The Flatpick Apprentice

Fox on the Run

2012-02-02T15:38:00.002-05:00

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:

A Slump...

2011-12-15T17:27:00.000-05:00

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

Garage Band for iPhone

2011-11-06T18:33:00.000-05:00

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.

Speed and Stamina

2011-10-26T16:30:00.000-04:00

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.

If I Were King

2011-10-19T21:38:00.002-04:00

Recorded this today

Old Spinning Wheel rhythm tracks

2011-10-07T21:13:00.003-04:00

Old Spinning Wheel 150 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 160 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 170 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 180 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 185 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 190 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 195 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 200 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 205 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 210 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 215 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 220 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 225 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 230 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 235 bpm

Old Spinning Wheel 240 bpm

And a zip file of all tempi (47.1 MB)

Chords

A part: | C | C | G | G | G | G | C | C |

| C | C | G | G | G | G | C | C7 |

B part: | F | F | C | C | C | C | G | G |

| C | C | G | G | G | G | C | C |

Guitar Tab: here (my contest arrangement) and here (Mike Stangeland's arrangement)

Mandolin Tab: here

Youtubes:

Old Spinning Wheel video

2011-09-28T20:25:00.004-04:00

Here's the link

Winfield Report

2011-09-21T17:12:00.001-04:00

I enjoyed my trip, but did not win, or place, or make the top 5 in the contest. On balance, I guess I did better than I'd expected, but not as well as I'd hoped. The winners played extremely well and deserved their trophies.

My first round tunes were Red Haired Boy and Old Spinning Wheel. Red Haired Boy went poorly. As with previous contests that I've been in, the biggest battle is the battle against nervousness. While I didn't feel nervous before being called to the staged, I had a surge of adrenalin working against me as I started the first tune. Most of the things I wanted to play drained from my brain, and I called on many stock licks to make it through the song. Also, the adrenalin made my right hand feel somewhat shaky, and my tone suffered.

The second song went better. The adrenalin subsided to some extent, and I had this arrangement more ingrained in my muscle memory, as I've been playing it longer. If I had played the first song as well, I might have had a reasonable chance of making the second round.

It was a good experience. It reinforced something I already knew--nerves are the biggest challenge in a flatpicking contest. It gave me a benchmark on how much time I need to dedicate to prepare for a contest. It drove home the need to do multiple contests next year before going back to the national championship.

My friend Dustin, who played rhythm, felt the pressure too. He remarked as we walked off the stage that he'd rather play the biggest stage at the festival in front of packed grandstands than get up on the contest stage again. He did a fine job in spite of his nerves.

Almost Out of Time

2011-09-11T15:37:00.000-04:00

2 more shopping days 'til I head to Winfield. I feel ill-prepared for the contest, but I'll do it anyway to get the experience. Also, you never know, sometimes miracles happen.

Here's where the tunes are at right now:

Red Haired Boy
Old Spinning Wheel
Beaumont Rag
Liberty

They sound relatively okay, but certainly not national-contest-worthy. Also, there were multiple takes involved, which won't be available in the contest.

I sure wish I had prepared more. Oh, well. I'll be happy anyway, 'cause--hey, I'm going to Winfield!

"In Training"

2011-08-20T16:35:00.000-04:00

I finished writing my arrangements for Winfield, which was an incredible amount of work. I've discovered that I am not a fast transcriber--I would far rather play a lick and then play another lick and then play the rest of the song, than play a lick and write it down. Also, the longer the writing session, the harder it is to stay focused. But I'm done writing now!

For those who care, here are the guitar tabs for the arrangements I'll be playing at Winfield:

Red Haired Boy (pdf and guitarpro)
The Old Spinning Wheel (pdf and guitarpro)
Beaumont Rag (pdf and guitarpro)
Liberty (pdf and guitarpro)

I will post Youtube videos once I have the arrangements down well enough to make videos. Unfortunately, during the transcribing process I also did quite a bit of re-writing. Now I need to learn the re-written parts. My plan is to play each of the 4 sections 100 times for each of the 4 songs, then play the whole songs 100 times. Then I'll evaluate what else I need to do get ready.

Of course, that amounts to 2,000 repetitions. Which, by my calculations, will take about 37 hours of practice time. And I have 28 days left until the contest. It'll be busy! So, yeah, I'm "in training" now, as boxers say.

I've been using this speed trainer as a practice tool. I set it on a 10 or 15 minute loop and set it at an easy starting tempo and an almost-difficult ending tempo and do my repetitions while that click is playing. The hardest part about practice is putting the guitar down at the end. Especially when I know there's still so much work to do.

I'll probably post the Youtubes sometime around the first week of September.

Liberty

2011-07-28T22:24:00.001-04:00

I like this tune. The first time I remember hearing it--there was a family of bluegrassers called the Schoonovers in the town I grew up in (in Oklahoma). Two of the Schoonover daughters played twin fiddle, and made this song sound great--bouncy and upbeat and fun.

Liberty 150 bpm
Liberty 160 bpm
Liberty 170 bpm
Liberty 180 bpm
Liberty 185 bpm
Liberty 190 bpm
Liberty 195 bpm
Liberty 200 bpm
Liberty 205 bpm
Liberty 210 bpm
Liberty 215 bpm
Liberty 220 bpm
Liberty 225 bpm
Liberty 230 bpm
Liberty 235 bpm
Liberty 240 bpm
And a zip file with all tempos (47.5 MB)

The chords go like this:
A part--D | D | G | G | D | D | A | D | (x2)
B part--D | D | D | A | D | D | G A | D | (x2)

or with a capo on the 2nd fret
A part--C | C | F | F | C | C | G | C | (x2)
B part-- C | C | C | G | C |C | F G | C | (x2)

Some Youtubes of it:

Heads Up

2011-07-18T14:02:00.000-04:00

Fellow apprentices,

I'll be derailing the train for a brief period. There is a queue of requests right now that goes like this: Temperance Reel, Old Joe Clark, Wildwood Flower, 8th of January, Nine Pound Hammer, Old Dangerfield.

