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@stephen thanks so much for the feedback!
My entry for this month’s challenge is my play through of Matt’s Dream a Little Dream of Me arrangement. I learned it back in 2019 for the first time but haven’t played it in 2.5 years until I started re-learning it this month. Sadly, I have no recording from 2019 to compare it with. I kind of feel that I don’t play it much better. To be fair to myself I haven’t put in as much practice as I did then. I could definitely memorize it way more easily and quickly and am happy about the progress I made in that area.
Hi Rockclass 101!
Had to give St. James Infirmary a try. Evan, it’s just absolutely beautiful…! You are truly impressive. Your smile while you perform is also such an inspiration. Makes it look effortless. @Andrew, a great lesson as always. Thanks!
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Hello Rockclass. I’ve enjoyed all the performances so much. It was hard to decide on a song but I’ve always wanted to learn Here comes the sun. This opportunity finally made me sit down and do it. As always it took a multitude of recordings before I was somewhat happy lol.
Hi folks, I’m happy to start the second year of challenges with you. 🙂 In December I said that in future I will choose the more difficult songs. Well, I almost regretted it. LOL But I’m happy I finally managed to get it down (okay, not perfect and not as fast as Christopher but I’m still proud). So here it is: Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue.
Here is my entry for St.James Infirmary. Thanks a lot for the awesome lesson. I had a lot of fun practicing it!
@bibilele you did a wonderful job. I, too, am beginning my second year and was hoping to move to some of the more complex tunes. When I looked I really loved st james infirmary, but was really intimidated and did not take the leap and go for it as you did. However, i have been so inspired by the many performances of st james infirmary and also by you stepping it up and doing 5 foot 2, that I decided to try out a more complex tune although I had posted my dream a little dream. I am finding that had I just gone ahead and done it from the beginning of the month that I would have been able to get through it. Thanks for your inspiration!! maybe next month I will not ‘chicken out’ — though I do believe there is something to learn/gain from every song regardless of its technical difficulty.
annemarie – Very nicely done! You have a nice relaxed feel on this, and you are super close to having all of the parts down. There are a few spots where you are hesitating that playing along with a metronome at a slightly slower tempo may help with. The advantage is that it holds your mind accountable to the timing for you, forcing you to get used to thinking slightly ahead so that the notes come out right in time. I suggest playing it at a slightly slower tempo to give you enough time to get to the notes without causing too much anxiety so you can stay relaxed as you practice. Keep up the great work!
gi_gi – Great job on this! Here Comes the Sun is a hard song to keep the timing solid all of the way through, and you nailed it! You have a great feel throughout! With a little work on getting the speed of the strums a bit faster at 1:29, you could start playing this one a bit faster. Excellent work on this!
ccwuke – Great playing, and the recording quality is very nice as well! I also record mono and double the sound for stereo. It may be that it’s best to record the audio seperately and line it up after recording so that you can use a program designed to record in stereo. If that’s not the issue, I’m sure you can find a YouTube video as others have most likely had this problem too. You’re playing is great on this, so I don’t have much to add there. Keep up the great playing!
ramiro – You sound great on this! Maybe the reason you don’t see much improvement is due to that you were already playing it well. Your timing, the notes, and the technique all seem to be on point. If you want to add to that, you can try adding dynamic swells to make the song “breathe” a bit more by starting certain phrases quietly, building them towards the middle, and bringing the volume back down at the end of the phrase. You’re already doing a great job, though!
marianne – Wow, it was impressive to hear you play it at that speed! You’re doing a great job, with just a few hesitations. I feel like this song actually sounds better at a slower speed with a bit more of an accent on certain notes. Play this one about 10 bpm slower, and I bet you won’t hesitate and the feel will be more relaxed. Great playing!
antotonin – Excellent feel, timing, and playing on this! It sounds like you’ve mastered the techniques! On the split stroke section, you have a tendency to rush the measures like 17 and 18 just a bit, so I recommend playing those along to a metronome a bit more to work on pacing that technique. Keep up the great work, you’re doing an amazing job!
mark1256 – You’re doing an excellent job on the notes! I recommend playing the song at a slower speed and working a bit on the rhythm. The main thing to work on is holding certain notes out long enough before moving to the next one. There’s also a few notes in the bridge you are slowing down a bit too much for that pass a bit quicker. You have the right idea, and your right hand technique is looking great! Keep it up!
bibilele – Very nicely done! You are doing a great job on all of the techniques! The split stroke section is the only one that just needs a bit of extra work to build the speed to where you have the other techniques at. You are ever so slightly slowing down when you get to the beginning of that section. Everything else is spot on, and your timing is great!
stinyuke – Great playing on this one! You keep a very solid tempo, and you play the song very cleanly! I prefer this song at a slighly slower tempo, as you can really accent certain notes and the backbeat a bit to help it swing stronger. If you get that feel right, it will make you want to bob your head or sway to the music. You are playing this song great as it is, and it might be a fun challenge to make it groove in this way. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for the feedback @Stephen! And I agree re:the pace. Funny when I would try to slow down, I’d always end up at this speed. And when I did manage to stay slower, I’d make more mistakes 😂 I guess I just need to keep practicing it to perfect it and learn to let it sink in slower.
Here is my contribution for Dream a Little Dream of Me. Started playing half a year ago and have been a premium member here since August. I’m not used to strumming with my thumb 😉 I usually prefer fingerpicking everything… and still have trouble with timing.
Thank you stephen for your feedback! I’ll try to play it slower. I thought about that but somehow ended up playing it faster.
Thanks for the very helpful feedback Stephen. Anxiety is the operative word!
Sometimes I think if I play it faster the momentum will carry it forward at the right tempo. I will slow it down!
Thanks for listening!Thank you for the kind words and for the tip to add dynamics Stephen! That’s is certainly an area of playing I haven’t explored much yet.
@malcolmh – Sounds great, Malcolm! Have you tried playing along with the tab player in synthetic mode? You can activate the metronome, slow it down to a speed that comfortable, and loop sections. Try 4 bars at a time. Tap your foot along to the click. When that feels good, try the next 4, then connect the 8.
It’s clear to me that you understand the rhythms you’re playing. We just want to smooth it out and keep it steady. The method above will help with that 🙂
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