The Beatles' "Blackbird" is a song I've wanted to be able to play for a long time. And I have been able to play a little of it - basically just the opening line. I knew it continued in the same vein, but I never sat down to figure it out.
Once again, YouTube comes to the rescue - and specifically again in the person of Marty Schwartz at guitarjamz.com. He confirmed what I already thought I knew, and showed me the rest. Since I had some time to myself last weekend, I played this song - a lot. And since it's on the acoustic, I could give it a lot of repetitions after girls had gone to bed.
It's a gorgeous song, and I'm thrilled to be able to play it. Now if only I could sing like Paul McCartney. :-)
Links:
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
"Stormy Monday"
Marty Schwartz of guitarjamz.com has to be one of the most prolific guitar teachers on YouTube. He posts videos on technical aspects (scales, chords, riffs, soloing techniques, etc.) and also lessons on how to play specific songs. I'm a long-time subscriber to his YouTube channels, and I have him to thank for a lot of the improvement I've made over the past year or so.
One of his recent song lessons is the blues classic "Stormy Monday", which I know as an Allman Brothers Band song, but goes way back and has been performed by many bands. After going through the lesson a couple of times, this is one of my new favorite songs to play. While it's a blues progression in the standard I/IV/V, there are a lot of subtle twists, interesting non-standard chords and passing tones.
I *love* the 9th chords on the IV and V - I love 9th chords in general, and have ever since I discovered that Led Zeppelin's "The Crunge" is a simple riff on A9 and D9 (which may be a topic for a separate post.)
I've been playing this song a lot, and I'll be playing it a lot more. I've got the chords down, so the next step (eek!) is soloing over top of these chords. I'll start slowly and see how it goes.
Links:
One of his recent song lessons is the blues classic "Stormy Monday", which I know as an Allman Brothers Band song, but goes way back and has been performed by many bands. After going through the lesson a couple of times, this is one of my new favorite songs to play. While it's a blues progression in the standard I/IV/V, there are a lot of subtle twists, interesting non-standard chords and passing tones.
I *love* the 9th chords on the IV and V - I love 9th chords in general, and have ever since I discovered that Led Zeppelin's "The Crunge" is a simple riff on A9 and D9 (which may be a topic for a separate post.)
I've been playing this song a lot, and I'll be playing it a lot more. I've got the chords down, so the next step (eek!) is soloing over top of these chords. I'll start slowly and see how it goes.
Links:
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Fontaine Cooley
John is well worth seeing, and did a lovely set of original songs, accompanying himself on the acoustic guitar.
Then Fontaine Cooley came on, and we were blown away from the opening notes. They're a four-piece acoustic band: guitar, mandolin, bass, drums (only the drummer was wearing what looked like a video game console around his neck - apparently it's called a zen drum.) I found out later that they sometimes play with a fifth member (on alto sax.)
It's all instrumental music - no vocals. I'm not sure how to categorize it - sometimes it sounds like light jazz, but it can also sound folky, and sometimes a little bluegrassy. But category doesn't matter, it's great music and tremendous musicianship.
We took in their set with much appreciation, then bought a CD ("Cheyney Sessions"), which I've been wearing out, and even chatted for a few minutes with guitarist Peter Hayes. I told him that his playing reminded me somewhat of Andy McKee, and I wasn't surprised at all that he knows Andy and has played with him.
It was a fantastic night of music. We agreed that we would go out and see them again in a heartbeat.
Here are some YouTube selections by Fontaine Cooley:
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