Before I start Temperance Reel, I'll be recording some tracks for Liberty and Old Spinning Wheel to help me get ready for the contest at Winfield (in September). Additionally, there are a couple of vocal tunes I'm going to record rhythm tracks for, and then I'll continue with the requests starting with Temperance Reel.

Call for quality: If there are problems with tracks I've done to date, let me know in the comments. I've noticed some, and I'm sure you've noticed others. Thanks!

Dave

Huckleberry Hornpipe

2011-07-08T22:07:00.001-04:00

This one was requested by a reader to prep for a guitar contest that's probably already come & gone--I'm sorry about that. It seems like I'm having a difficult time getting anything musical done this summer.

Still, there will be other contests, right? I know this is a popular one for flatpickers to play at contests, and one that I haven't really learned yet. It's a 3 part tune, which is cool. I don't know many of those. I've started learning it, but have a way to go yet.

Huckleberry Hornpipe 150 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 160 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 170 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 180 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 185 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 190 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 195 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 200 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 205 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 210 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 215 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 220 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 225 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 230 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 235 bpm
Huckleberry Hornpipe 240 bpm
And a zip file of all tempos (53.1 MB)

I'm playing this in the key of A. Here are the chords:

A part:
A A D D E E E7 A (x2)
B part:
D A E7 A D A E7 A (x2)
C part:
A A D D E E E7 A (x2)

If you play it with a capo on the 2nd fret (like I did) it looks like...
A part:
G G C C D D D7 G (x2)
B part:
C G D7 G C G D7 G (x2)
C part:
G G C C D D D7 G (x2)

Here are some Youtubes of it:

Dan the Man flatpicking it

Courtney Johnson on the 5 strang

Country Gazette (Clarence content)

Big Sciota tab

2011-06-26T15:55:00.000-04:00

It's been a busy month or so; I'm working on backing tracks for Huckleberry Hornpipe, but have plenty left to do before they're ready. For the guitaristically inclined among you, here's something that caught me by surprise:

Alois Kleewein, a custom transcription writer who I know of from the Flatpick-L mailing list, contacted me a while ago. Someone (I don't know who) asked him to transcribe the arrangement of Big Sciota that I had put on Youtube (video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiZ5sjGU0Y), and he was checking with me to make sure I was okay with it. I was certainly okay with it, and flattered that someone was willing to pay to learn my arrangement.

Later, Alois sent me a copy of the completed transcription, as I had offered to check it for accuracy. It was amazingly accurate. I found only 2 incorrect notes out of the entire 2:40 song, and the notes that he missed would have sounded just as good anyway. I asked his permission to post it on this blog, and he contacted his customer to see if that was okay, and it was.

So, here it is: Big Sciota Tab

It will require the free TablEdit viewer program to view and print. Just google TablEdit Viewer.

If you have a song you can't find tab for anywhere, you should hire Alois. He is extremely good! Here is his website: http://customtabs.no-ip.org/

Thanks a zillion, Alois, and mysterious customer.

John Hardy

2011-05-25T06:50:00.001-04:00

By special request from a reader of this blog: John Hardy is one of those tunes that banjo players seem fond of, and they often like to play it quite fast. I've recorded this tune from 150 bpm up to 270 bpm to try to accommodate. I may add more/faster later.

There are lyrics, but they are unremarkable. Their origins are shrouded in apathy. It's more fun to play than it is to sing.

John Hardy 150 bpm
John Hardy 160 bpm
John Hardy 170 bpm
John Hardy 180 bpm
John Hardy 190 bpm
John Hardy 200 bpm
John Hardy 210 bpm
John Hardy 220 bpm
John Hardy 230 bpm
John Hardy 240 bpm
John Hardy 250 bpm
John Hardy 260 bpm
John Hardy 270 bpm
And a zip file of all tempos (45.9 MB)

The Chords
This song is recorded and jammed in many keys, since the key is changed to suit the singer. I chose the key of A, since it is a pretty standard bluegrass key, and easily approachable for the non-capoing instruments such as mandolin and fiddle.

| D | A | D | A | D | A | E | E | E | A |

This is typically repeated four times for each break or verse.

With a capo on the 2nd fret:
| C | G | C | G | C | G | D | D | D | G |

Youtube videos:
Rice, Grisman, Krauss, Crowe, Schatz

Alan Tolbert, Stephen Powell, and Mike Hipp

Fisher's Hornpipe

2011-04-04T04:20:00.004-04:00

Here's a favorite of mine, which was specifically requested by a reader. I'm playing it in D, though some play it in F.

Fisher's Hornpipe 150 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 160 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 170 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 180 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 185 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 190 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 195 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 200 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 205 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 210 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 215 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 220 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 225 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 230 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 235 bpm

Fisher's Hornpipe 240 bpm

And a zip file of all tempos (47.2 MB)

The chords for this one:

A part:

|D G|D G|D G| A |

|D G|D G|D A| D |

B part:

| A | D | A |E A|

| G | D | A | D |

Some folks throw an E in the 4th measure of the A part (playing |E A| instead of just | A |).

Here are some youtubes of it:

Mike Marshall and Chris Thile getting creative with it

Neil Yockey playing it straight

Rex McGee on the fiddle

And, lastly, some tabs:

Mando and Guitar at Mandozine (requires the free Tabledit viewer program)

Brad Davis arrangements for guitar here and here (pdf)

Melodic Keith-style banjo arrangement from Banjo Hangout (requires Tabledit viewer)

Clawhammer banjo arrangement from Banjo Hangout (gif)

Sheet music from thessession.org for you fiddlers (click on the "sheet music" tab)

Daley's Reel

2011-03-20T22:19:00.007-04:00

I'm interrupting your regularly scheduled programming (which would have been Fisher's Hornpipe) to bring you Daley's Reel, a fiddle tune in Bb. This tune is a homework assignment from a recent lesson with my new teacher (my first-ever official guitar teacher, come to think of it!) Mark Cosgrove.

