Thursday, February 18, 2010

Billy in the Low Ground tracks done

I wrapped up the practice tracks for Billy in the Low Ground today.

Billy in the Low Ground 120 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 125 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 130 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 135 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 140 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 145 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 150 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 155 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 160 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 165 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 170 bpm
Billy in the Low Ground 175 bpm

I picked on the tune for a while after I finished the recordings. It's a hard tune for me to play fast. Well, some breaks are hard to play fast. I'm still slow on the string-of-eighth-notes-for-five-minutes type of breaks. The progress has been good with this new practice tool, though. (iTunes playlist of rhythm tracks being the practice tool.)

Update 5/22/2011--

The chords

A Part:
| C | C | Am | Am | C | C | Am | G C | (x2)

B Part:
| C | C | F | F | C | C | Am | G C | (x2)

Some Youtubes of it...




8 comments:

  1. Hi Dave. Thanks for the nice rhythm work. I enjoyed listening to your tracks and will use them for practise.

    Happy picking,

    Steve Alexander

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  2. Thanks for the nice words, Steve. I hope they are useful for you.

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  3. Who wants to listen to a string of eighth notes for five minutes? Seriously, Clarence/Django/TR, sometimes the space between the notes is just as important as the notes right? I've never entered or even been to a contest (some day), is the eighth notes for 5 minutes thing common? Although I suppose its probably a good exercise.

    I went to a Grier workshop once where he showed how to play Blackberry Blossom while completely avoiding the string of eighth note trap. Of course even he said you have to learn the string of eighth note version first ;-)

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  4. I took Jazz 101 at Berklee and was told to focus on 8th notes. What notes you play aren't as important at the beginning stage as getting the right hand, left hand co-ordination down. Like preparing a concrete form, after the concrete sets, you take away the form. I find that flatpicking fiddle tunes is way more fun than doing scales for hours,as I used to do before my introduction to bluegrass and flatpickers. David Grier is an excellent player that has done his homework and can play however he wants to now. But behind every great player's performance is thousands of hours rehearsing the basics.

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    Replies
    1. Right and left hand coordination, muscle memory, interval memory, where the correct notes lie (fret board memory?) are all strengthened by playing the basics. Keep that in mind and it ceases to be boring. YMMV

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  5. I'm with you, guys. I'm not a fan of the ceaseless fountain of eighth notes, my own self. I just want the ability to play strings of eighth notes quickly when needed--sometimes it is needed.

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  6. This website is helping me so much! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
    Sincerely, Justin.

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  7. Ooops, just saw BITLG already up. Could you maybe post it at 120 - 150 bpm... might be a tad easier to play along with for some of us slowpokes.

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