The Flatpick Apprentice

Monday, April 30, 2012

Having fun with my pal Jack: Arkansas Traveler

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Temperance Reel

Mandolin tabs
Guitar tab (.tef)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Fox on the Run 150 bpm
Fox on the Run 160 bpm
Fox on the Run 170 bpm
Fox on the Run 180 bpm
Fox on the Run 190 bpm
Fox on the Run 200 bpm
Fox on the Run 210 bpm
Fox on the Run 220 bpm
Fox on the Run 230 bpm
Fox on the Run 240 bpm
Fox on the Run 250 bpm
And a zip file of all tempos (32.4 MB)

This one's sure been a long time coming...thanks for waiting. This song is a little more complicated than a standard two-part fiddle tune. There are lots of "bluegrass measures" in this song--extra measures at the end of a phrase to fit in a G run. I've written those measures in parentheses below.

The structure of this song goes like this:

Intro--G D Am C Am D C G (G)

Chorus--G D Am C Am D C G
G D Am C Am D C G
C C C C G (G)

Verse 1--C G D G C G A D (D)
C G D G C G D G (G)

Chorus--G D Am C Am D C G
G D Am C Am D C G
C C C C G (G)

Break--G D Am C Am D C G

Verse 2--C G D G C G A D (D)
C G D G C G D G (G)

Chorus--G D Am C Am D C G
G D Am C Am D C G
C C C C G (G)

The definitive version is probably Tom T Hall's recording (music starts around 55 sec):

The Country Gentlemen version is also pretty popular:

Thursday, December 15, 2011

A Slump...

Hi, faithful readers. Sorry I haven't had much to say lately--I got into a musical slump for a while there. Worked a bunch of overtime and got worn out, then went on vacation out of town, and just got out of the musical habit for a bit.

I was revitalized by a recent workshop with David Grier. It was great to see him play, and I had an unexpected opportunity to have a private lesson with him after the workshop, which was cool. I appreciate his time when he surely must have been worn out with travel and teaching a workshop.

Here's a tune we picked together: Home Sweet Home

He takes the first break, then we alternate. He's the guy with the great ideas and great tone and loud guitar. I'm the other one...

I'm trying out the David Grier style free-floating right hand for a while. I'll see how it goes. I like the idea of not having to change my hand position at all between strumming and picking.

I'm getting back to work on rhythm tracks. Next up is Fox on the Run, then Temperance Reel.

-Dave

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Garage Band for iPhone

While I was browsing the app store, I saw that there is now an iPhone version of Garage Band. Garage Band is a Digital Audio Workstation program (a multitrack recorder, plus a few extras).

I've been trying it out. Here's Cherokee Shuffle, recorded with the built-in mic on my iPhone (the one you talk into when you call someone). The bass is a "virtual instrument" that's built into the program--I don't have an upright bass.

I think it sounds pretty darned good. The mic hypes the trebles some, but I think you really and truly could record a commercial album on your dadgum old phone, as long as you have a good engineer master it after it's recorded. Amazing.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Speed and Stamina

I've been thinking lately that speed and stamina are what I should be working on. I feel like my lack of speed and stamina make certain 8th note passages harder than they ought to be. To that end, I've written myself an exercise.

Here's the link.

Step 1: Find a tempo where I can play eighth notes on a single string comfortably for a long time
Step 2: Set a metronome there, and go through the exercise once as a warm up.
Step 3: Raise the metronome speed a few clicks and repeat.
Step 4: When I get to the tempo where I can't get past exercise E, park the metronome there and repeat a little bit.

I recommend doing this at the end of practice, rather than at the beginning, because it will wear you out.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

If I Were King

Recorded this today