What profit is there in being an apprentice, unless there is a master to learn from, right? I'm excited to be taking lessons from Mark--my impression so far is that he's insightful & quickly identified areas that could use improvement, and he's good at giving critical feedback in a constructive way.

Two of my homework assignments from our first lesson were to learn Daley's Reel (2 breaks in different positions) and get it up to standard reel tempo of ~224 bpm, and to get my contest arrangement of Beaumont Rag up to ~224 bpm.

The rhythm tracks:

And a zip file with all tempos (47.1 MB)

The chords:

(A part)

| Bb | Bb | F | F | Bb | Bb | F | Bb |

| Bb | Bb | F | F | Bb | Bb | F | Bb7|

(B part)

| Eb | Eb | Bb | Bb | F | Bb | F | Bb7|

| Eb | Eb | Bb | Bb | F | Bb | F | Bb |

Or, for guitar, with capo on 3rd fret:

(A part)

| G | G | D | D | G | G | D | G |

| G | G | D | D | G | G | D | G7|

(B part)

| C | C | G | G | D | G | D | G7|

| C | C | G | G | D | G | D | G |

Here are some youtubes of the tune:

The Mike Snyder Band (twin fiddles! Daley's the first 3 times around, then it goes into Forked Deer)

Shadd Cobb (with a Mike Compton mando break)

I don't know who these guys are, but they do a nice version (with dobro!)

Angelina Baker practice tracks

2011-02-24T16:02:00.003-05:00

By special request from an anonymous visitor, here are the rhythm tracks for Angelina Baker. This tune is somewhat unusual in that it only has 2 chords. It is more unusual because those chords are the 1 and the 4--most 2 chord songs use the 1 and the 5.

This song, using only the 1 and the 4 chords, should have an exceptionally low amount of musical tension. And that bit of theory lines up with what I hear--Angelina Baker is a very pacific, mellow tune.

Angelina Baker 150 bpm

Angelina Baker 160 bpm

Angelina Baker 170 bpm

Angelina Baker 180 bpm

Angelina Baker 185 bpm

Angelina Baker 190 bpm

Angelina Baker 195 bpm

Angelina Baker 200 bpm

Angelina Baker 205 bpm

Angelina Baker 210 bpm

Angelina Baker 215 bpm

Angelina Baker 220 bpm

Angelina Baker 225 bpm

Angelina Baker 230 bpm

Angelina Baker 235 bpm

Angelina Baker 240 bpm

And a zip file with all tempos (47.4 MB)

Here are some youtubes of the tune:

Big Mon rhythm tracks

2011-02-11T22:20:00.003-05:00

By special request,

And a zip file of all tempos (47.5 whopping MB)

Some Youtubes:

Red Haired Boy rhythm tracks

2011-01-30T16:44:00.004-05:00

Thanks to the suggestion of a reader named Betsy, I have started at a lower tempo for these rhythm tracks. Basically, I did what I usually do, and then added tracks at 150bpm, 160bpm, and 170bpm. Hopefully, these lower tempos will help out.

Red Haired Boy 150 bpm

Red Haired Boy 160 bpm

Red Haired Boy 170 bpm

Red Haired Boy 180 bpm

Red Haired Boy 185 bpm

Red Haired Boy 190 bpm

Red Haired Boy 195 bpm

Red Haired Boy 200 bpm

Red Haired Boy 205 bpm

Red Haired Boy 210 bpm

Red Haired Boy 215 bpm

Red Haired Boy 220 bpm

Red Haired Boy 225 bpm

Red Haired Boy 230 bpm

Red Haired Boy 235 bpm

Red Haired Boy 240 bpm

And a zip file with all tempos (47.4 MB)

Here's some Youtubes of the song:

Roy Curry--sweet arrangement

Jamey Pittman doing it Tony Rice style

Tony Rice doing it Jamey Pittman style

Dixie Hoedown Rhythm Tracks

2011-01-12T15:30:00.002-05:00

By request, and also because I like this song, here are the rhythm tracks for Dixie Hoedown:

Dixie Hoedown 180 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 185 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 190 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 195 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 200 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 205 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 210 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 215 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 220 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 225 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 230 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 235 bpm

Dixie Hoedown 240 bpm

And a zip file with all the tracks (36.4 MB)

Here are some youtubes of the song:

Jake Workman at the 2010 TX flatpicking championship

Joe McColley and David Dyer jamming

Tony Trischka, Frank Wakefield, Dan Marcus

Salt Creek Rhythm Tracks

2011-01-08T18:05:00.002-05:00

First tracks of 2011--Salt Creek. What a fun tune.

And a zip file with all tempos (36.5 MB)

To me, the authoritative recorded version (on guitar) has to be the Tony/Norman/Doc version from Blake & Rice 2. Also, here are some other Youtubes of it:

Pistolero gets a piece of it

Doc and Steve Kaufman, instructional style

Left Hand Stretch Exercise

2011-01-07T21:45:00.002-05:00

Hi, everybody, and happy new year. I have the gracious permission of Chris Newman to share some exercises I learned from him at a guitar camp a few years ago. The first one is designed to improve the left-hand stretch, and takes advantage of the way the frets get farther apart as you go down the neck.

This exercise can get painful quickly, but will improve your stretch if you make it a regular part of your practice for a month or two. This helps with jazzy chords, and the occasional 1st-position lead break where you have to reach up for a note or two on the skinny E string.

Stretch Exercise

The fellow who taught this exercise to me is a great flatpicker and teacher with several recordings released. You should check him out at his website, oldbridgemusic.com.

