Sevi's Sweat and Tears (aka learning log)

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41

25.10.2024
I had my ‘gig’ yesterday, where I played the version of “Über den Wolken” for my mum’s retirement, for her and my sister, sitting on the couch in her living room. I had to start three times, because first, mum’s mobile went off and didn’t stop, second the washing machine insisted loudly that it needs some attention right now, and third time was finally the charm, after laughing so hard I had to do a quick breathing exercise^^

All three of us were very tired, because the big retirement party and surprise were the day before, and it was a lot of moving parts that had to be juggled. I also did not know that “Über den Wolken” was my dad’s favourite Reinhard May song when he was alive, my mum only told me after. Suffice it to say, my hands and voice were shivering and cracking with emotions by the end, and all three of us were crying. But I played it through to the end, and I’m very proud of myself.

For everyone who speaks German, here is the final version of my lyrics, with help from @Lisa_S (the XXX are in place of sensitive information like names and places).

[Strophe 1]
In Göttingen, du warst noch jung / Dein erster Tag im Kindergarten. / Als Aushilfskraft in Vertretung / Was wird dich dabei wohl erwarten?
Und du siehst die Kinder spiel’n / Hörst ihr Lachen schon von weitem. / Und dann bist du mittendrin / Im Singen, Toben, Schubsen, Streiten.

[Refrain 1]
Ma geht zur Arbeit / Weil die Kinder das Wichtigste sind. / Für ihre Ängste, ihre Sorgen hat sie / off’ne Arme, off’ne Ohren und nie / ist was ihnen groß und wichtig erscheint / für sie nichtig und klein.

[Strophe 2]
Bald schon gibt es auch zu Haus / Kinderstimmen, die dich fragen: “Sag mal Mama, darf ich raus? / Wir wolln mit Mielkes Frösche jagen”.
Aus eurer Liebe baut ihr uns / ein Fundament für alle Zeiten. / Das Glück ein XXX-Kind zu sein / wird uns ein Leben lang begleiten.

[Refrain 2]
Ma bleibt zu Hause / weil wir Kinder das Wichtigste sind. / Für uns’re Ängste, unsre Sorgen haben sie / off’ne Arme, off’ne Ohren und nie / ist was uns groß und wichtig erscheint / für sie nichtig und klein.

[Strophe 3]
Geld ist knapp trotz Papas Job / Deshalb nimmst du Tageskinder. / Teilzeit kellnern war’n Flop / Doch du hälst durch, kannst’s ja nicht ändern.
Dann endlich gibt es eine Chance / Und du willst es nochmal wagen / Kehrst zurück in den Beruf / zuerst in XXX, dann in XXX.

[Refrain 1]

[Strophe 4]
Über die Jahre stellst du fest / du liebst die Arbeit mit den Kindern. / Doch drumherum der ganze Rest / ist nix für dich, leckt mich am Hintern.
Superfrüh aufstehen fällt bald schwer / Deshalb kannst du’s kaum erwarten / Heut machst du Schluss, bedankst dich sehr / Dein letzter Tag im Kindergarten.

[Refrain 3, 2x]
Ma hat jetzt Ruhe / und kann machen, was immer sie will. / Brote backen, schwimmen gehen (oder auch) / Sterne basteln, Hosen nähen (mit Bauch) / Schlafen wann’s ihr gut und richtig erscheint / Reisen mit Karin oder allein.

4 Likes
42

What a coincidence (for me)…
I had just found the thread where you were asking for advice for exactly this song on your ma’s retirement. And I wondered how you got along and was close to ask you. Now I find your post and - being a german speaker, loving the song also) reading along the lines, singing your lyrics in my head with the internally memorized melody.

I loved it! You did very very well! And it’s great how you adapted the chorus for the different phases of you mum’s life. Congratulations!

All the best, Dominique

PS. It seems your learning went quite fast!
And - if you’ve got a crack in your guitar, you can ask for help in a thread here or bring it to a shop somewhere, so it won’t get worse.

1 Like
43

Thank you so much for your kind words! It took me a while to find the right words for the song, but I’m very happy with the result as well. As for my learning, yes, it went quite fast in the beginning, because I practiced and played for a few hours every day, but it did plateau when I did not have the time to do so any more. I think it’ll pick up now that I’m back to having more time, at least I hope so. I have some guitar glue for the crack, but I’m hesitant to do stuff with it, because I do not want to make it worse. Ah well, we’ll see, I guess.

44

30.10.2024
I learned that acoustic guitars need a little bit of water, apparently, to stay at their best and not crack. Which finally explained why the crack in the sides happened, since I couldn’t remember it falling down or cracking against something. So now, my baby sleeps in a black plastic bag with a sponge, and it does sound a lot happier about it.

How do I know that? Well, for the first time in a long while, I had a music day today. It means I was browsing through music and tutorials, and playing difficult songs I hadn’t played in a while, like Tigerlily. They were quite a bit easier than I remembered, which is nice.

I also came across Justin’s lesson on Greensleeves, the first song where you have picking and chords together, and it was surprisingly easy to learn. I love that style, truly. I also realised I have been quite stupid, and finally looked up a tutorial for ‘Kiss from a Rose’ by Seal, one of my all-time favourite songs since I was a kid. And 'lo and behold, it’s also very doable. Not as easy as Greensleeves, but doable with a bit of practice.

