tRONd - March 2022 - What It’s Like (Everlast) + Maybe It's Time (Bradley Cooper) + A Pirate Looks At 40 + Stone (Whiskey Myers)

I promised that my 3rd AVOYP was a strumming one. So i better follow up on that then😁

Had no plans doing this now, but i was taping it for my refrence, And it turns out that it was not too bad. So i just throw it out there so i can get some correction and feedback at an early stage.

I have attempted this one pretty much from when i started playing guitar, and its not before now i feel that im starting to close in on something. This is something like a holy grail for me to play. So this one is very much a work in progress, i will work a lot more with it as my skills get better.
The basic of it is not too hard to play. But it has a lot of small licks that im not able to play just yet.

It is a real challenge to sing it, It has a lot of words in it with a special flow. I am far from the point were i can sing and play this without lyrics in front of me. Its also a challenge with some small twists in the grammar and how Everlast sings out the words, he cheats a lot on the words when he sings it. And of course his voice is pretty though to match as well :grin:

I hope i can come back with this one one day and play it how it should be played, dont know when… but some day😁

For those who dont know this song. Its from 1998 from a album called Whitey Ford sings the blues. In my humble opinion, this is one of the best written lyrics that ever been made, and i think this song has stood the test of time.
Also. Sorry for the language in this lyrics, there is a couple of bad words in this song, so forgive me for that.

So enough talk. Here it is…

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Maybe It’s Time - Bradley Cooper

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A Pirate Looks At 40 (fingerstyle piece)

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Stone - Whiskey Myers fingerpicked

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Great job Trond, I don’t know the song at all I have to admit and, as you say, it certainly seems a complicated vocal line in terms of timing and structure but it sounded good.
I guess more because of the recording medium (phone?) your voice dominated the recording a bit it felt, I would have liked to have heard the guitar more strongly but the strumming looked and felt nicely consistent.
I’m going to check out the original having heard that, sounds cool! Excellent work, looking forward to hearing you develop it.

Thanks Mark.
Yes its a phone and it had the mic the wrong way from the guitar :roll_eyes:
But thanks a lot. Check out the acoustic version of it on you tube. It is a great song.

Really nice, thanks for sharing.

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Thought you made a good go of that one Trond. Definitely lose a little on the dynamic when you finger strum but I understand some people like that approach. I can’t remember how far you are into the learning journey but I’d definitely advise NOT to ignore using a pick. Have a look at the lessons Justin did with Tammy if you want his insight >> Tammys Lessons | JustinGuitar.com

A little hesitant on the strumming at the start but once you got into it was quite smooth and rhythmic. I think you did pretty well with the vocal.

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Thanks @Rossco01
Just started the grade 3 few weeks ago. You are absolutly right about the pick! I use it from time to time. There is something i plan too just start to integrate in all my strumming, just not started with it yet :roll_eyes:

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Hi Trond,
Good to post a work in progress,…I think it already sounds very nice most of the time, but you also have your voice in advantage…and it is indeed a lot of words, the trick is in the vocals here…It’s also good to see that you kept your word regarding strumming,…so next time with a pick? :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:…no, it’s still fine, as long as you learn it in a while as tapped above.
Greetings

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Trond

You looked disappointed at the end, thought it was great, Song was new to me but loved it and it was sung and played very well. Yeah the odd minor critique mentioned so far but I loved it. And it really suited your vox!

Cheers

Toby
:sunglasses:

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Next one with pick @roger_holland :rofl:

Thanks a lot Toby!

Did not really watch the end, it was just intended for me as a refrence, might have put on an expression in the end :rofl:

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You got into and had me engaged, start to finish, Trond. Had a look at the original after, and I think you did it justice. Nothing wrong with your finger-strumming.

Look forward to the next song, irrespective of how you choose to play it.

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Thanks @DavidP

This song was huge thing in the late 90ies… thought every one new about it😁

Another good one in the books for you! Well done. I like the thumb strum tone from an acoustic, it’s my goto because it’s less brittle, and easier for my voice to sing over. That said, it’s important to learn to play with a pick, but not a requirement to always play with one. Here’s a video of Justin’s where he says that he plays with the thumb or pick almost equally:

Someone that always plays with a pick is missing a lot of dynamics and nuance in their playing. A pick is a good option for when you want to throw out a bit more sound, and possibly a brighter sound.

As a side note, I sometimes use a rubber pick to get that same “Thumb strum” tone from a pick. There are no hard and fast rules other than learn to use a pick and learn to use your thumb and fingers. Don’t be a one trick pony.

EDIT: I found the above lesson very liberating and fortified what came to me naturally. Worth watching all the way through.

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Thanks a lot Clint!

Yes. I think i have seen this one. And i will definatly step up my game with the pick. I have been aware that it is almost impossible too jam with others. My sound just drowns out…

Thanks again! :pray:

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That’s a perfect time to use a pick. I use a thicker pick as well because I don’t like the flappy sound of a thin pick. It’s like a baseball card in bicycle spokes sound to me. :slight_smile:

I have a ton of respect for players that find their own way, and find their own voice on the instrument. Nobody else (around here that I can tell) is playing the way you are playing.

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:rofl: lots of folk here of older generations who know music from an earlier period of life and didn’t necessarily keep up with every decade. I personally stopped keeping up in the early 90s, about the time I was exposed to Nirvana’s Nevermind, which I confess (don’t shoot me) didn’t really appeal to me. So if pinned down, I’m largely listening to music from the 60s and 70s, much less from the decades that followed. Or music from later decades that could have been produced in those decades.

And one of the joys of the Community and AVOYP is being exposed to songs never heard before.

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That is fair David.
Thinking of it… i dont know a first thing on todays music😁

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Wow Trond, this is really cool, I really liked it.
For me, it really works the way it is, with your voice over the guitar, the instrument being heard more gently in the background, it makes the performance more intimate, but I guess it comes to taste/preferences.

And I didn’t know the song either so thanks even more for sharing.

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Thanks a lot Kevin🙏
Glad you likes it :grin:

They have music today ? Wow !