I hope you guys are getting some good picking in. I should be done with the Salt Creek rhythm tracks very soon.

Arkansas Traveler rhythm tracks

2010-12-16T21:25:00.004-05:00

Okay, I pried myself away from the new 8-string distractionator long enough to record these:

Arkansas Traveler 180 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 185 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 190 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 195 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 200 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 205 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 210 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 215 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 220 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 225 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 230 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 235 bpm

Arkansas Traveler 240 bpm

And a zip file of all tempos (36.2 MB)

Here's the recording I did on my new mando, which is pretty much the basic melody at an easy-going tempo.

And here are some youtubes:

I've Been a Little Distracted

2010-12-15T23:31:00.002-05:00

Thought I'd poke my head in and let you guys know I'm still here, just a bit distracted. I finally got something I've been waiting a long time for:

It's an Eastman MD515. I like it pretty well. I think the striped ebony headstock is pretty sweet. Here's a clip of it in action:

Arkansas Traveler on the new mando

I've been working on the Arkansas Traveler rhythm tracks, and should have them up in a day or two.

New youtube, Big Sciota

2010-12-08T15:48:00.001-05:00

Hi, all. I just finished a youtube video of Big Sciota. I used the Composite Acoustic carbon fiber guitar for this one. Some folks on the forums were asking about the tone and whatnot, and I was hoping this video would be helpful for that, and hopefully just entertaining in its own right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiZ5sjGU0Y

Cherokee Shuffle rhythm tracks

2010-12-06T21:46:00.006-05:00

A couple of folks at Mandolin Cafe (F-2 Dave and cutterflys) requested this tune. It's been on my "should learn it better" list for years now. It comes up at jams now and again, and I can get through it but I don't really know it.

Cherokee Shuffle 180 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 185 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 190 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 195 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 200 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 205 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 210 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 215 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 220 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 225 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 230 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 235 bpm

Cherokee Shuffle 240 bpm

And a zip file of all tempos (41 MB)

Also, if you have a chance to pass this blog on to someone else who might find it useful, please do so. I've mentioned it on Mandolin Cafe, Flatpicker Hangout, Harmony Central, and Flatpick-L because I normally read and/or contribute there. But I know there are many, many other internet places where bluegrass players congregate. Maybe you are a member of Co-Mando, or Fiddle Hangout, or Winfield-L, or whatever.

If you happen to be part of one of those, I encourage you to pass the word. I would have loved to have a free resource like this when I was learning to flatpick and learning the mandolin. I remember how helpful the free resources were that Mike Stangeland and Alois Kleewein and Mandozine gave away. I would love for this stuff I'm doing to be available for whoever would find it useful.

Edit: Oh, yeah. I've been meaning to include youtube links with these tunes.

Josh Williams, Andy Falco, and Chris Eldridge (Critter has some impressive guitar mouth in this one.)

Andy Falco again, with Noam Pikelny and Tony Watt

Edit 5/22/11

Chords:

With a capo on the 2nd fret--

A Part

| G | G | G D/F# | Em | C | G | D | G | (x2)

B Part

| C | G | C | G | C | G | G D/F# | Em | D | G | (x2)

With no capo--

A Part

| A | A | A E/G# | F#m | D | A | E | A | (x2)

B Part

| D | A | D | A | D | A | A E/G# | F#m | E | A | (x2)

Big Sandy River rhythm tracks

2010-12-01T15:42:00.003-05:00

My wife and younger daughter (1.5 years) were in the basement with me while I recorded some of these. You might hear some baby noises in a couple of tracks.

Big Sandy River 180 bpm

Big Sandy River 185 bpm

Big Sandy River 190 bpm

Big Sandy River 195 bpm

Big Sandy River 200 bpm

Big Sandy River 205 bpm

Big Sandy River 210 bpm

Big Sandy River 215 bpm

Big Sandy River 220 bpm

Big Sandy River 225 bpm

Big Sandy River 230 bpm

Big Sandy River 235 bpm

Big Sandy River 240 bpm

And a zip file with all the tempos (37 MB)

There's a version of this tune I like with Adam Steffey, Clay Jones, and Scott Vestal, from an album with the unprepossessing title of "More Ultimate Pickin". It's on iTunes if you want to check it out. Also, Bryan Sutton does a great version on "Bluegrass Guitar".

Here are some youtubes of it:

Cosgrove and some folks I don't recognize, at Kaufman Kamp

Some living room pickers doing a great job (The banjo player recreates Scott Vestal's break.)

Gold Rush, The

2010-11-27T14:59:00.005-05:00

This is a pretty cool tune that seems to be very popular with bluegrass guitarists. As it should be, I guess--it lays out well on guitar, sounds good, and is fun to play. Key of A (capo 2, G for me).

And a zip file with all tempos (36.5 MB)

Here are some versions of it on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypFRFSGjAQA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL1-QQA6L-U (I love the way they all lean in & grin at the end.)

John Moore Exercises

2010-11-25T22:22:00.003-05:00

Play like Chris Thile, in 50 or 60 very difficult steps! Of which these exercises are one...

I first heard about these on Co-mando several years ago. The word on the street is that these exercises originated with John Moore (mandolin and guitar player of the now-defunct bluegrass band "California" along with Byron Berline, Dan Crary, John Hickman, and Steve Spurgin). They were used in the education of a young Chris Thile (reputedly).

I don't know where John Moore got these from, or if he created them, but he's the earliest attribution that I've heard for these.

They are similar to exercises that I've seen on Brad Davis' website. They're played very slowly, and must (!) be played with a strict down-up-down-up-down-up pick motion, regardless of which string is being played when.

Indeed, that's the whole point of these exercises. They are to teach your picking hand to find the correct string regardless of what string it was on before and regardless of whether the previous note was an up or down stroke.

