Happy anniversary, James
You one of the consistently positive, interesting and witty contributors here.
Cheers
Love me a bit of Travis
Well played and sung. Enjoyed the tapping bridge
Quibble corner: more vol-en-vox please and you’re in danger of drifting into @TheMadman_tobyjenner reverb territory
One of my favourite songs
I’m glad you ‘tranformed’ (sigh ) it into your own.
Nice demonstration of your guitar chops.
I’m not sure all the vocal/harmony changes worked for my lugs and possibly some timing issues, esp towards the end
Well done James. Two great songs to celebrate 2 years in. Must admit to needing to be in the eight mood for Travis but I always enjoyed this one. And who don’t like a bit of LR !
Thanks for the listen, feedback, support and advice you have given me over the last two years. I’m pleased to hear that you enjoyed both performances.
I’m pleased to hear I looked relaxed as I certainly wasn’t on the inside as still suffer from RLS.
I’m pleased to hear that I have given some repertoire inspiration as normally it’s the other way around.
Absolutely, and it’s still the chord that likes to trip me up.
Interesting story about the Travis when I was at college we had a lecturer who thought he was a bit of a business man and had various business interests. He told us one day that he used to manage one of the local bands who after a year or so sacked him, then got a record contract and changed their name to Travis. Not sure how much truth is in the story but its a story I still remember to this day.
Thanks for the listen, feedback, support and advice you have given me over the last two years. I’m pleased to hear that you enjoyed both performances.
That is the ultimate goal
Spot on I felt that I was rushing it a bit when playing.
Likewise. It’s been good to connect with other starting out at the same time and follow/support/encourage each other along the way whilst learning from our peers and sharing the knowledge with those following in our footsteps.
Yes, I’m happy with the progress that I have made over the two years in terms of my playing and starting to relax more in front of the camera when recording. I think a lot of that comes from Justin’s lessons and the support/advice from the community.
That change to me along with posting my recordings public was probably one of the highlights of the year as I feel it sort of freed me in a way.
Haha who said they had to be songs. I was thinking of maybe a 16 bar minor blues piece etc.
Glad you think so Brian
Interesting that you should pick that up. When I started learning Perfect Day and watched various performances by Lou Reed it suddenly dawned on me when trying to learn the vocals that I could not sing it like him. I hope your lugs have recovered.
I learned to play All Along The Watchtower, Bob Dylan version. I found it to be a bit bland without the harmonica. So yesterday I decided to have a play around with the song and record the outcome.
That sounded great James and not bland at all. It is great to see how much you have come on in two years and I hope you are really pleased with your progress?
You’re maybe just missing a necktie around your head.
@Eddie_09 Thanks for checking out the videos Eddie. I’m glad that you enjoyed them mate.
@SgtColon Thank’s Stefan for checking out the latest recording too. Glad to hear that you thought it sounded great as I was a bit on the fence with this one. Yeah I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made over the two years learning with JustinGuitar. It’s been a while since I wore a necktie, might have to wear one in a future recording.
Loved that strumming pattern in Watchtower James. Very cool. Good vocal too, there is some difficult phrasing in there.
One thing I would have look at James is your bpm. As the song progressed you sped up quite a bit. Listen to the first 20 seconds then fast forward to past halfway and you’ll hear what I mean.
@sairfingers Thanks for checking this one out too Gordon. I know how difficult it is these days with the multi-recording threads. I’m really pleased to hear that you loved the strumming pattern and thought it was cool. That’s a good point on the tempo and something for me to smooth out on this song. In terms of further developing this cover I’ve heard a few songs where they change tempo midway through the song for effect. Do you think it would be better to keep the same tempo all the way through or for example at the end of the second verse take a bar break with last line of vocals unaccompanied or that and then increase the tempo for the chorus for effect? I think that’s the first musical question I’ve asked on the forum.
Strumming sounded cool and solid, even with the tricky and fast chord changes in. Vocals were good as well and it felt, as you were in “the zone” while recording.
If you want to make the tempo-change a stilistic trick, I would do as you suggest with the break. This should make it more “obvious” and seemingly on purpose rather than being “an accident”. Hope you get what I mean.
In most cases I think the bpm should remain the same throughout a song. However you can up the tempo (not the bpm) by speeding up the strum pattern by introducing more strums to the beat to give a chorus, for example, a different feel.
It’s subjective of course but for this particular song I think the tempo should be constant throughout the song. Emphasising different parts of the strum pattern for different parts of the song would work though.
@Lisa_S Thanks for checking this one out too Lisa. Yes, I find that to overcome the RLS I need to really zone out and just get my lost in the music. No plans to learn harmonica I’m struggling enough learning to play guitar. Glad to hear that you thought it sounded cool as gives me hope that I’ve got something decent to work with to improve.
@sairfingers thanks Gordon you know I value your opinion very much as you’ve given me lots of good advice over the last two years which I’ve fully taken kn board. I got the change in tempo idea from this video but fully understand where you’re coming from my good friend. Thanks for the advice.
Nice one James. another good recording for 2 years.
I agree with this. Actually it was a bit more than sped up, I’d call it tempo drift - micro speedups and slowdowns. My ears are attuned quite sensitively to it and I noticed it, so I started tapping along - and yep.
A good way to program yourself out of that is to play along to a drum track or metronome a LOT. And make sure your foot is going all the time.
I’ve noticed this is usually done in a couple of ways - either a dramatic sudden change (e.g. double time or half time), or a gradual slowdown through a section, either to the end, or for drama, and then it continues - e.g. start a verse or chorus. Tempo drift is offputting, but the drama from a sudden and deliberate change can be quite useful.
An alternative effect you could use to change energy throughout a song is keeping the same tempo, but accentuating your strumming - e.g. strumming louder, but in the same tempo - which is hard! As most people speed up by default if they play with more energy. Or keeping the same tempo and switching to a more energetic strumming pattern even with a similar rhythmic feel, e.g. 8th notes to 16th notes.
Well done James on your 2 year anniversary and the level of playing you’ve reached.
I enjoyed all the songs you posted and thought your vocals were really good too.
@jkahn Thanks for the listen and advice on the latest offering, Jk. I probably should have kept that one in the learning log. I do practice with a metronome, click track and backing tracks alot. I’d practiced the BD version to metronome but then felt it was very plain without the harmonica and thought I’d change it up to make it a bit more interesting to the listener. The drift is most likely having practiced to a certain tempo and then changing the way I play I’m subconsciously drifting towards the original tempo and then trying to correct myself. In my head I see a deliberate change being interesting for the chorus. You’ve given me lots to think about my good friend. I’ll probably park this one to the side the now and let the feedback stew as I focus on improving my percussive strumming.
@prbushe thanks for listening and providing feedback on my recordings, Peter. I’m really pleased to hear that you enjoyed them
@twistor59 thank for listening and providing feedback on my recordings, Phil. I’m pleased to hear that you enjoyed them.
@Eddie_09 it’s very easy these days to miss posts with the multi-recording threads. Thanks for checking it out, Eddie, and taking the time to comment. Glad you enjoyed this one, particularly the strumming on it.
You have done so well in your two years of practice. I enjoyed listening to them and watching your chord changes and embellishments. You sounded great vocally too. I’m terrible at giving tips and advice, but just wanted to give you feedback that you are doing incredible.
) it into your own.
