Hey Chris ... I wish I could report it went great. I'm having trouble with the bit up the neck and an over all uncool vibe-like stiffness feel to the rest of it ... BUT I haven't really been playing much until I saw these redo's. The pandemic political double whamy took the wind out of my sails and it has been rough regaining some form of equilibrium. I'm gonna hang with it and see if there is anything worth posting.
Here's my recommendation to you ... do some online shows please. :-)
for anyone who hasn't read the article Chris wrote for Vanity Fair in tribute of the great Tony Rice you can hopefully find it here: https://variety.com/2020/music/news/tony-rice-chris-eldridge-punch-brothers-bluegrass-guitarist-appreciation-1234877008/#
Thank you Chris ... your kind words and encouragement mean a lot to me. I'll work on what you have pointed out and i will post another video after a bit ... or maybe I'll just wing it and sing it ... and if it sounds good move along to the next one. I've been feeling lately like I may have pushed my playing about as far as I can ... I know the plateu routine and that it takes time but realistically considering where/when I started and where I am ... I'm really happy. I do want to get better ... I'm not discouraged ... and I'm very grateful. Happy Easter ... stay safe ... and i'm really looking forward to getting this pandemic stretch behind us so you can work on a new record and play some shows which I'm hopeful of seeing.
I never know if I did it exactly as you taught or what you expect but it sure is fun to play and I'm very thankful you're here showing us this stuff. These last several years have been so much fun and helpful. Looking forward to whatever you have planned next.
Kip, you never cease to amaze me. This sounds so musical and good. Really proud. A few things to work on:
-You are jumping the beat a handful of times throughout the arrangement: 00:40, 00:47, 01:14 and 1:37. Go back and count the bars out loud along with your video in those spots and see if you can straighten them out. If not, post another vid and I'll get into the details with you on it.
-Your right hand seems quite relaxed, which is great, but it looks like you are getting *most* your movement and motion from your wrist, and it also seems like you are reaching "up" with your wrist quite a bit. The "flow" of the sound of your notes might improve if you can integrate your entire right arm a little bit more into the movement. Try shifting the guitar an inch or two to your left relative to your torso - this might mean moving your leg over a touch - but we want to try shifting the guitar a little bit so that your right forearm arm isn't coming down from *quite* so much of a vertical position. If you can allow it to be just a touch more horizontal - and we're talking subtle degrees here - it would probably allow your forearm to be more integrated into the pick stroke motion and alleviate your wrist from having to do quite so much work.
Thank you Chris ... your kind words and encouragement mean a lot to me. I'll work on what you have pointed out and i will post another video after a bit ... or maybe I'll just wing it and sing it ... and if it sounds good move along to the next one. I've been feeling lately like I may have pushed my playing about as far as I can ... I know the plateu routine and that it takes time but realistically considering where/when I started and where I am ... I'm really happy. I do want to get better ... I'm not discouraged ... and I'm very grateful. Happy Easter ... stay safe ... and i'm really looking forward to getting this pandemic stretch behind us so you can work on a new record and play some shows which I'm hopeful of seeing.
Thanks for showing us that arrangement. It is lovely, so delicate and poignant. After seeing and hearing you do that it's not so hard to imagine what the song may sound like picked on the mandolin. Very cool.
Thanks Chris ... that's a beauty. The ascending line that TR doesn't play ... and you can't help but play is actually one of my favorite parts and reminds me of something in church street blues ... not sure why ... which also reminds me I should revisit that one since I kind of bombed out trying to learn it a couple years ago. I really like this and happy for the second part since I've been playing the heck out of the first part and kind of just throwing stuff together on the last part. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
BTW - as an offical member of the TAB police I would like to point out that the TAB presently displayed is for "The Likes Of Me" and not "The Last Thing On My MInd"... this is what happens when the Steelers play on a Monday night and I have all day Sunday to mess around. By and by I don't mess with TAB.
Hi Kip - thanks for letting us know. My mistake. It should be all fixed now. Also, your totally right - use your ear and eyes whenever you can - you will actually wire your brain in a different (and correct) way.