They are effective, in my experience. When I do them faithfully, my pick accuracy improves.

Some notes for success:

1)Start at a very slow tempo. Set your metronome to maybe 90 bpm, and play a downstroke on every click (and an upstroke between clicks). Actually, maybe even slower than 90 bpm at first. Maybe 60 bpm.

2)Don't be in a hurry to speed the metronome up. The point of these exercises is to go slow and force yourself to achieve perfection. Perfect tone, perfect accuracy, perfect timing. This burns the correct actions into your muscle memory. Then, when you do play fast, your picking hand does the right things.

3)Strictly down-up-down-up!

That's all I've got. Here's the link.

Wait, that's not all I've got--Mando players: if you want to use these, ignore the top and bottom strings. Or check the mandozine archives, I think they're in there.

Home Sweet Home rhythm tracks

2010-11-23T21:19:00.004-05:00

I like this song. It looks like Abe Lincoln did, too. It's older than I thought (1823, apparently).

Home Sweet Home 180 bpm

Home Sweet Home 185 bpm

Home Sweet Home 190 bpm

Home Sweet Home 195 bpm

Home Sweet Home 200 bpm

Home Sweet Home 205 bpm

Home Sweet Home 210 bpm

Home Sweet Home 215 bpm

Home Sweet Home 220 bpm

Home Sweet Home 225 bpm

Home Sweet Home 230 bpm

Home Sweet Home 235 bpm

Home Sweet Home 240 bpm
And a zip file of all tempos (36.5 MB)

Blackberry Blossom rhythm tracks

2010-11-20T15:17:00.004-05:00

Blackberry Blossom is another tough one for me to play fast, for some reason. Maybe these rhythm tracks will help me get it down.

Blackberry Blossom 180 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 185 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 190 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 195 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 200 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 205 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 210 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 215 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 220 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 225 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 230 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 235 bpm

Blackberry Blossom 240 bpm

And a zip file of all tempos (36.2 MB)

Bill Cheatham

2010-11-16T16:26:00.003-05:00

Bill Cheatham. The 'B' part on this one has always given me fits. I can fake it, but playing it the way I want it to sound is tough when it's fast. Hopefully these tracks will help.

Bill Cheatham 180 bpm

Bill Cheatham 185 bpm

Bill Cheatham 190 bpm

Bill Cheatham 195 bpm

Bill Cheatham 200 bpm

Bill Cheatham 205 bpm

Bill Cheatham 210 bpm

Bill Cheatham 215 bpm

Bill Cheatham 220 bpm

Bill Cheatham 225 bpm

Bill Cheatham 230 bpm

Bill Cheatham 235 bpm

Bill Cheatham 240 bpm

And a zip file with all the tempos (36.2 MB)

Foggy Mountain Breakdown

2010-11-14T13:58:00.004-05:00

A fellow named Mike let me know that folks at banjohangout.com have been using the backing tracks. I recorded today's tracks hoping they will be useful to the banjo readers I didn't know I had.

This song came up at a jam session a few days ago, and it was blazing fast. I remember thinking at the time that it was probably too fast, but then I got home and listened to Earl Scruggs. It turns out Earl done it very fast, about 310 bpm.

That's a problematically fast tempo for me as a guitarist. It's tough to even strum rhythm at that tempo, much less take a guitar break.

The bluegrass band I played with in Oklahoma did this song sometimes, and while it wasn't quite as fast as Earl's version it was still pretty peppy. I came up with a guitar break that I since let languish, but it was devised especially to be easy to play at very fast tempos while still sounding good. I'm gonna try to remember it and tab it out and post it here.

Recording these rhythm tracks led me to a realization--playing fast rhythm is really good for loosening up your wrist, and will very noticeably increase your comfort in playing faster leads. I'm going to add it to my practice routine now to strum some fast-tempo songs after I get warmed up. (Foggy Mountain Breakdown and Hallelujah I'm Ready and Black Mountain Rag come to mind.)

Anyway, here's the tracks:

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 200 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 210 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 220 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 230 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 240 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 250 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 260 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 270 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 280 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 290 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 300 bpm

Foggy Mountain Breakdown 310 bpm
And a zip file with all tempos (28 MB)

Way Outside the Box

2010-11-09T16:45:00.002-05:00

I just started working on a new guitar part I offered to record for a fellow. It's flatpicked, but not anywhere near like what you'd usually think of as flatpicking. It's a piece of orchestral sounding music that will apparently be used in a video game.

It's in the key of Fm (or Ab, I guess), and has some funky changes and fingerings in it. It's a cool sounding tune, though. You can hear the version he recorded with synthesized acoustic guitar here. I'll be recording acoustic guitar to replace the synthesized guitar part (it's the somewhat harpsichorde-ish sounding instrument).

I don't know how long it's been since I've taken on a tune this challenging!

Who Will Sing for Me?

2010-11-07T23:07:00.003-05:00

I have some new practice tracks I just finished recording. These are in response to a special request from Niklas in Sweden. (Which is funny, I was just reading a novel set in Sweden. Me and half the world, I guess.)

This song is called "Who Will Sing for Me?". It's been recorded by a lot of people, but it seems like the archetypal recording was by Flatt & Scruggs. The same arrangement is played on the album, "The Three Pickers". The key is Bb--I used G, capo 3. (Sorry, fiddlers and mandos.)

The structure of the song goes like this:

Intro: G G C G G G A7 D G (G)

Verse: G G C G G G A7 D G

Chorus: D G D G G C … G D G

And this pattern is repeated three times. These chords are, of course, relative to the capo.

There is a pause after the C in the chorus. In the Flatt & Scruggs recording, they break time there and pause for a while. I didn't pause as long--I hit the chord and let it ring for the rest of the measure, then came back in. I figured that would be more useful for practicing, since the mp3 can't give you the visual cues that another player would about when to come back in.

