Cheers for taking the time for the review @jkahn
We all do like to read about ourselves 
Your remark about feeling something hits home. For me the bottom line with any form of art is :
Does it make me feel or think differently?
Chris is a much better guitarist than fiddler, but enjoys getting back into it. Having music in common has deepened our friendship over the last couple of years. So thanks to Justin for that too 
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@jkahn thanks for the feedback on my Don McLean song , you will be pleased to know the other one is in the works although I suspect I will not be allowed the 8.30 mins version on OM. Also have another few of his I am learning , I do love a good story teller 
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Sure you can! The previous OMās, people have played 2 songs.
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Thank you so much! I definitely threw a lot in there for a debut. While my nerves were definitely there, Iām happy I did it and Iām looking forward to the next one 
Thank you so, so much!! Iām glad you enjoyed it. Iām also a huge Beatles fan and Iām always learning at least one of their songs at any given time. Dig a Pony is one of my favorites. Iām looking forward to doing another OM now that Iāve got a debit under my belt 
Thank you Stefan! I wanted to get a little bit of holiday in there with the tree
My husband and I play together a lot and he will probably join me for the next OM
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Thank you so much! There were definitely nerves, but I was happy that I was able to play through them. I think the next one will be easier with one under my belt
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Thank you so much JK! We had a lot of fun. Great job hosting as well!
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Iām catching up after the outage and some time away. Have to say āwowā all the in-depth comments are blowing me away, quite unexpected, but so appreciated.
@brianlarsen thanks Brian. Always a delight to hear that I managed to be in tune. I know how you like my non original melodies. And as I have said before, that is all a happy accident as a result of my inability to hear and remember original melody accurately. Maybe one day if I turn my attention to working on transcribing I may improve my ear and ability to play/sing what I am hearing. But for now, as long as it sounds OK, is in tune/key, and pitching adequate, I shall be more that satisfied. āHalargianā, I recall your comment on that from many years back, I suspect on the old Forum, and made a point to correct my lyric. Heck, may even have been a feedback in reply to my posting a strummed AVOYP back in which I sung, āenlargingā. The outro was mostly taken from Justinās lesson, glad it worked well.
@liaty thanks, Dave. Some of the choices were made just so I could keep it flowing through the section changes, specifically from chorus into verse 2, glad it worked for you. Good to hear the comment on the bass tones. I think in the past I have sometimes been a little too mid/high heavy on the tone.
@SgtColon thanks Stefan. Justin teaches the picking pattern I used in his lesson. So seemed a good song to work on to improve both picking skills and the ability to pick and sing. Then the song structure is ideal to explore mixing up techniques to add dynamics. Glad you enjoyed it.
@Socio thanks James. yes indeed, I posted up a final rehearsal after a sound-check for the benefit of the few subscribers ā¦ perhaps I should say family, friends, colleagues ā¦ who take in interest in my musical hobby. Glad you enjoyed it (and the OM performance). I have a vague recollection of seeing the version you mentioned, though not specifically how he played it with her. I recall that it was good. And for me these alternative versions are more enjoyable than the orginal Tears For Fears recording, me not being that into 80s synth-based pop. That said, these other versions demonstrate what a good song it is. I think it is a mark of a good song if it can be enjoyed with just a simple guitar or piano accompaniment and a vocal. Iāve even seen some hard rock songs performed as such and they stand up. I know there is a place for production and full arrangements but I think ultimate quality is revealed in the ultimate stripped back acoustic version. At risk of being controversial may also reveal ultimate capability of the artist eg Billy Idol and Steve Stevens doing their rockers stripped back and acoustic sound as good to me as the original studio full band versions.
@jkahn thanks JK, youāre very kind and glad you enjoyed it. Playing with fingers really does open up dynamic possibilities. I still need to learn that percussive hit (to go with the percussive strum). Of course would be great to do similar with (what Justin calls) picked finger style, and pick arpeggios while singing etc ā¦ one day I may knuckly down and put in the practice hours to develop that technique. For now, it is just the simple basic techniques, but if it makes you (me) happy (thanks Sheryl) thatās all that really matters
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Sorry to you all. Again Iām very late replying to all your comments 
. But better late than never, I guess 
Many thanks Adi 
. It has been a tough one. Iāve been many months practicing this song (with some breaks, though). The speed in the chord changes is really challenging, there were days that I practice just that bit 5 minutes with the metronome.
Yep, Iāll change my location for the next time, plugged directly to the router 
Yeah, thatās a thing that I donāt quite get either. Some times de audio just works fine (like in my lessons with Richard) and other times the sound doesnāt come through. Iāll keep messing with the settings until I make it work nicely 
Thanks Brian! Iām glad that my metalhead performances are being enjoyed . Sure, counting in Spanish was the point of the song 
. BTW, Iāll use this replay to tell you that I enjoyed your performance too. More than a performance you give each OM a show with the special guests and instruments .