This is alot like learning a new language. I worked hard on pick direction theory when first starting this style of playing. At first really needing to think about what I was or wasn't doing - down up down up especially when pull off's, slides, and hammer on's were in play but it didn't take very long to get the hang of it without having to think a lot about it. I don't know that will ever be the case with the way Tony Rice plays and you're probably thinking to yourself ... yea no kidding. What is most interesting to me ... from what I've read or heard on the rare occasions TR talks ... he wanted badly to play like Clarence White but in his opinion couldn't so he developed his own style of playing which turns out to be incredibe and fun to try and copy but the most important thing he said is a player needs to develop their own style of playing. What a relief. I'm still working on the pick up notes .. carry on.
Totally. The reason *I* learn this stuff isn't so that I can play exactly like Tony. It's more that I want to add tools to my own toolbox so that I can become a better, more expressive version of myself. There are some powerful lessons to be learned in how he touched the guitar. Somehow, when Tony plays he brings a certain magic to the music and I feel like studying him in a more nuanced manner can help shed light on how the rest of us can find some of that magic too.
if you knew what goes through my mind everytime I watch a lesson for the first time ... it's incredible lol ... so I've been playing this intro and break for about 2 weeks by just watching your first lesson and trying to make stuff fit and sort of sound right ... and today I thought well that doesn't sound so bad ... then this ... ha ha ... I can't even hold my pick right now ... Tony Rice rules.
Perfect timing, phrasing, and execution; Chris has taught you well :-) Seriously, we all miss the lessons, but that was the funniest internet comment I read all year!
LOL! Well played, well played. But the answer is NO! Not going away, and certainly not without a word of farewell.
I've been completely underwater with various things over the last couple of months but I think I'm now caught up on all questions here and we'll be getting a new lesson up by the end of this month. 😎
YES KIP! YOU NAILED THE VIBE! And you're pulling such killer tone too. GREAT, GREAT, GREAT! I would just put some extra effort in on the end where it starts going up high. It looked like you were starting to fight the guitar a bit right there. Keep practicing it and try making friends with that part. It sounds ridiculous, but I'm actually serious! Try intentionally relaxing yourself right before that part and do the thing where you let yourself be sloppy. Try to feel relaxed and try to feel smooth. Spend some time practicing that particular area in that specific head space. Then slowly start putting that together with the rest of the intro that comes before and make them all feel like one piece.
Very sweet ... that would be a great one for the new record with Jules ... there is gonna be a new record right? Me and a whole bunch of people really hope so.
Progress report to anyone who may or may not be trying this .... not too tough to learn and reach the notes on this one but very tough to stay loose and make it resemble the way the TR recording sounds. That is all.
Hey, practice makes perfect! Also, on a more serious note, Tony does play with a good deal of tension. In a way, that’s part of his sound, but the kind of tension that he employs didn’t interrupt him from playing the way he played and making that incredible music.
Tony is such an anomaly. I look to him for the inspiration and deep lessons that his musicality offers, but I actually don’t try to emulate exactly *how* he uses his body because it actually literally hurts me. Causes physical pain. And it wasn’t sustainable for him either. He quit playing at 61 years old because of physical issues with his hands, forearms and elbows. But I think we can take those lessons of musicality, touch, time and tone and try to figure out how to employ them into our own techniques and concepts of music and the guitar.
This video started out to be my take or run through of the first half of the solo from this lesson but then I couldn't help myself so I dipped my toe in the second half as well before it's time but here it is. Thank you!
This site's video uploader is beginning to suck the life out of me.
Way to learn this thing! The first part sounds great! It starts jumping forward and losing the beat/bar structure on some of the syncopated bits (1:37, 1:45 for example). Make sure that you can SING it along with me before you start playing it. Then once you’ve got that down and you know exactly how those rhythms go, THEN try it again on the guitar. I’ve made a rhythm guitar video here that you can practice to. It’ll be easier to tell if you get off if you’re playing along with the chords. Otherwise sounding great!
You made me laugh ... "it's all just the same bag of tricks" ... Critter just do that crosspicking thing. Great lesson!
Hey Chris ... I wish I could report it went great. I'm having trouble with the bit up the neck and an over all uncool vibe-like stiffness feel to the rest of it ... BUT I haven't really been playing much until I saw these redo's. The pandemic political double whamy took the wind out of my sails and it has been rough regaining some form of equilibrium. I'm gonna hang with it and see if there is anything worth posting.