This tune has a cool guitar part that Earl Scruggs plays fingerstyle. It reminds me a bit of "Give Me the Roses". I haven't learned how to play it like Earl does, I just kinda approximate it.

I recorded a demonstration of the tune with vocals and fills so you could hear it if it's new to you. The 3 Pickers version is cool, check that one out. The performance tempo is about 185 bpm, so I recorded at tempos on both sides of that.

Who Will Sing for Me demonstration

Who Will Sing for Me 170 bpm

Who Will Sing for Me 175 bpm

Who Will Sing for Me 180 bpm

Who Will Sing for Me 185 bpm

Who Will Sing for Me 190 bpm

Who Will Sing for Me 195 bpm

Who Will Sing for Me 200 bpm

And a zip file of all tempos (25.7 MB)

Extra-curricular; non bluegrassish

2010-11-07T15:28:00.002-05:00

I've been working out of this old jazz guitar book by Mickey Baker, "Mickey Baker's Complete Course in Jazz Guitar, Volume 1". It gets very hard very fast. Basically, there are a few lessons that introduce how to finger some jazzy chords (maj7, maj6, min7, min6, and the 13b5b9 that I think sounds pretty terrible). Then you're right into Joe Pass style chord solos, which are a bear!

But, yeah, I've been wanting to branch out some more for a while now. This book has no tab, so hopefully it'll make me get better at sight-reading. I'm pretty bad at that.

Mickey doesn't do much explaining about the chords--what makes a chord major or minor, what the extensions mean, when you can substitute which chords for another. He kinda just shows you how to finger it, then says "play this".

Joe Carr's "Western Swing Guitar Styles" is way better at that. It's really quite good at systematically breaking down where you can do different substitutions (but it's not comprehensive--I believe it doesn't cover tritone subs at all). Great book.

Anyhow, here's hoping the Mickey Baker book teaches me some cool stuff. I'm already learning some new fingerings, which is cool. And I learned that 13b5b9 chord, which sounds terrible. It seems like he kind of uses it as a tension-adding diminished type chord.

Soldier's Joy

2010-11-04T21:38:00.003-04:00

I've been working on Soldier's Joy lately. Folks at church asked for a mini-concert during an upcoming service (of bluegrass gospel songs). We're planning to play this after the end of the service as everyone walks out. I'm pretty sure no one will recognize it--it's one of the instrumentals that the mando player is most comfortable with.

So, I whupped up some rhythm tracks.

Soldier's Joy 180 bpm

Soldier's Joy 185 bpm

Soldier's Joy 190 bpm

Soldier's Joy 195 bpm

Soldier's Joy 200 bpm

Soldier's Joy 205 bpm

Soldier's Joy 210 bpm

Soldier's Joy 215 bpm

Soldier's Joy 220 bpm

Soldier's Joy 225 bpm

Soldier's Joy 230 bpm

Soldier's Joy 235 bpm

Soldier's Joy 240 bpm

And a zip file with all tempos (36.1 MB)

Enjoy.

Forked Deer Rhythm Tracks

2010-10-26T14:43:00.003-04:00

Big sigh of relief. I finished the training program at work that has been demanding so much of my time. Maybe I can get back to picking more often, now. Here's some rhythm tracks for Forked Deer:

And a zip file with all tempos (35.9 MB)

St. Anne's Reel tablature

2010-07-29T16:46:00.007-04:00

Here's the tab for the lower register variation of St. Anne's Reel I mentioned in a post last week:

St. Anne's Reel tab

Though it's not mentioned on the document, there should be a capo at the 2nd fret. I think I'm going to continue and tab out some more breaks for this tune. It's kinda cathartic.

Since there's an involved discussion on Flatpick-L this week about the merits of ear training (and also just to generally help whoever might want to learn this break), here's a recording of the break. It's played at about 195 bpm.

St. Anne's Reel mp3

(Disclosure: I'm aware that this is not a gorgeous performance, despite my mention in an earlier post about trying to highlight the prettiness of the tune. I'm still working on this variation, I just wanted to upload it while it was still on my mind.)

Whiskey Before Breakfast practice tracks

2010-07-23T15:03:00.002-04:00

Whiskey Before Breakfast practice tracks:

Whiskey Before Breakfast 180 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 185 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 190 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 195 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 200 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 205 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 210 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 215 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 220 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 225 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 230 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 235 bpm

Whiskey Before Breakfast 240 bpm
And a zip file of all tempos (36.5 MB)

Enjoy, if you dare...

What a Friend We Have in Jesus video

2010-07-23T09:34:00.001-04:00

Long time, no post. Work has really been interfering with the important things in life lately, but I am still managing to pick a bit, and even see my family occasionally.

I have finished more rhythm tracks (and have been selfishly using them without sharing); I will soon make them available.

Also, I've been working on an arrangement of St. Anne's Reel. Nothing revolutionary about it, just trying to highlight the prettiness of the song (rather than the bouncy upbeatness that many arrangements underline).

I tried to present variations in 3 different octaves for this arrangement, and found that the lowest octave was the hardest. I ended up tabbing my ideas to get them pinned down. I'll post that tab soon, too.

In the meantime, here's a video I did for Youtube of What a Friend

We Have in Jesus, taken at a stately tempo:

The Youtube link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkL_0HuvM20

(But you'll find it to be basically the same.)

Grey Eagle practice tracks

2010-02-27T20:10:00.003-05:00

Finished off recording the Grey Eagle practice tracks tonight. This practice track has an odd beginning--there's a count-in, then a strum, another strum, then the song begins in proper. This is to make room for the double Georgia shuffle lead-in that Tyler Grant does on his excellent recording of this tune (which was transcribed in a relatively recent Flatpick Guitar Magazine).

