Losing My Religion, REM (cover)

Community Recordings Audio-Video Of You Playing
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This might be more appropriate in my learning log than here, but no odds really.
After my last AVOYP I decided to concentrate more on trying to improve rather than just happily bumble along doing the same thing over and over :wink:
Goodness, it takes a long time for me to learn! :roll_eyes:
I chose a song from Justinā€™s lessons that I like and tried to play it as he suggests.
I reckoned I would know it well enough to play at the OM. Little did I know.
At least Justin admitted to having problems singing and playing simultaneously on this one too, so Iā€™m not too disheartened.
Iā€™ve grown more comfortable using a pick but still prefer the sound of fingertips in my playing.
I found it quite difficult to keep my arm moving steadily when palm muting and singing. The muting action seems to add another ā€˜beatā€™ subdivision, which throws me out. (Justin mutes while playing but doesnā€™t mention it in his lesson).
The original is in Am but thatā€™s to high (or low) for me, so I slapped a capo on the third. (Chris refused to change key for the mandolin on Sat so I had to dig deepā€¦)
I also had to vocalise ba-da-ba-bas, as I was missing his mandolin.
Timing is still a bit iffy at times, but weā€™re getting there.
Hey, I even had a go at the bass runs in the chorus.
Iā€™d be surprised if I didnā€™t revisit this in the future, as I like the song, but I need to park it for a while. Thanks for reading and/or the listen :smiley:

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So big difference in sound using a pick versus fingers. Both are cool in their own manner. A combi of both can at times really spice up a melody. I am exploring each and combi as much as possible. - Another cool performance by the Great Dane. :+1: :sunglasses: :pray:

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I am enjoying your recording, @brianlarsen !
Guitar playing is a journey, and your journey is going along very well.
Love your vocals!
Very well done!

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Well done Brian!! :v: cool vocal!

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Very cool, Brian!

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Well done! :grinning:

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Well done! I enjoyed the bass runs

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Brian and mainstream, almost like a tea and milkā€¦ oups, couldnā€™t resist! :rofl:

That was really good and you had blessings from might all Trond who I believe is a person whose post in AVOYP is all time #1 with likes received andā€¦ he was performing this exact song! :grinning:

You really did well during the OM and in here, now on your studio version you need to include for mandolin sections with small screened Brian in the corner of the screen and you hit the homerun my friend :grinning: as for strumming I would suggest getting really slow with no vox and building up speed as you feel comfortable with the rhythm. I would normally start singing along once rhythm is coming along naturally and it wouldnā€™t be a straight away jump, figuring out bit by bit until it clicks. Hey nobody said itā€™s easy! :grinning: all the best!

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Hi Brian! I also was a little surprised to see you covering such a common/popular song, didnā€™t expect that at all, but as always it was worth the time to listen. I understand, that youā€™ve decided to get some more ā€œseriousā€ or lets say structured in your practice to advance on certain techniques (not saying, that it wasnā€™t good before!) and it seems to pay off. As Iā€™m only taking my first steps into singing and playing together, I know how hard this can be and I think, itā€™s quite normal to be challenged, even if you do it normally quite intuitively, as you pay more attention to technique.
Seems as if the pick changes your way to strum significantly, not for the worse, but different. Maybe a little less relaxed, but this will come!
Alltogether I liked your performance very much!
Wish you a lot of fun further on! And make good use of the time youā€™ll save, while not mucking around with us :wink: :joy:.

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I tip my hat to anybody who can play and sing through this tune, Brian, I think the timing/phrasing and guitrar rhythm is just wicked. And loved the extra bass walks.

The guitar tone didnā€™t grab me on this one, felt it was a little sharp, cold at times. Donā€™t think it was the use of the pick. Maybe needed to roll off the tone control a little, maybe EQ on the amp?

Maybe I am talking nonsense.

As for song choice and learning, from day one to today youā€™ve kept learning and improving your play, so Iā€™d say donā€™t change a thing in your approach. Follow the muse, play whatever songs tickle your fancy, and will always be a treat to be entertained by you here in AVOYP or at an OM.

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Loved your performance of this song with Chris on mandolin last Saturday Brian. Terrific stuff.

I wasnā€™t wild about your guitar tone on this AVoYP version, it was quite harsh. Perhaps you were trying to capture a bit of a mandolin tone?

Super difficult phrasing on this one but I thought you did a great job and your vocal suited the song well. Iā€™m glad youā€™re persevering with the pick, itā€™s broadened your skill set and I doubt if you could have managed those bass runs without one.

As for your strum pattern I felt it was a bit ā€˜choppyā€™. Iā€™ve not looked at Justinā€™s lesson or tried this song myself so I may be talking out of turn here.

Overall though I really enjoyed your version. Well known song or obscure no oneā€™s heard this one before song, itā€™s always a joy to watch and listen to your performances Brian.

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Hi Brian,

:smiley::sunglasses: :clap:
Nice to see and hear ā€¦

I also had some trouble with the sharp tone.

