Nicely done, Ed. I would be happy to get to that level. If you need a driver for any of those cash-laden trucks, let me know.
Jeff
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Thank you everyone for the kind comments! They are very much appreciated and needed.
Yes, I have been “playing” off and on for a bit. I made a few effortless attempts over the course of my life which I quickly gave up on each time. About two years ago I picked up this cheap Jasmine acoustic. I stumbled across Justin Guitar and made a quick pass through grade one and started grade two before life happened like it always has. I would practice chords enough to get some calluses only to get derailed and loose them. I only recently got somewhat serious but I haven’t picked back up on lessons. I’ve simply been doing what I call fancy chord change exercises. Basically just tossing together a few chords and making up something that sounds cool.
I won’t go into details but some things happened over the last year. It’s been… challenging. There’s been some intense therapy. A little over a month ago I had a profound breakthrough. I’ve been pouring myself into, well, myself. Music has been a big part of that. As I mentioned in the other post, I came across this song a couple of days ago on here. I hadn’t heard it in a very long time. Long enough it took me a while to realize I’d heard it before. The lyrics are timely to say the least. Especially the last line.
I think instead of looking for an out I took a chance on an outlet and something clicked. I picked up the guitar and three days later these recordings emerged. I don’t know how I did it. I still have no clue what I’m doing. I played it over and over until I reached a point I felt I might learn it if I just kept at it. I took a break and drove thirty something miles to the nearest music store just to get way for a breather and look at higher quality guitars. I played several guitars. Nothing really stood out as being any better than my Jasmine. Then I picked up a $1,200 Blueridge acoustic/electric. It sounded great. It was effortless to play. I sounded quite good actually. I guess I gained some confidence because I came home and made these recordings.
So yeah, I’ve got some time in playing chords off and on while beating my head against a brick wall but this is night and day compared to a few days ago. Light bulb moments are weird. Reminds me of a quote from a book I ran across years ago that stuck with me:
“…if you walked into a solid wall every second, you would have to wait longer than the current age of the universe to have a good chance of passing through it on one of your attempts. With eternal patience (and longevity), though, you could–sooner or later–emerge on the other side” - Brian Greene. The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory.
I never would have posted such a video even just a few days ago. The positive feedback is nice and inspiring. I have more confidence now. I have three more songs I’ve started looking into that are equally as fitting for this moment in time. I’ve been listening to them all day and hope to make at least one of them happen if only a basic, stripped down version. One is The Climb by Miley Cyrus. F**ckin’ Perfect by Pink is another. And then I won’t Back Down by Tom Petty. I don’t know if they’ll come together as quickly but I’m inspired to put real effort into them now.
Thank you all!
Ed
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That sounded great Ed. I echo everything the others have already said. Super first post!
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Well done Ed, love this song and you’ve done it tremendous justice. Your vox are really good and I liked the mixing up of strumming pattern you’ve put in there.
Bravo, now keep 'em coming 
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Very impressive for a first recording of your singing it all gelled so really well, singing is something that I have still got to get to grips with, well one day, but I really enjoyed your productions. Congratulations. 
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Thanks you all for the continued kind comments. They are helpful beyond measure. I’m taking notes and listening to my videos on repeat to arm myself with rebuttals to throw back at the relentless critic inside me. It might not feel like much when you comment but it’s tremendously helpful as I work to switch the narrative in my head from “you could if only…” to “you can and will.”
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Very nicely played & sung, Ed!!!
I definitely think you should be proud of yourself for posting this diamond in the rough here!!! Keep polishing it - this one’s a “keeper”!!!
Good job & keep 'em coming -
There’s a guitarist 
inside you that needs to be let out!!! Go for it!!! 
Tod
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Foot-tapping worthy song! I can tell you have great personality. Great exits! Loved them both. I also heard a strong diaphragm making great dynamics in your vocals. No worries on your singing abilities. Just keep singing and keep playing this time!!
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The kindness here is bringing me to tears but in a good way. 
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The positive reinforcement here is helping me tremendously. I don’t know that I can fully express how beneficial it has been in helping my confidence and driving me to push myself. This cover attempt is very rudimentary to say the least. My brain is overflowing with activity and it’s challenging to slow down and become as intimate as this song requires plus my skill level is not at a place to play like Samuel Beam. That said, I’ve been working on this all morning trying to find a way I can play it even if it’s nothing like the original. Any feedback is appreciated.
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I’d say your internal metronome is right on! That’s like 65% of the struggle.
I’m not an artist, but now I’m working on what note or chord is next like in: I’m playing X but thinking Y, the next change in the song. In practice I’m getting better thinking, or anticipating one step ahead. Btw, I’ve got Squier very much like yours…what year is yours?
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Thank you! I’m starting to see that myself. It’s been a struggle. There’s the part of my brain that just knows and is responsible for the good stuff whenever the other part of my brain doesn’t get in the way. Then there’s that other part of my brain that struggles to keep up with the part that just knows. And I think this is the part responsible for making the genius of the part that just knows reproducible upon request. To say getting the two parts on the same page is challenging for me would be an understatement.