I find this tune devilishly hard. Or, at least, Tyler's arrangement is. It's almost unbelievable that he recorded it at 240 bpm, and it sounds super relaxed and clean. Anyways, blah blah blah...here are the tracks:

And a zip file of all tempos (41.8 MB)

Enjoy!

Update, 2/28/10. A guest asked about the structure of this song. An excellent question; Grey Eagle is one of those tunes that seems to be played pretty differently in different places.

I recorded three parts, each repeats once, then the tune starts over:

A part (x2)
|A |A |A |E A|A |A |A |E A|

B part (x2)
|A |D |A |E |A |D |A D|E A|

C part (x2)
|A |A |A |E |A |A |A |E A|

Goals, barriers, solutions

2010-02-24T22:16:00.000-05:00

I gave myself 3 years to complete this goal...so I can take a few minutes to think and write about where I am and where I'm going.

What does it take to win a flatpick contest? Just a few things, I think--though those things are awful hard to come by. What I think it takes to have a real good shot at winning whichever flatpick contest you enter:

1)Great arrangements. Arrangements that do cool things, even unique things. Arrangements that incorporate a variety of techniques...not just for the techniques' sakes, but to make the song even better. Arrangements that stay close to the melody, but turn the melody inside out and backwards. Arrangements of an array of tunes that show the player's fiery and flashy side as well as the thoughtful and toneful side.

2)Great tone. This certainly requires great right and left hand technique, but also requires great mic technique and a great guitar. The tone I'm thinking of is full without being obnoxious; confident and beautiful.

3)Confidence. The flatpicker should have a deep confidence in his ability to play the arrangements at a wide range of tempos. He should be playing at a tempo that feels comfortable while being fast enough to be a bit showy. (I hate to say it, but I think you have to play a bit showily to win flatpick contests.) The player should have a good deal of experience playing the arrangements before crowds, and preferably should have played them in other contests.

Those are the things I think I need to reach my goal. Where do I fall short? Well, in all 3 categories, really. I feel like tone is my strongest suit, but I need to practice mic technique with a variety of mics I might run into and find how to work them.

I have some pretty well developed arrangements for several songs, but I need to finish arrangements for the right songs. This is one of the first steps. I can't really practice arrangements I haven't written yet.

The confidence will be the hardest part. Hopefully the rhythm tracks in conjunction with jamming and playing out as much as possible, and playing in every contest I can, will help.

Big Sciota rhythm tracks

2010-02-23T20:39:00.005-05:00

Got the Big Sciota rhythm tracks done.

And a zip file with all the tempos (37.3 MB)

I've also been thinking and making some notes about where I'm at & where I want to go. Thinking about the things it takes to win at flatpick contests, and the barriers that stand in the way of those things.

Edit 5/22/11--

The Chords:
A Part:
| G D | G | G D | G | G | C | D | G | (x2)
B Part
| G | D | D | C | C | Em | D | G | (x2)

Youtubes:

Me

Roy Curry

A sweet banjo arrangement by Luis Gomez

Further edit (6/26/11):

A tab, graciously transcribed by Alois Kleewein for an unknown benefactor, of the Youtube version I did above: Big Sciota Tab

St. Anne's Reel Rhythm Tracks

2010-02-20T15:38:00.003-05:00

Nightshift, ugh...

Got a few more rhythm tracks knocked out:

St. Anne's Reel 180 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 185 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 190 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 195 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 200 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 205 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 210 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 215 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 220 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 225 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 230 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 235 bpm

St. Anne's Reel 240 bpm
And a zip file with all tempos (37.1 MB)

Download, enjoy, share, etc.

Update, 5/22/2011

The chords

For guitar, capo 2

A part:

| C | C | F | C | C | C | F G | C | (x2)

B part:

| C | Dm | G | C | C | Dm | G | C | (x2)

Some Youtubes of the song

Aly Bain, Jerry Douglas, Russ Barenberg

John Cowan Band

Jake Workman at TX state flatpick guitar competition

Billy in the Low Ground tracks done

2010-02-18T17:33:00.004-05:00

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

Billy in the Low Ground 180 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 185 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 190 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 195 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 200 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 205 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 210 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 215 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 220 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 225 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 230 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 235 bpm

Billy in the Low Ground 240 bpm

And a zip file with all the tempos (37.1 MB)

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...

The Blue Ridge Mountain Boys with Rickie Simpkins

Neil Yockey playing a Steve Kaufman arrangement

On hammered dulcimer and clawhammer banjo

Got my new computer!

2010-02-16T12:20:00.004-05:00

I'm pretty excited about it. It's astonishingly faster than the other computers in the house. And I like Windows 7 a lot.

With the new computer in the studio, it became very easy to finish up the Beaumont Rag recordings. Here they are--practice tracks for Beaumont Rag (rhythm guitar only) from 180 beats per minute up to 240 beats per minute:

And a zip file of all tempos (37.1 MB)

Like I mentioned earlier, I wasn't very meticulous about the recording process. You'll hear some background noise occasionally. I did try to tune my guitar often and stay right with the metronome while recording these, so hopefully they'll be a useful practice tool for you. I love 'em.

I like to make a playlist in iTunes with whatever fiddle tunes I want to practice and the tempos I want, then it's hands off after that. No distractions, just playing the guitar.

The chords for Beaumont Rag (in C):

A part:

| G | G | C | C | G | G | C | C |

| G | G | C | C7 | F F#° | C A7 | D G | C |

B part (identical, except for the stop):

| G | G | C | C | G | G | C (stop)| |

| G | G | C | C7 | F F#° | C A7 | D G | C |

Some Youtubes of it:

Spoke Too Soon

2010-01-30T12:01:00.000-05:00

I thought the cold was gone. It took another week or so. It's pretty much gone, now. Here's hoping it stays that way...

I was reading the second issue of Flatpick Guitar Magazine yesterday, with David Grier on the cover. He said in his interview that he never practices, he just plays. He added that practicing feels like work, and playing feels fun, so it's easier to keep the guitar in hand if he just plays.

