen,
The answer to your first question is no,…your 2nd set of questions will hopefully be explained by someone else for you completely because I’ll be gone for now…one tip:a lot of practice,…
I wish you good luck and above all have fun,… start with super simple melodies that you know very well and experiment with them a long time,…
Greetings,Rogier

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I think a really amazing song to practice this in a SIMPLE way is Cat Power’s arrangement of “Sea of love”. It’s literally just 4 chords (c, emaj, f, d) over and over, to a simple D-DDU strum. You have to play it with emotion or it sounds like garbage. But since it is so simple, there’s not much more than emotion to focus on. It makes it really easy to explore.

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Would anyone know where we can find a tab of the fingerstyle version of Yesterday as Justin was just playing?

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Hi Jamsheed,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun :sunglasses:

Yesterday

At the top right is a search icon … if you had entered it yesterday you would have saved a lot of waiting time … have fun with it :smiley:

Greetings,Rogier