Thank you, Dave! The tone was thanks I could profile the same amp as Kevin Wasserman .
I told you in the chat already, but I was very impressed with the feeling you give to your playing in the las OM. Well done, mate 
Glad you liked it, Stefan . I think I reached my max, from now on, My performances only can go worst .
Thank you, James . Iām honored to bring some heavy distorted sounds to the OMs .
I couldnāt deliver anything worst having such a great host. Glad you liked, and thank you for your comment 
.
Ups, almost missed this one . Happy that you liked. All the event was terrific with great performances .
Now I canāt get off from my mind thinking about your other half calling to you and saying āGive it to me, babyā
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Sorry for that, Edgar 
.
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Finally managed to catch up with this. More great performances, made for an enjoyable hour or so.
Unfortunately I didnāt take my seat in the audience for OM12 so I caught up with it in instalments after the fact. Wow. What a great event. Smoothly run and with cool MC work from @jkahn.
@DavidP Mad World
What a terrific demo of the reasons to return to a āsimple beginner songā once you have a few years and some extra skills and mastery under your belt. Good job sir. And a cool way to start proceedings.
@jestersea Hazy Shade Of Winter
Bravo for taking a gem of a song from Mr Simon and giving a fine performance. Nicely done.
@Rumil Pretty Fly for a White Guy
Edgar, you gave us sheer fun and entertainment and some smoking hot power chord moves. Yeah!
@TheMadman_tobyjenner well that was one I havenāt heard before, although without a surprise if song is now more than 50 years old played it really well Toby, shame you didnāt get your drums working but I know with your head you will get this cracked down in no time! very enjoyable acoustic performance though and wasnāt missing the drums much!
@liaty Dave that was reallyā¦ soulful, the backing track really made the job and improved the whole experience of this performance. Vox and playing were of course fantastic too so you should be proud!
@twistor59 wow what a debut! Loved it and managed to listen to your impro while driving, really made my journey a lot more pleasant if you went on for even longer I wouldnāt mind at all! Great stuff hope to see you on some more OMs in the future!
@Notter Mark and Oasis are coming back! Should have made the W song joke haha, although I am sure people wouldnāt mind the Wonderwall at all! Really nice Mark you are also becoming a pretty confident regular and it is good to listen to your performances live, top quality and donāt mind the little hickup at the end, you carried on and that is the main thing!
@eric.lennon I listened to the song and I must be honest - I donāt know that one! but I really enjoyed it, clearly Justinās workshops are paying off and you are a fine and experienced artist which we can fully appreciate and enjoy!
@brianlarsen well my dear kudos to you and Chris, you guys are old dogs now on our Community Open Mics and I donāt expect anything less than class act which you delivered again! Hopefully your procedure went well and very soon you will be reading this comment without the glasses!
@Malz really great Mal, whenever I hear you perform songs I am always scratching my head thinking your music taste and choices are more matching person from Southern part of USA than a Yorkshire man! Then I remind myself you are from North of the UK and admire your performances even more, well done you did really good and that was definitely quite a challenging tune with all those little picking embellishments.
@Jenndye429 wow Jenny what a debut! When I think of our first Open Mics and how debuts looked back then and now makes me feel a bit overwhelmed with quality of those acts now! Bravo really enjoyed it, a little solo, a nice distorted guitar, drums from your hubbie and the Beatles, whatās not to like here?!
@dobleA welcome to another first timer on our OMs! That was really cool, we are missing some regional cultural performances as most of us are going for big international hits (myself guilty of that too) so thank you for enhancing our experience! And I am sure Mr Larsen enjoyed it even more than others as he was always keen on getting some more cultures represented through songs onto OMs and AVOYPs!
@Rod58 great to see and hear you again Rod! And that was truly unusual pick, but nevertheless really enjoyable performance! Great to have you here again and hopefully we will see each other on many others OMs to come
@sah22 Scott and his sons (or at least some of them ) - that was really great! Being inspired by children, usually it works other way around but great thing to be able to play with your kids and enjoy music together. And even better if you can spread the joy to others such us lucky ourselves! You were a bit worried about quality of the sound but you definitely sorted it out very well, this is a pure example to others you donāt really need a high end kit, interfaces etc etc. All you need is a modern smartphone, settings well sorted out and an instrument!
Overall that was really cool guys, shame I missed it live but while doing video felt like I havenāt missed a thing! Congratz to all performers, JK for MCing and Toby for organising!
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@Richard_close2u itās been a busy couple of days so missed your posting.
Thanks for investing time to catchup on an OM and provide a show review. That is greatly appreciated, and as always value your support and encouragement.
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Thank you Richard. No drums in the OT just Mr D plunking away. Guess you need to be of a certain age to know this one, as very little air time post early 70s. Appreciate the OM review.
