Willin by Lowell George

Been looking at this song in open G tuning on and off for a while now. A very different arrangement to Little Feat’s, that’s for sure…
I learned this version from Martin Simpson’s Alternate Tunings Demystified dvd.

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That was simply beautiful, Ruaridh! :smiley:

Lovely playing and singing. You make it seem so effortless, but the picking seems quite complex and not easy at all. And then adding vox on top like that - just wow! Sounded really great. :clap:

Way above my playgrade to offer anything than applause! :slight_smile:

Thanks for sharing.

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That was excellent Ruaridh. Very nice finger work.

Interesting piece. What is this tuning?

Ruaridh

Well played, well sung!

Brian

That is quite an arrangement, and certainly different to the way I play the song. Nicely done. Wouldn’t you know it the DVD is out of stock.

Wow… :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:. :man_bowing: :boom: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Hi Ruaridh ,
Unbelievable, your voice is absolutely beautiful on this, your guitar playing is breathtaking and fun to watch and this all together is one of the best things I have heard here on this place ,
BIS BIS BIS :clap: :clap: :clap: :bouquet:
Greetings

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Beautiful Ruaridh!!
I just echo what @roger_holland said. One of the best performances i have seen here in the forum.
Seriously skills on both fingerpicking and singing.
:clap::clap::clap:

Thanks so much everyone for all the encouragements. It’s a song I’ve had part-baked for a while , and having the forum to aim at has been the main reason I’ve managed to get it red-light-ready.
@Lisa_S getting the chorus vox independent was probably the trickiest bit performance -wise
@TheCluelessLuthier cheers Mark, it is satisfying to get round this one for sure
@ivan_d Hi Ivan, it’s in open G tuning
@beejay56 Thanks Brian!
@Malz Thanks Mal, Funnily enough I was at a Show of Hands gig a week ago where they included it (played straight) as part of their playing their “early days repertoire” I had no idea they did it!
@roger_holland That’s very kind of you Rogier. I’m very pleased to have got to the enjoying stage with this, having wrestled with it off and on for some time!
@tRONd Thanks Ron, very kind of you. I’ve still a way to go with those double flick-offs however!

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That was nothing short of brilliant Ruaridh. Beautiful performance. :sunglasses:

Very nice. I’ve never heard this version.

Very beatiful! Sounds super sweet! Seems also so difficult to my eyes! Thanks for sharing it!

Fine work Ruriadh, enjoyed that immensely, bravo :clap:

Thanks for the thumbs up!
@Eddie_09
@GDPiper169
@SILVIA and @Notter It’s a really fun song to have a go at, and there’s loads of different ways to approach it
Must admit, a while ago I thought I’m never going to get this thing tamed, but I’m pleased with it now

@SILVIA The backbone of the song really isn’t as difficult as it might look - it’s simply based around harmonising the descending scale
G - D/F# - Em - D - C
it’s the ornaments and then fitting the vocal around it that was tricky

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Lovely stuff Ruaridh.
You make great choices of songs to cover.
I saw Martin Simpson (along with Martin Carthy) a few months ago.
He is a consummate and brilliant player. That DVD must contain some goodness. :slight_smile:

That was so beautiful Ruaridh! :clap:
So well done, both playing and singing, Thank you for sharing.
I enjoyed listening and also everything I’ve seen you play, you’re an inspiration for me :sunflower:

Thanks @Richard_close2u
Martin’s done quite a few teaching dvds, but Alternative Tunings Demystified is genuinely wonderful. Dates from about 2014 It’s much, much more than a " how to play this tab" kinda thing. It’s quite scholarly regarding the whole family of root - fifth - root based tunings.
The Willin’ example, he says, is a “little exercise” or something like that :joy: Then there’s songs from his actual live repertoire, guitar technique aplenty, and proper general musicianship. I could go on, but you get the picture…
Not available as a dvd any more, but this is a happy serendipity… because it is available online as a digital library, or download complete woth pdf workbook from Homespun and that lead me to a whole world of stuff. There’s a link from this youtube taster vid to the site

Thanks so much Jasmine, @Avalon426 it means a lot to me that I’ve made something that connects with people :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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A great performance, well done mate.

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Cheers Jk, appreciate it,
:pray:

@Eccleshall
Ruaridh
The piece I have been learning, and struggling with, is in a very peculiar tuning. Not one of those on Martin’s list.
I hope to be able to play it at the open mic or record it soon.

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