I can see where he's coming from, though I have the feeling that it wouldn't work for me. I suspect I have too many other things going on (a non-guitar-playing job, a family). It would be fun to practice like that, but it's fun making measurable progress, too.

Another thing he talked about (regarding the way he practices) was that his "just play" philosophy leads to uncovering cool licks through just noodling on tunes. A good point. I noodled on Bill Cheatham for about 45 minutes last night. I think I came up with some new stuff, though somehow I ended up playing some sort of St. Anne's Reel/Bill Cheatham hybrid in C by the end of the 45 minutes.

*************************************

A few weeks ago, I had the idea that I would record some rhythm guitar tracks to practice to. I'm using a 16 track recorder (a Zoom R16), so I figured I'd record eight different songs on tracks 1 through 8, and leave tracks 9 through 16 open to record leads later. I decided, further, that I would record each song at different tempos from 180 to 24o bpm (180, 185, 190...240).

*A note on tempos: Every magazine and tab book that I have shows flatpicked fiddle tunes in 4/4 time with the bulk of the notes shown as eighth notes. So when I mention a tempo, I mean the metronome clicks with each quarter note. I know this seems obvious since I said beats per minute, and in 4/4 time the quarter note gets the beat by definition. But on flatpick-L (a flatpick-related email list) every time a tempo is mentioned, a big discussion ensues on what the indicated bpm actually means.*

Well, guess what, pardners? It's lot of work! I hadn't really thought about it when I started, but there are 9 tempos I'm recording at, and 8 different tunes (just to start with). That works out to 72 recordings, right? And each recording is 2 to 3 minutes if I get it right on the first shot, so that's a minimum of 2 and 1/2 hours with the record button lit up. I was thinking about recording about 50 tunes of rhythm tracks, so that ends up as a good 15 hours of recording.

However, it's a great opportunity to practice rhythm guitar, which is always timely. And, playing some rhythm is a great way to start a practice session and get the right hand loosened up. So, I'll keep at it instead of breaking down and buying Band in a Box.

Once I figured out how much recording it works out to, I got pretty relaxed about the recording quality. I'm not so worried about background noise and whatnot (in fact, I can hear my youngest daughter squawking in the background sometimes), I just make sure that the timing is very solid.

Anyway, I'll post links to these rhythm tracks as I get them completed. Feel free to download and use them if they're useful to you.

After a Cold

2010-01-24T16:12:00.001-05:00

After I fight off a cold (or suffer through a cold), it always takes a while to get my voice back in shape. This winter has been especially bad for colds and congestion. I've been working a lot of night shifts (almost exclusively night shift, actually). That alone makes me more likely to get sick, but on top of that I've been sleeping in the basement (so my wife and kids can go about life normally while I sleep during the day). It's colder in the basement, so I'm more likely to get congested.

I finally started to bounce back from the latest round of congestion, and recorded a tune while trying to get my voice back in shape. It's the Carter Family's "Keep on the Sunny Side":

http://stashbox.org/776373/Keep%20on%20the%20Sunny%20Side%20Jan%2024%2010.mp3

There's still some work to do, obviously. I'll record it again when I practice it some more and get over the cold some more. Recording this tune was interesting from a flatpicking standpoint. I recorded the rhythm guitar in singing first, then went back to overdub the lead guitar.

The first couple of times I tried to record the lead guitar, I ended up with some stuff that didn't sound quite right. I was putting some licks in that didn't really fit with the song. Bluesy licks and flashy licks...I wish I had kept some for a bad example, but I recorded over them before I thought about their demonstration value.

I had to step back and re-think. Instead of just letting my fingers go where they want (as if on auto-pilot in a jam session), I had to consider what makes the song appealing to me and then change my breaks to fit with that. The things that make "Keep on the Sunny Side" appealing to me are its pretty melody, its sunny disposition, and its upbeat message. So I tried to play pretty, sunny, upbeat breaks and leave the Riceolian licks for some other tune.

What I Hope

2010-01-23T20:41:00.000-05:00

I hope this blog will be useful to someone other than me.

I'll turn 33 this year. A good age, I guess, but I was hoping to have accomplished more (musically speaking) by this age. I realized this in a fit of new-year-inspired introspection, and it led me to set a goal--win a guitar at a major flatpick competition before I turn 36.

You might be thinking what I halfway think, myself: "What a dumb goal. If you want a guitar so badly, go buy one!" But it's not about the guitar, see? It's about the challenge.

I got out of the navy in 2002, and not long after that I heard Norman Blake for the first time. I had a reaction that I suspect many other flatpickers have. I thought, "Wow, I never suspected anybody could play guitar like that!" and then shortly afterward, "I wonder if I could learn to play like that?"

I'll talk a lot more about my flatpicking journey later; for now I'll say that I did learn to flatpick through lots and lots of (enjoyable) practice. I got good enough that when a picking buddy mentioned flatpicking contests, I succumbed to the notion that I might be ready to compete in one.

I competed in several (they're usually pretty generous about who they'll let compete--anyone who'll pay the entry fee), and realized that I wasn't yet good enough to win in one. Flatpick contests, and the desire to win (or at least place) in one, became a very useful and motivating spur that led me to further improvement in my playing ability. I've been doing flatpick contests, when I can get time off to get to them, for about 6 or 7 years now. (Oh, wow! Has it been that long already?)

I still haven't won one. The closest I came was making the top 5 at the Texas State Flatpick Championship, and that was a few years ago. Yeah, I thought that by now I might have scooped a trophy or a guitar or something, but I haven't. Thus the above resolution.

I plan to talk about my journey to winning some flatpick contests, and share the practice plans and exercises and arrangements and so on that lead me (hopefully) to success. I hope it will be useful to someone besides me!