I feel really good today, even though the fingers on my fretting hand are hurting for the first time in months. Experiment with less pressure in the future, I think.

3 Likes
45

Eva, good progress in your learning log. I am also learning Free Fallin. If you can’t play the original rhythm for Free Fallin you are doing well.

I think the sponge and plastic bag will work for your guitar as long as the sponge does not touch the wood of the guitar. A little water or moisture is good for the guitar, but too much water is not good :slight_smile: I purchased a little fabric bottle with hydroscopic gel that clips to my guitar case for my less expensive nylon guitar which has a cheap cardboard case. I have also purchased moisture gel packs in a fabric bag that hang over the strings for my Martin acoustic guitar, which has a heavy wood case.

46

Oh, I’m good with the rhythm for Free Fallin’; the shape of a rhythm is not a problem for me once I have puzzled it out for myself and counted through it a few times. It’s always more the changes and keeping a steady timing without a metronome that is the problem, especially when it’s fast, or supposed to be fast. How is Free Fallin’ working out for you?

Of course the sponge does not touch the guitar, that’s the whole point, isn’t it? I’ll have to think about how to humidify her properly once the bag treatment is over. Maybe I’ll do something for the whole room, since I also have a solid wooden chest in there that has cracked, and now I know why.

1 Like
47

My Free Fallin rhythm is coming along nicely. I am still working on making it automatic like Justin suggests. This song is one of my ten songs for grade 2 consolidation. I just documented the rhythms in my last learning log post.

48

Oh, I have to check this one. I had a go at another track from the same album… Wonder.

I liked this also. But how do you get along with the rolling chords? I have some difficulty with that!

Regarding the guitar and humidity, do you have a hygrometer in the room? That would probably help in the winter to warn you when the room’s going to be too dry.
As it’s not so long ago that you picked up the guitar (did you?) I somehow think that most of the damage was done in the years when the guitar was stored away somewhere. I mean, the wood dried out heavily over a long period, I don’t know if some mechanical damage was already happening, or maybe then just when stringing it up to normal tension and playing it.

49

This is the video I found most helpful, tbh, but you need to put the capo on the first fret not on the third because George Ezra has tuned his guitar down one tone for the song: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O8Zfo0EnVD4&pp=ygUcdGlnZXJsaWx5IGdlb3JnZSBlenJhIGd1aXRhcg%3D%3D

I’m doing OK, I practiced the rolling motion from the video before, and it really helps me. I also love the tune, so I have no problem practicing it relentlessly^^

50

8. November 2024
I finally fixed the crack, and it’s looking good. Sounds good, too, and I think that’s both the crack-fixing and the humidifying. Really have to find a way to keep that going for the long term.

As for practice, I’m loving Greensleeves atm, it’s just magical with the picking and chords together. And not too difficult to remember, either, though I’m struggling with keeping the rhythm steady at the changes. Metronome, maybe?

Kiss from a Rose is also coming along nicely, maybe I’ll try playing with the recording next, since I have no chance in hell of singing this kind of song, like, ever^^ I do need to do stretch exercises for this one though, which, ugh. But maybe I’ll do some, some time when I remember.

2 Likes
51

This is a 100 % yes! Remember, the metronome is our friend. :smiley:

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I know, but sometimes I get frustrated by this particular friend, especially when I’m still looking for the notes half of the time, which means by all rights I should play this somewhere around 40 bpm, which is just nope. Ah well, get a bit better with it, then whip out the friend, I guess^^

18. November 2024
Since I’m only roughly following the course and learning more along the lines of what I need for the songs I want to play, I went through Grade 2+3 in order yesterday to see what I left out until now, and I discovered the blues! I really love it, and it’s not that difficult, since I practiced some shuffle strumming for some Rock’n’Roll songs already, and I already know D7, and the easy versions of A7 and E7.

I haven’t listened to much Blues to be perfectly honest, but I really like the groove. If you have Blues favourites, please feel free to drop me some links, I’d love to check out some songs and bands :sparkles:

2 Likes
53

Now I get it. It’s better to have the song/piece memorized before practicing it with a metronome. So once you know it by heart and can play through (also true for parts) it at slow speed, you should add the metronome. It doesn’t make any sense to use it when you still look up what comes next (except you can sight read music). ^^

Have fun exploring the blues! :smiley:

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Hi @sevi Justin made a Blues playlist in Spotify a while back with a lot of the classic tracks on it in various styles.

I’ve been listening to Sue Foley recently (One Guitar Woman) if you want a more modern take. Also check out Joanne Shaw Taylor, Samantha Fish, Walter Trout and Robben Ford for different styles. The Spotify ‘Top 5’ tracks list on their artists pages will give you the most popular tracks.

55

I agree with this. If I’m struggling to get my left and right hands doing the correct thing at the same time then adding the complication of trying to keep in time with a beat (whether that’s from a metronome or backing track) is unlikely to go well. No matter how slowly, I try to get to the point where I can find the notes fairly instinctively before adding that extra layer… it’s not to say that I hit them every time, but certainly more often than not