James Taylor Lessons

If there was any doubt that the Internet is an amazing place, let me present James Taylor guitar lessons - by James Taylor!

I like James Taylor a lot. He's too soft and mellow for some people, and I understand that. I don't want a steady diet of only James either. And his songs are *so* ubiquitous that I know some people have had enough - and I get that too. But I do like him - I like his songs, I like his voice, and I *love* his acoustic guitar playing.

Sitting down and trying to figure out what he's doing on songs like "Fire and Rain", "Carolina in my Mind", "Country Road", and "Something in the Way She Moves" is daunting. He's not just strumming chords - there are chord fragments mixed with some pretty fancy fingerpicking.

I've blogged before that "Something in the Way She Moves" is one of my all-time favorite songs, and one that I've been working on for a while. I basically understand what he's doing, and it's not conceptually that complicated - but it's tricky and damned difficult to play at speed. The thought of being able to play that so easily that you could go out every night in front of thousands of people and play it - oh, and by the way, sing the song at the same time - is boggling to me.

Anyway, that's a long intro to the fact that I just discovered that he's posted some guitar lessons for his songs. There's not a lot of explanation, but there's a very clear video of both his left and right hands. Very very cool.

You hear stories of some musicians who regard how they play their songs as a trade secret, and very much do not want anyone giving away their secrets, let alone putting tutorial videos on their own web site. Kudos to James Taylor.

June Wrap-up

Unbelievably, the calendar now says July. June was a very fun and very eventful month. Brief highlights, as follows:

* Annapolis is a fun little town. Playing on a sailboat for a small group of friends is a blast. Unfortunately there are no pics, but hopefully we'll do it again. And the next day, we discovered another very fun acoustic band: Sparks, Raymond, and McCoy playing on the street at an Arts Fest. They play Annapolis and Kent Island, and I'll see them again if I ever have the opportunity.

St. Peter's Bakery, 6/20/2014

* Rosewood gigs continue. We had another very fun gig at the bakery a week ago Friday, and the next one is coming up in just 10 days (Fri, July 11). Then we play the Craft Ale House in Royersford the next night (Sat, July 12). That's a new venue for us, and also a 3-hour gig (where we're used to playing for two hours at the bakery and the West End Alley.)

* I'm still playing mandolin every day, but my focus has definitely shifted back to the guitar. You can't have a Martin at your fingertips and not want to play it at every opportunity. The vibration that it gives off when you play a chord is something I *feel* as well as hear, and it's a treat.

* It's about six weeks to the Folk Fest, and I'm looking very forward to it. I'm specifically looking forward to seeing Tommy Emmanuel, Natalie McMaster, Sarah Jarosz, and the Steep Canyon Rangers. Our Buddha Shebang camp friends are starting to oil their already-well-oiled machine.

* I saw a couple of YouTube guitar lessons on REO Speedwagon's "Time For Me To Fly", and I'd forgotten what a good tune that is. It's a standard 1/4/5 song, but with some unique chord voicings. Here's a lesson on how REO's Kevin Cronin actually plays it (and yes, I verified via YouTube that he really does play it that way.) Here's another way to play it, which is how I've been playing it. It's a fun song to play, and the Martin just *rings* when you play those open chords.

* Here's a tutorial on John Mayer's "Daughters". It's a beautiful song with some jazz-type chords, and I've been playing it a lot.