not really a quo fan but recently discovered ‘aquostic’ gig 22 oct 2014 at roundhouse, london on video tube. just how good are they? have been covering a few numbers for open mic nights. great stuff to play, imo…
JS - add some quo stuff to your catalogue. all easy open chords; and their acoustic numbers are so much easier than their elec guitar counterparts but just as much, maybe even more so, fun to play. so c’mon! whatever you want, caroline, paper plane, na na na, just waiting for someone to bring them to the fore…love to hear thoughts / comments, love and best, j3z x
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Hello j3z, and welcome to the community 
.
I know some quo songs from my childhood (ages ago 
) and loved singing along. And I practiced ‚In the Army now‘ for some time, but I didn‘t know that they have such a broad repertoire 
. Thanks for your tip.
What about you? You mentioned that you‘ve already taken part at open mics. Would you like to tell us a bit more about your experiences? I‘d love to hear more about it 
.
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Welcome to the community, j3z! And thanks for the tip, I had never heard of them!
Thank you for your reply NicoleKKB and lovely to hear from you.
Have a search for Status Quo Aquostic Live Complete Show Roundhouse London 22nd October 2014 - YouTube. I watch their hands for rhythm and chord shapes and anything I can’t decipher, I use websites to help. I’m not a huge Quo fan, but some of this material is great for electric acoustic guitar at open mic nights. I have done a few open mic’s but have really bad nerves. I think my playing is ok but don’t think I’m a good singer, which doesn’t help. People tell me I’m ok and I should do more but my confidence wavers so much.
When I played in a covers (rock) band I did backing vocals and rhythm guitar. Not so many nerves doing that as we were a 4 piece and I wasn’t out on my own. Plus the lead guitarist and I would chat in the instrumental sections of songs and joke. I’d generally mess around a bit. I was reasonable / fairly good then. Well, good enough to be in that band for a while.
Anyway, how is your playing doing? What genre of music do you like to play?
Again, thank you for your reply.
Best wishes
Jez
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Hi ardemenz, and thank you for your reply. Lovely to hear from you.
Have a search for Status Quo Aquostic Live Complete Show Roundhouse London 22nd October 2014 - YouTube. I watch their hands for rhythm and chord shapes and anything I can’t decipher, I use websites to help. I’m not a huge Status Quo fan, but some of this material is great for electric acoustic guitar at open mic nights or practicing at home.
Again, thank you for your reply.
Best wishes
Jez
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Hi Jez, that sounds great. Having performed at several open mics, and being part of a band are really exiting things to do . Nevertheless, I can absolutely understand that you got quite nervous when being ‚alone‘ on stage. I guess, this is part of the game, and you can be very proud of you for performing despite your fears.
I‘m still at the very beginning of my guitar journey. Far away from performing in front of an audience. My goal so far is ‚ just‘ to be able to play and sing at camp fires with friends and family. Predominantly rock and country music. But I also like Blues - though definitely not able to play it right now 
.
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hi Nicole and thank you.
i don’t know how far you are along, but if i may, could i suggest that once you’ve got a handful of open chords, (and you really don’t need that many) take a song you know well, even if it’s not a favourite, and keep rolling it over. this will do a couple of things; firstly you’ll have material to play, 2nd) you’ll keep time a little easier 'cos you already know the tune and be able to build up speed as opposed to learning a new tune, 3rd) your confidence will grow.
‘knocking’ on heavens door’ g, c, d, am, works well - it’s not too pacy and ‘bad moon rising’ - c, g, f, - is a bit quicker if you fancy - and 1 less chord!
i remember listening to ‘the needle and the damage done’ - neil young (and all of the ‘harvest’ album) and thinking, ‘oh, if i could play that, i’d be a ‘proper’ guitarist’. d’you know what? i can play it now but still don’t consider myself a ‘proper’ guitarist.
and try Em and Am with some embellishments. you can find those chords in a pink floyd track. ‘breathe’, i think.
patience counts for a bit too. it’s so easy to get irritated and frustrated…
i’d be pleased to hear your thoughts and hope i haven’t caused offence.
jez
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Ha, true! Isn’t it interesting how we often tend to keep raising the bar for ourselves?
hi there ardemenz and thank you for your astute observation.
It had never crossed my mind to look at it like that. no matter how well i play, i’m never quite satisfied. we are our own worst critics.
i hope you’re getting along nicely and i’d be interested to hear how your playing is developing, what kind of music you listen to or like to play.
thanks again for your comment. much appreciated.
regards
jem
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I‘m definitively a fan of the Quo and have saved the link to watch later today thanks. I’m always in a good mood after I’ve listened to some Quo.
On the subject of open mics, I’m also a long way from performing at one but I can comment from the perspective of someone who might be in an audience at one. What I want to hear is someone who recreates a song and plays it cleanly… it doesn’t have to be the exact same chords as the band with all of the little fills and frills. In my opinion I’d rather someone went for simple and played it well than struggling to do it all because they’re at the outer limits of what they can play. If there’s someone in the audience who takes issue that you played a slightly different chord shape, they’re a jerk, you’re not a bad guitar player.
I’ve had issues with being my own worst critic. It sounds a good thing that should spur you on, but if it isn’t controlled, it will kill your enjoyment and you’ll quit playing and then the mindset has worked against you rather than spurred you on. Make sure you enjoy the little victories throughout the journey and getting better will largely take care of itself if you keep practicing. You need to be able recognise if some aspect of your playing is a bit rough, it’s no good being deluded about your ability, but don’t get on your own back about it. It’s taken me a long time to start being able to apply this sort of philosophy to my life but better later than never!
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@j3z
Your question initiated some good conversation.