Here's my recommendation to you ... do some online shows please. :-)
Love ya - Kip
Man, I hear you about this last year - it was brutal for all of us, I think, in our own ways. My equilibrium was knocked off for sure!
for anyone who hasn't read the article Chris wrote for Vanity Fair in tribute of the great Tony Rice you can hopefully find it here: https://variety.com/2020/music/news/tony-rice-chris-eldridge-punch-brothers-bluegrass-guitarist-appreciation-1234877008/#
Thanks for sharing this, Kip!
Thx for reminding me what's been missing in my life. I think I'll take a shot at this and see if it goes any better than last time.
Well, how'd it go? :-)
Thank you Chris ... your kind words and encouragement mean a lot to me. I'll work on what you have pointed out and i will post another video after a bit ... or maybe I'll just wing it and sing it ... and if it sounds good move along to the next one. I've been feeling lately like I may have pushed my playing about as far as I can ... I know the plateu routine and that it takes time but realistically considering where/when I started and where I am ... I'm really happy. I do want to get better ... I'm not discouraged ... and I'm very grateful. Happy Easter ... stay safe ... and i'm really looking forward to getting this pandemic stretch behind us so you can work on a new record and play some shows which I'm hopeful of seeing.
Really cool ...
I never know if I did it exactly as you taught or what you expect but it sure is fun to play and I'm very thankful you're here showing us this stuff. These last several years have been so much fun and helpful. Looking forward to whatever you have planned next.
Kip, you never cease to amaze me. This sounds so musical and good. Really proud. A few things to work on:
-You are jumping the beat a handful of times throughout the arrangement: 00:40, 00:47, 01:14 and 1:37. Go back and count the bars out loud along with your video in those spots and see if you can straighten them out. If not, post another vid and I'll get into the details with you on it.
-Your right hand seems quite relaxed, which is great, but it looks like you are getting *most* your movement and motion from your wrist, and it also seems like you are reaching "up" with your wrist quite a bit. The "flow" of the sound of your notes might improve if you can integrate your entire right arm a little bit more into the movement. Try shifting the guitar an inch or two to your left relative to your torso - this might mean moving your leg over a touch - but we want to try shifting the guitar a little bit so that your right forearm arm isn't coming down from *quite* so much of a vertical position. If you can allow it to be just a touch more horizontal - and we're talking subtle degrees here - it would probably allow your forearm to be more integrated into the pick stroke motion and alleviate your wrist from having to do quite so much work.
Well done as always and happy Easter!
Thank you Chris ... your kind words and encouragement mean a lot to me. I'll work on what you have pointed out and i will post another video after a bit ... or maybe I'll just wing it and sing it ... and if it sounds good move along to the next one. I've been feeling lately like I may have pushed my playing about as far as I can ... I know the plateu routine and that it takes time but realistically considering where/when I started and where I am ... I'm really happy. I do want to get better ... I'm not discouraged ... and I'm very grateful. Happy Easter ... stay safe ... and i'm really looking forward to getting this pandemic stretch behind us so you can work on a new record and play some shows which I'm hopeful of seeing.
Thanks for showing us that arrangement. It is lovely, so delicate and poignant. After seeing and hearing you do that it's not so hard to imagine what the song may sound like picked on the mandolin. Very cool.
Really cool Torgeir ...
It might be "Uncle Johnny" in which case a 1954 D-28 or not.
Thanks Chris ... that's a beauty. The ascending line that TR doesn't play ... and you can't help but play is actually one of my favorite parts and reminds me of something in church street blues ... not sure why ... which also reminds me I should revisit that one since I kind of bombed out trying to learn it a couple years ago. I really like this and happy for the second part since I've been playing the heck out of the first part and kind of just throwing stuff together on the last part. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
Haha, thanks Kip! It does just kind of feel to me like that ascending line wants to be there! 🤷♂️
Happy Holidays and New Year!
Chris
BTW - as an offical member of the TAB police I would like to point out that the TAB presently displayed is for "The Likes Of Me" and not "The Last Thing On My MInd"... this is what happens when the Steelers play on a Monday night and I have all day Sunday to mess around. By and by I don't mess with TAB.
Hi Kip - thanks for letting us know. My mistake. It should be all fixed now. Also, your totally right - use your ear and eyes whenever you can - you will actually wire your brain in a different (and correct) way.
