Welcome to the Guitar Challenges. Each ‘challenge’ is basically an open invitation to anyone and everyone to play a song, an improvisation, a study-piece etc and post a recording – just for the fun of it.
So, whether you are a relative beginner learning the basic chords and strumming pattern of a song, a more experienced player adding a little fancy fretwork, if you want to do a little finger-picking, or you want to sing and play at the same time … you can join in with these challenges.
Important:
The challenge is to yourself.
These are not competition threads.
There are no prizes for making the ‘best’ recordings.
There is no shame for being at the beginner stages.
This is for FUN!
If you do want some constructive advice and feedback on your playing then that is cool. Just ask. Otherwise this is all about positivity, encouragement and having a go.
Over the years many people have shared recordings of Neil Young songs and he has certainly featured many times in Justin’s song lessons.
There was a Challenge in the original Forum for a single Neil Young song - Harvest.
I have chosen to widen the category to include any of his songs.
I have collected together these recordings - all originally individual topics in AVOYP - to act as a springboard for this new Challenge.
So I tried my version of “Buffalo Springfield again” to learn this fingerstyle with a muted hit and it was a challenge in the begining. Tried a couple of takes inluding the harmonica and never got it a 100%. So this version I have to settle with at the moment. Messed up the second riff but I guess there is always “room for improvement”.
I certainly did enjoy it. Mix feedback is always subjective … my 2cs … I’d like the vocal a little more forward in the mix. The licks sounded challenging.
Another NY song I didn’t know … hardly surprising given his body of work. And Silver and Gold is another album I have never listened to.
@sairfingers What did you make of this one, Gordon?
Great song and great version Eric. Like David, it’s not a song I know. NY does have a huge body of work though.
I really liked the percussive mute technique you used, I thought it came across really well. To then play and the riff and some harp too! Well done.
On a slightly different note. This new community site seems to be a lot busier than the old forum ever was, I’m finding it very difficult to keep up with everything and I’m already spending too much time browsing the site. If David hadn’t tagged me, I doubt if I would have found your song Eric. I tend to ‘watch’ for new songs over in AVoYP.
@sairfingers@DavidP thank you guys for your replies. It was (is) quite a challenge to play and sing at the same time (or playing the harps). Needs a lot of practice.
And true it is really hard to keep up in this new community. Too much sometimes… but the AVoyP section is a good place to go. I will post any new songs there from now on.
Loved it, Eric. Really liked the harmonica in there, too.
Yeah, I agree. It’s almost like a firehose you have to sip from. Easy to miss stuff, especially if you just browse through “latest.” Drilling down in the categories that most interest you helps a bit, though.
I’m going off topic here. Sorry Eric. I started trying to welcome all the new people to the site. I’ve given that up now, there are just too many and as there is no quick way to identify who you’ve already replied to……… But I’ve said all this before.
Wow i just realized alot of my recordings are on here! Thanks close!! Ill have to check all the others out also! Also I have this one to. Hey Hey My My Acoustic Cover - YouTube
Justin did a great lesson on Harvest Moon by Neil Young. Unfortunately, the vocal is very difficult for me so I wobble in places. Nevertheless, I learnt it from this great teacher of ours so I thought I would upload it here as well.
Let me know what you think and if anyone has any tips for reaching those high notes (other than castration) then I’m all ears
I found that for hitting higher notes I have to take a deep breath before I sing the high note…I have no singing training at all, I just figured it out on my own when I tried singing “Silent Night” this past Christmas. I couldn’t sing the the third line of each verse until I took a fast breath right before… that really helped
Hi everyone!
Thanks for the kind comments and thank you to Richard for moving the topic to a more sensible place. @SandyMusic I also try the deep breath before trying for the high note as well. It definitely helped but I still felt as though I was reaching for a peak that was a bit too high for me oh well, it’s good to go out of my comfort zone for a change!
oh well, it’s good to go out of my comfort zone for a change!