So this is my first (public) recording of anything I’ve played. One of my playing goals is to be able to play with others. While this isn’t exactly the first song I’ve done with others, I certainly feel more proud of this one. First off, it didn’t take me weeks to figure out how to play the song just for myself before playing with my wife. I had the rough shape of it figured in a couple hours and the rest of it has just been refining a couple of the trickier changes.
I stood behind her in part for space in the room, but also to help equalize the volume a bit.
I still have a lot of work to do to be able to keep up at a song circle in the guitar group I’m in.
Really nice work Nate and Songbird Wife. I love the way your wife engages us with her smile, she really sells the song and holds my attention.
Nate did you breathe at all Every time you make a face or shake your head you draw my attention to something you did wrong that I wasn’t aware of. I don’t want to know about that, I don’t care at all. It intrudes on my enjoyment of the performance. Let your love shine!
That was great Nat. You looked like you didnt feel good about your performance but I think you did good. Play more with her and you will do a it better each time. Really it was awsome especially for a first time, especially since you were standing.
I think of it like Its just like MTB or the groms boarding. People get better the more they ride the on the harder trails or with better people and challenge themselves.
You are way stoked you have an instant partner you can play rythem with. I really though you did just fine back there even with your hiccup. You totally nailed the caesura (that dramatic pause). Smile and strum and no one will notice.
Bravo, Nate and wife, lovely performance. Enjoyed the blend of uke and guitar. And actually I think you could have stepped forward a pace or two and it wourld have been fine.
And loved the tambourine. Excellent to manage that while playing (and maybe singing). Speaking of Nate, I was hoping you’d join in on the chorus with your vocal.
Great stuff guys, a really fun version of a classic song. The guitar and uke blended well. Super vocal from your wife Nate (we need her name ).
You have a ‘wristy’ strum action Nate and I think it could be improved if you introduced a bit more arm movement. You also look to be holding your pick very tightly. Try relaxing your hand a bit and letting your fingers hang loose.
Let your strum flow!
Hi Wife and Nate,
That was a wonderfully nice introduction to a first song here and what a wonderful singing voice, great to have someone like that in the house, look carefully at your wife how she does it with her stumming arm work and certainly the continuous strumming arm movement, but that is for the next video for you
I’m actually not a half bad singer. But singing AND playing? I can’t do that. At least not yet, anyway. I still have to think too much about my playing. I have to think pretty hard about my upcoming chord changes. A couple in particular, I need to start plotting out several measures in advance.
And as for looking kinda wooden…yeah…I did impress how new I am to playing with someone else, right? It’s also my first time recording myself where my face is visible. again, it’s a concentration thing. I am concentrating on my playing so much that I don’t have the bandwidth to do much else.
I’m working on the strum thing. the VAST majority of songs I’ve been working on have not been this kind of rhythm strumming so using “phantom” strums to help keep time feel strange to me. More things to concentrate on.
The tambourine is a foot tambourine that my wife is using. That’s a new toy for her that she just got a few days ago.
Like I said, my position was more determined by available space than anything else. there was a wall not terribly far away from my guitar headstock and I didn’t want my wife’s headstock to be bumping into my arm. I don’t know how distracting it would have been for her, but it would be VERY distracting for me. And also, I had a laptop low to my left with the lyrics and chords scrolling so I could make sure I was planning for the critical chord changes I need to concentrate most about (namely the D>D7>G>D progression that happens twice in the song). I have the song mostly memorized, but the structure is just inconsistent enough that if I’m not focusing enough on where I am in the song, I will lose track and miss that important progression that leads into the chorus (as well, how many times do I play the chorus in a row, and where am I in there?). The fact that I’m not singing really doesn’t help me keep my spot. But ALL of this stuff is swimming in my head all at the same time while I’m playing.
Very nice, you two! It was an enjoyable listen from the both of you. Great team effort. You are lucky to have someone to play with at home. Keep it up and post another good song when you can.
Nice one Nate and Nate’s wife. Your wife has a beautiful voice and you both complimented each other really well. My wife also plays the Ukulele so maybe I can talk her into a duet as well
Nate, that was a great first performance. You can give some credit to your wife who did such a good job that she took some of the focus and pressure off of you. It was an enjoyable song duet to listen to.
I’ve had another look at your video and the chord sequence you mention. When moving from D7 to G have you tried simply sliding finger 3 up one fret on the high e string and keeping the shape of fingers 1 & 2 and moving them to strings 5 and 6? That might require less concentration than the way you’re doing it.
Just a thought.
that particular transition is the least of my concentration. the change in particular that gets me is the D>D7 change since I essentially have to lift all my fingers. for the rest of that progression, it’s just a matter of keeping track of where my fingers are so they’re ready for the next chord.
dropping finger 4 onto the 3rd fret for G isn’t much of a big deal, though I have a sort of tendency to pull it farther away than I need to while in D7. but that’s a tendency of mine for just about any chord that doesn’t directly use finger 4. the main thing I need to watch for there is to make sure I’ve got it close to where it needs to be for the G chord. That particular shape for G is easier for me to make with fingers 1, 2, and 4, anyway. trying it with 1, 2, and 3 is a bit more troublesome for me, as my 3rd finger scrunches up and has a tendency to mute the B string.
another reason making G with 1, 2, and 4 works for me, especially here, is because I can just drop finger 3 onto the B string when it’s time to go back to D and that gives me a solid anchor to work from when I have to move fingers 1 and 2 all the way across the fretboard again. again, the thing I need to watch for here is to make sure finger 3 doesn’t drift too far away when I hit that G chord. I have a lot less control over fingers 3 and 4 of my left hand and they tend to float too far away if I don’t pay attention to them. This song in particular is giving my 4th finger a nice workout, though, with hitting that Dsus4 as often as I do. I’m sure that’s an element of control that will improve for me over time, but of all the challenges I’ve had in all my attempts to learn guitar over the past 20 years, this one has caused me the most trouble. so it’s really remarkable I’ve made it as far as I have.
It gave me trouble when I was learning piano back in college, too. in class we were working on independent melodies with left and right hand and it was not something that I could learn in the amount of time I had for each lesson. in order to keep up, I had to rewrite all of the pieces so my left hand just played chords. I could keep up with the class if I did that. my piano teacher helped me figure out that this accommodation would work for me, and the fact that I was the one who rewrote those pieces for my own accommodations (instead of asking her to do it all the time) was considered as a significant part of my grade. that was a pretty easy accommodation to make. you certainly can’t go terribly far only playing piano with your left hand that way, but it worked for me at the time. it doesn’t really help with guitar. so I tend to take longer to learn new stuff because it still feels like every song is very nearly using brand new chord changes because each subtle difference makes the world of difference to me.
Nate and Wife, Great performance from you two, and good song choice. Nate, Justin has a lesson (can’t remember where to find it) but he talks about being able to strum the song and carry on a conversion while you play. I took that to heart early on and it’s served me well.
It’s just all about getting yourself that comfortable with the song, chord
pattern, the rhythm without having to think about it or look at a chord chart. It gets easy with time and the more you play.
Well done on your first performance.
Every time you make a face or shake your head you draw my attention to something you did wrong that I wasn’t aware of. I don’t want to know about that, I don’t care at all. It intrudes on my enjoyment of the performance. Let your love shine!
).
It was a good performance nicely done. 