This is alot like learning a new language. I worked hard on pick direction theory when first starting this style of playing. At first really needing to think about what I was or wasn't doing - down up down up especially when pull off's, slides, and hammer on's were in play but it didn't take very long to get the hang of it without having to think a lot about it. I don't know that will ever be the case with the way Tony Rice plays and you're probably thinking to yourself ... yea no kidding. What is most interesting to me ... from what I've read or heard on the rare occasions TR talks ... he wanted badly to play like Clarence White but in his opinion couldn't so he developed his own style of playing which turns out to be incredibe and fun to try and copy but the most important thing he said is a player needs to develop their own style of playing. What a relief. I'm still working on the pick up notes .. carry on.
Totally. The reason *I* learn this stuff isn't so that I can play exactly like Tony. It's more that I want to add tools to my own toolbox so that I can become a better, more expressive version of myself. There are some powerful lessons to be learned in how he touched the guitar. Somehow, when Tony plays he brings a certain magic to the music and I feel like studying him in a more nuanced manner can help shed light on how the rest of us can find some of that magic too.
if you knew what goes through my mind everytime I watch a lesson for the first time ... it's incredible lol ... so I've been playing this intro and break for about 2 weeks by just watching your first lesson and trying to make stuff fit and sort of sound right ... and today I thought well that doesn't sound so bad ... then this ... ha ha ... I can't even hold my pick right now ... Tony Rice rules.
Tony is, and will always be, the man we all say "Yes Sir" to!
are you going away with no word of farewell ....
Perfect timing, phrasing, and execution; Chris has taught you well :-) Seriously, we all miss the lessons, but that was the funniest internet comment I read all year!
LOL! Well played, well played. But the answer is NO! Not going away, and certainly not without a word of farewell.
I've been completely underwater with various things over the last couple of months but I think I'm now caught up on all questions here and we'll be getting a new lesson up by the end of this month. 😎
I don't know if I even caught a whim of the vibe or how many notes added or missecd but it sure is fun and addicting to play.
YES KIP! YOU NAILED THE VIBE! And you're pulling such killer tone too. GREAT, GREAT, GREAT! I would just put some extra effort in on the end where it starts going up high. It looked like you were starting to fight the guitar a bit right there. Keep practicing it and try making friends with that part. It sounds ridiculous, but I'm actually serious! Try intentionally relaxing yourself right before that part and do the thing where you let yourself be sloppy. Try to feel relaxed and try to feel smooth. Spend some time practicing that particular area in that specific head space. Then slowly start putting that together with the rest of the intro that comes before and make them all feel like one piece.
Very sweet ... that would be a great one for the new record with Jules ... there is gonna be a new record right? Me and a whole bunch of people really hope so.
Agreed!
Hey Kip, Julian and I have plans to "get the band back together" a bit next year. Really looking forward to that!
Progress report to anyone who may or may not be trying this .... not too tough to learn and reach the notes on this one but very tough to stay loose and make it resemble the way the TR recording sounds. That is all.
Hey, practice makes perfect! Also, on a more serious note, Tony does play with a good deal of tension. In a way, that’s part of his sound, but the kind of tension that he employs didn’t interrupt him from playing the way he played and making that incredible music.
Tony is such an anomaly. I look to him for the inspiration and deep lessons that his musicality offers, but I actually don’t try to emulate exactly *how* he uses his body because it actually literally hurts me. Causes physical pain. And it wasn’t sustainable for him either. He quit playing at 61 years old because of physical issues with his hands, forearms and elbows. But I think we can take those lessons of musicality, touch, time and tone and try to figure out how to employ them into our own techniques and concepts of music and the guitar.
Hmmm ... I know you're a renowned picker and great performer and teacher and what not but in this case I'm gonna call you dude.
Dude ... got any Mary had a little lamb licks I might be able to play ... ha ha ... sorry just kidding. That was great.
This video started out to be my take or run through of the first half of the solo from this lesson but then I couldn't help myself so I dipped my toe in the second half as well before it's time but here it is. Thank you!
This site's video uploader is beginning to suck the life out of me.
Hey Kip,
Way to learn this thing! The first part sounds great! It starts jumping forward and losing the beat/bar structure on some of the syncopated bits (1:37, 1:45 for example). Make sure that you can SING it along with me before you start playing it. Then once you’ve got that down and you know exactly how those rhythms go, THEN try it again on the guitar. I’ve made a rhythm guitar video here that you can practice to. It’ll be easier to tell if you get off if you’re playing along with the chords. Otherwise sounding great!
-Chris