I can see that your rhythm guitar is really benefiting from your lots of practiceā€¦ and singing with this song :man_bowing:
and for the single notes :clap:
Wondering what your experience is if you experience it after a long practice with a plectrum, then without with the same number ā€¦ I feel it as liberation and it goes super smoothly.
Glad you shared the song now, :sunglasses: and great if youā€™re going to do this song again later :smiley:

( in a difficult week with 2 faces, due to the death of my best friend (83 years old and ill for a long time ā€¦ 25 years parkinson) i felt the need to share because the tittle made me laugh so applicable to him emeritus minister of a liberal (vrijzinnige kerk)church ,with all the doubts about faith and a twice lost it totally in his life after all those scandals with children , but came back again but less and less confident to the very end ,but i have no idea what this song is about exactly :see_no_evil:(like most songs,lovely I usually think so, you can give your own twist mostly))

Dear greetings :sunflower:

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Hello Brian,
such a great song played by a great entertainer :smiley: .
Iā€™d say, that using the capo suited your voice much better. Singing in a too low key can be quite a struggle. (I know what Iā€™m talking about, as Iā€™ve tried to sing along The Passenger by Iggy Pop yesterday evening :joy:.)
With this song, youā€™ve left your comfort zone a bit, and I think thatā€™s really a good thing. For making further progress, taking another step is necessary. So congrats on that :clap: :+1:. It was a really enjoyable listen. Looking forward for more :blush: .

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@kimlodrodawa Mange tak, Kim :smiley:

@ReneAsologuitar Thanks, man.
Letā€™s say Iā€™m on a slow boat to China :rofl:

@tRONd Haha, three Scandinavians in one thread? That must be a record (or tape, or CD or something like that) :laughing:
Reminds me, I should go back and check your version again, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

@ToshS Cheers, Tosh, I thought once would be enough for you on Saturday :laughing:
Appreciate it.

@LunaRocket Thanks Rebecca :smiley:

@Jenndye429 Thanks Jenny, first time for everything :wink:
You guys rocked da house on Sat :smiley:

@adi_mrok Haha, you Sir have earned the right to tease as much as you like :laughing:
How on earth do you know which post has the most likes??? Now Iā€™m going to have to trawl through my past, comparing myself to everyone else, and probably have to indulge in some serious ā€˜bumpingā€™ :rofl:
You are of course right on the slowing down (how often have I heard that advice?), getting it right, automatically and gradually increasing the tempo untilā€¦ well, until youā€™re shredding RHCP like a bad mother on speed :rofl:
I actually did do that (a tiny bit!). You should have heard the earlier attempts!
Just because Iā€™m learning more, does not mean I give up on all my bad habits :wink:

Vielen Dank, Helen Youā€™re very ā€˜politeā€™ :rofl:
In fact Iā€™m going to include @DavidP and @sairfingers to avoid repeating myself :wink:
In the past I often posted songs that I was enthused about and wanted to share. As I mentioned above, maybe I should have posted this in my learning log, as it was more a documentation of where I had got up to with this one. Iā€™ll be putting it away for a while, but I hadnā€™t included the intro and bass walks at the OM. I agree completely regarding the tone of the guitar. It doesnā€™t work. (I didnā€™t even twiddle a knob on my amp :roll_eyes:) I did have a quick go on the acoustic, but my technique was even worse with that. I will chase tones on another day :laughing:
You canā€™t talk out of turn, Gordon. You know better than most that I prefer a minimum of BS and appreciate good criticism :smiley:
So thank you all again.
Ah, same goes for @NicoleKKB Yes, comfort zones are nice but you have to venture out every now and again to remind yourself what it is :wink:

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@roger_holland Haha thank you for your support, and you need to be harsher :rofl:
Sorry to hear about your loss :cry:
Thatā€™s a rare thing to have a best friend of a different generation. (Why am I not surprised?)
I hope his faith gave him more comfort than distress, but youā€™ll forgive me if I donā€™t go down another existential rabbit hole this morning :wink:
You lost a friend.
Iā€™m sorry.
Take care.

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Deadly Brian. Thatā€™s a tough one to maintain the singing with the strumming pattern. Great job. Loved it.

Babadebaba baby

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Really enjoyed that Brian but the tone was a little shrill. Thatā€™s a complicated pattern to sing over, so you did really well. I also loved the bass runs. Also thought the key was better for you but enjoyed you getting down in the gutter at the OM. As I said the low vox and Chrisā€™ mandolin really worked well together.

And despite my previous comments, I donā€™t think you are selling out !! I think taking this route will improve your playing and make the more avant garde tracks more polished in the future. You know how you like things polished. No :poop: here !! Top job.

Just whack up the mids and bass next time :wink:

:sunglasses:

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Hi Brian! Great to see an AVOYP pop up for this. Thoroughly enjoyed hearing it live last weekend with your ā€œbandā€ and this was also a super fun solo rendition! :star_struck: Not much more I can say that hasnā€™t already been said above other than I felt you relaxed into it as the song progressed and that added to the flow, plus I was impressed with the fluidity of the single note bass line runs which I thought worked well. Thanks for putting this one up and I really do hope you revisit it down the track as well, will be great to see how it progresses over time. :smiley: :+1:
All the best and take care! :slight_smile:

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You go over to a section you wish to check (in this case AVOYP) and somewhere above all the post you should swap Latest to Top. Your welcome :smile:

And donā€™t worry I know itā€™s a process, but once you get it I promise it becomes a bit easier :wink:

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Iā€™m always curious to check what your vesion sounds lik Brian (the ā€˜I shorten these and bend these syllablesā€™ style), it really became your signature style.
Be wary though, overdoing this in the same places makes your songs a bit ā€œtoo alikeā€ here and there if you know what I mean. Dare to take that longer note here and there!

I canā€™t help imagining you singing Ugly Kid Joe songs; I always think your style and humour fits them :smiley:

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