I live in South Africa, perhaps one of the remotest regions on the planet from the perspective of being a stop on a bands tour itinerary. And then there was the political situation (which we’ll not discuss in this Community) when I was of the age when I would have been going to shows. But one of the bands that did come to SA that I had the pleasure to see was Status Quo. What a fabulous show. Nothing too fancy. Just good old rock n roll, loads of energy and fun. I shall be sure to take a look at the link you’ve shared.
I also took in your guitar history and that observation about being a ‘proper’ guitarist.
Firstly, tip my hat in admiration that you have been in a band and played Open Mics. I can only imagine how much fun playing live gigs as a band must be. I have played some Open Mics and every now and then another performer who plays harmonica spontaneously joins in. I’ve never felt more ‘proper’ that when he joined in while I was performing Knocking on Heavens Door, what a thrill just to strum that chord progression and listen to his play, finally giving him the nod for me to come back in and sing the final chorus.
As @ardemenz and @mattswain have said, being a musician is a never-ending adventure of learning and improving. There is no ultimate destination, a final goal to tick and be done. For me being able to play the songs from Harvest remains an aspiration but I don’t consider myself not to be a proper guitar player because I am yet to reach that level of ability.
I guess if that is our yardstick and we link it tightly to how much we appreciate and enjoy playing (and singing if it is part of your musicianship) then we’d have to take our pick of our role models and perhaps have our sense of achievement and satisfaction driven by the gap between our current ability and our benchmark. Mine might well be Neil Young … oh to be able to play guitar, harmonica, and piano like Neil, from acoustic folk and country, to hard rocking electric that can be considered the fore-runner of grunge, and the song-writing. Knowing his life story well, it is unrealistic to expect to reach his levels, I just don’t have the hours in a day (assuming I had the drive to match) to reach that level … because I firmly believe that is what it takes, hours and hours and hours.
So based on what you have shared, you sound like a proper guitarist and musician to me. I expect I would think your singing is better than you do yourself. And I’d love to see you play. So maybe you’d like to share some simple videos, made with a phone is fine, of you playing in #record-yourself-progress-performance:audio-video-of-you-playing We love to enjoy fellow members music here, it inspires us and those who share find the feedback and encouragement invaluable.
Welcome to the Community!
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One thing I do notice as a beginner having watched a couple of songs from the video, is how fast Rick strums in some of the sections! Impressive. I do think the Quo are under-rated by the music snobs, all of the stuff about 3 chords etc. Yes, maybe there is a lot of 3 chord stuff, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing and they do so much more than that when you pay attention
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yep; fully agree with you. and here’s a few more tunes that can be played with 3 open chords to have a go at:
sit down - james
summertimes blues - eddie cochran
stir it up - bob marley
bad moon rising - creedence clearwater revival
the last time - the rolling stones
free falling - tom petty
alright - cast
try experimenting further by playing in different keys and / or using a capo at various positions to find the sound you like best / suits your voice.
hi davidp - thank you for your reply and compliment. much appreciated.
we’re all still learning no matter where we are…
i hope you’re making good progress. thing’s will click into place…
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hi mattswain
yep; clean and simple every time for me too.
and a tip-top, well considered philosophy - imo
will speak again soon
btw - thank you for saying my question initiated some good conversation.
i think i expected it to be rhetorical question and one that others might take a look and either like it or leave it. never expected this. it’s a welcome and pleasant surprise.
i just thought it offered what can be achieved with (electro) acoustic guitars. with clean, simple, big open chords, some drop D tuning, easy timing and (relatively) easy to play along to.
will speak again soon.
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Somehow the first line of this got lost which was a comment about not knowing DavidP was in South Africa. The band(s) mentioned below have quite a different sound - a mix of Africa and rock. They use an unusual ( Zulu ? ) tuning. Do not want to divert this topic…
Juluka or Savuka, both bands headed by Johnny Clegg…
As I understand it,breaking the rules with a mixed race band, all dressed as Zulu 's
A friend of mine went to SA in 1982 or so ended up as a sound engineer ther and on a trkp home introduced me to Juluka, the first incarnation.f2f
Scatterlings of Africa was album at that time.
Are you old enough to have seen either of these ?
i haven’t heard of either though probably old enough to have seen them!
will investigate…
@GeoffMolyneux
Geoff,
The first band I ever saw live was Clout who had a big hit in Europe, Substitute: Clout - Substitute • TopPop - YouTube. That was in a local club in Port Elizabeth. I was 15 and under age, still mystified that my parents said yes to that one.
But I digress, when I went to varsity in 1983, Juluka was one of the top local bands. I saw them the first time performing in the Jameson Hall on the University of Cape Town campus. My first ever concert. Almost at the front of the hall, what a wonderful experience. I saw them a second time in a larger indoor arena.
I also went to a show at a theatre in Jhb in which Johnny Clegg shared his life story, showed photographs, and played songs solo on stage.
As you rightly said, he crossed racial divides back in the apartheid era. Needless to say, he was not the only person to do so. As is often the case, musicians pushed the boundaries and were instrumental in bringing about change in South Africa (best we stop that line of conversation to stay true to our Community etiquette).
Scatterlings was their 4th album, released in '82 so part of the live set I saw. I also really loved their second album African Litany.
Savuka was his second band after the break-up of Juluka.
I never got into their music as much as I did Juluka. And at a similar time I was more into the bluesy rock 'n roll of what was a transforming Afrikaans music scene, moving away from what had been the norm and becoming another voice for change and protest. Again, could say more but then a Mod would sweep in to edit, so shall self moderate 
Search ‘Voelvry tour’ in YouTube if you are interested.
Now back to Status Quo
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