I picked that Squier up about two years ago new. Not sure what year it was made. I got it with the idea I would switch to it and learn lead stuff as my fingers got sore from the acoustic. That never materialized as I struggled to maintain any consistency with practicing at all. Only in the last little bit have I gotten more serious about practicing consistently but I haven’t even thought about that squier. It just sits and collects dust while I focus on the acoustic and getting those two competing brain factions to cooperate.
Hi Ed! Enjoyed your cover of this song.
One of the things that helped me bring the “two brains” together was to manifest the tempo with some part of my body i.e. the foot tapping, or head bobbing or some other manifestation of “feeling” the metronome and expressing it outwardly somehow. It was frustrating at first but I found if I stopped and worked the foot tap into the song I soon abandoned the idea of what came next and simply moved through the chords.
A lot is also repetition and just doing it over and over again.
Anyway you’ve got the rhythm down and the playing and singing at the same time is no mean feat either!!
Well done and keep strumming!,
J.
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Thanks Jeremy! I do incorporate all of the above only I’ve not yet incorporated it into a complete routine. I’ll do it when listening to a song and singing along. I’ll do it when just playing. I’ll do it when I’m visualizing some melody in my mind. But so far when I try to include it in the complete package it becomes to much. Eventually I’ll get there.
I think I’m having to defragment my mind. Everything I need seems to be in there it’s just difficult to recall as needed. For years I’ve referred to my brain’s storage system as a giant pile of yellow sticky notes. There’s a lot of stuff in there, it’s just stored chaotically. I’m working on that and as I do I’m realizing just how disorganized everything has been all these years.
Years ago I worked at a salvage yard. There was no organization. I worked with a guy who knew where everything was in all the giant piles of parts. Someone would come in looking for something and he would know exactly what pile it was in. It was always there but it took time to dig through the pile. That’s the way my brain is. Unfortunately songs aren’t forgiving enough to allow me to go dig through piles in my mind while trying to play. I’m working on getting all those piles organized so the things I need to play will always be right where I need them rather than having to always go dig. I feel like the repetition is one of the tools that is helping.
Thanks again for the kind comments!
Ed
I hope you guys don’t mind but I’m tossing another video out there. I think it’s about taking on some fear more than anything. I’m still a bit too unsure and scared to attempt anything in front of people. What better way to build up to that though than put out what should be my worst performances for critique?
I’ve spent most of the day working on getting organized as far as guitar learning goes. I went through a probably two inch thick stack of songs I’ve printed out to learn and have a much more manageable number now I want to break down and really work on. This is one of them. I decided to just give it go without any thought. It’s simple chords and I’ve heard the song so many times I have a pretty good feel for it. I screwed up a couple of times but managed to get two takes that I think aren’t half bad considering. I don’t know that the strumming pattern is correct but I think it’s close. I’ll put some real work into it soon. Yes my phone rang midway. I apologize. Also the weird movements aren’t drugs, just me trying to loosen up and get out of my own way.
I’ve noticed my strumming seems to always be up at the front of the sound hole instead of the middle. I don’t know if there’s some adjustment I need to try and make or if it’s just the guitar and I ultimately need one that better fits me. I still struggle with pick movement too. I’m getting considerably better and making in flight adjustments but have yet to figure out how to get it to stay put better. I’ve tried several different ones. The one I’m using in the video has a rough texture where the fingers go but I still find it moving. Part of that I think may be some inconsistency I still have with regards to how “hard” I’m hitting the strings. I also have a terrible habit of hitting the guitar with the pick on the down stroke. I haven’t figured out how to remedy that just yet.
Hi Ed ,
absolutely no problem at all, feel free to post a song every day,
read this and you will also find that you should create a topic per month and you can place as many songs/posts in it as you want, for now you don’t have to do anything and soon the moderator will merge your topics, but now you Once you have read this, you can post the following songs in this topic below, Great that you are so busy making music,
Greetings and have fun,Rogier
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Sounds like another good one to me. I don’t know the song but it sounded like a keeper.
Have you watched this lesson? He has good advice on how to hold a pick. I had problems with “pick- clicking” noise. I’m hoping I’m doing better now, but haven’t recorded a video since I have tried to improve on it. It may also help you too.
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Thank you!
I think I’ve seen the video t if it’s the same one from grade one. I’ll watch it again to see if there’s something I missed or forgot that’s helpful.
I am super late to the party. Bro that was rad. You did killer. When I started learning just late last year, i set out to accomplish a few things. Sing and play and also stand up when doing it. Bro!.. you did both. To me thats a huge accomplishment and super cool. I haven’t even gotten the balls to post any of my stuff yet so you are well on your way.
So rock on man i am really stoked for you. And I really hope you keep hanging out here and keep contributing at justin’s.
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Thanks for the kind words Jason! I’ll be around lurking always as times permits and hopefully posting some new and better stuff sometime in the near future.
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