Since Valentine’s Day is fast approaching I decided to learn to play a love song in between my blues studies. There is still a bit of polishing to do on the song but I wanted to get this one recorded this weekend. Hopefully, some progress can be seen since the last song I recorded which was also a Travis song.
This is the first song I’ve recorded that I’ve used the e shaped barre chord which was a bit rusty as I’ve mainly been practicing blues recently. Travis don’t play the song using barre chords but I figured it was an opportunity to get some barre chord practice in.
Nicely done James. Smooth and confident throughout. A good lift to see you through to the end.
Bravo.
It’s been a while since I listened to Travis, always liked their melodic folk-pop vibe.
He sure was! A borrowed minor iv chord no less.
You’ll find that across many Beatles songs (and of those who were influenced by them, (ahem @ Mr Gallagher)
I have to say James, I’ve never really been a Travis fan, everything just seemed to come across exceedingly depressing!
But……
That was really nicely played and sung, your vocals made that for me completely. Playing was spot on as I’ve come to expect, really clean and bang on changes, nice and consistent use of old faithful, you carried me through with a nodding head and a smile .
Well done, James; playing and vox sounding good. Personally, I would dial back the level on the guitar a bit, but that doesn’t take away from your performance. A fitting song for Valentine’s Day.
That was very smooth James. I didn’t know the song but you really had that Travis vibe going on. It seems like a difficult song to sing but I thought your vocals were excellent. Great job!
@alexisduprey
Thanks for the listen and feedback Alexis. You were not mistaken. There was even a bit of double strumming technique taught in Grade 3
@Richard_close2u
Thanks for the listen and feedback Richard. I’m glad it came across smooth and confident. Always good to learn a bit of music theory from a song I’ve learned.
@BigLuc
Thanks for the listen and feedback Luc. Stick with the programme and you’ll be nailing those barre chords in no time.
@Notter
Thanks for the listen and feedback Mark. Old Faithful served me well. Next time I’ll go with one of their less depressing songs like ‘Happy’.
@oldhead49
Thanks for the listen and feedback Dave. Yes, getting the levels right is something that I definitely need to work on.
@Eddie_09
Thanks for the listen and feedback Eddie. I’m pleased to hear that I captured that Travis vibe and vocals came across well.
Hi James
Good one
And also one that you will look back on later with pleasure when the rhythm guitar is played with even more confidence and swing ,so a nice grower…
Greetings…
Great stuff James, confidently played and sung. Probably one of the lesser known Travis songs. Some really nice chord progressions in there which you played well.
I felt your high e string was a little dominant overall, perhaps you could miss it out sometimes in your pattern. Just an opinion of course.
It’s a bit of a depressing love song. Never mind, you’ve got all day today to practise a more up beat one for your loved one.
Like Dave said, I would aim to get the vocal a little louder. It looks like your condensor is pointing down towards the guitar. You may get a better balance if you raise it up to mouth level, sing directly in to the mic, and rely on its general sensitivity to pick up the guitar. You can also try inverting the mic so it is again mouth level but the top pointing to the floor. That would pick up more of the guitar.
Of course, if it is actually a dynamic vocal mic and pointing at your mouth then maybe it is the distance from your mouth.
Tricky business as you said, takes a fair amount of experimentation. Keep experimenting with different songs and I’ll keep giving you the (dubious) benefit of my opinion of the balance
@roger_holland
Thanks for the listen and feedback Rogier. It’s certainly one that I will revisit in the future as my confidence and capability grows.
@Helen0609
Thanks for the listen and feedback Andrea. I’m pleased to read that you felt my voice fitted the song, it’s such a lovely song.
@sairfingers
Thanks for the listen and feedback Gordon. Thank you for your opinion, opinions are very important to me. As a beginner I’m still at the early development stages, it gives me something to think about and explore as I continue with my development. Ha ha, it is a depressing love song. I’ll definitely need to learn a more upbeat one tonight.
@Silvia80
Thank you for the listen and feedback Silvia. I’m pleased to read that I managed to make a depressing love song sound lovely.
@DavidP
Thank you for the listen and feedback David. I blame the position of the mic on my sound technician that set it up and tested it for me
If you keep giving me the benefit of your opinion of the balance, I’ll keep experimenting with different songs and pass your feedback to my sound technician. One day we will achieve the perfect balance.
James that was really nicely played overall, didn’t know the song so have some catching up to do as it is totally from my corner of a room I think you had 2 moments where you hesitated in your intro when changing from Am to Em (I think?) And during C chord second time around. Other than that really great job!
@adi_mrok
Thanks for the listen and feedback Adrian. Still working on the double strumming technique in the intro from Am to Em and the second C chord second time around. I was finding it much harder to do with the spotlight. You should definitely check it out this version of the song with Green Day backstage.
What a great cover James. I bet it’s not easy putting that little flourish in your opening strumming but you did a nice job there. Also, nice work on the barre chords. Try using the weak fingered G when changing from your barre to help speed up the change, I find it loads easier.
@SgtColon
Thanks for the listen and feedback Stefan. Yes, I really should have used the 2, 3 & 4 for the G chord rather than 1, 2 & 3 to make the changes more efficient.
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