EuroAussie Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 So, Ive been pretty dedicated to the fingerpicking art for some 4 months now. Ive really caught the bug and have been working on patterns, melodies, the blues and starting to learn some songs. Ive been fingerpicking probably 80% of my time during this last few months. The Fleetwood Mac classic 'Landslide' was one of the early song choices, as its firstly a great song, and follows a given pattern with some melody thats not a ball breaker. So, after 4 months of plucking away I finally decided its time to bite bullet and put it out infront of the audience. I have to say playing fingerstyle infront of a crowd is pretty nervewrecking experience for me, as I find you have nowhere to hide when playing single notes. You screw up one note and its all there to be heard ..... but on the other they say its best to throw yourself into the deep end and do your best to try to swim rather than sink. So, this is our first perofrmance of 'Landslide' in the public, from our regular gig at The Globe. I used my best live guitar, the HB TV. I was happy to get this out the way. I think when looking back at it seemed passable, in that I kept the pattern going without major failure and it seemed to be appreciated by the bar flies. Once I get more confidence I would like to add more dymics into the picking (Lindsay Buckhinham seems to really dig into those strings to get that cool groove going) better use of slurs, and also go a bit faster as we played this around 20% slower than the original. Anyway, this is where I am after 4 months of fingerpicking. I would appreciate any advice or feedback from the great pickers on this Forum ! cheers, EA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 " Well time makes you older even children get Older and I'm gettin older too " Well done EA.. its a life long thing playin the old geetar in it ! Your finger pickin is comin along nicely... you tend to concentrate on the bass first..as i done and i think thats how u learn..then you start concentrating more on the melody//which i have been doing for years... now I'm actually starting to think of the bass again.. ( the HB needs more attcak than some ) then we try n put them togtehr..haha maybe another 10 years for me good one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 BTW check out /search for Smashing Pumpkins version of this.. just Billy corgan and guiatr Reall good way to learn the song...with nice little lead break in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mojorule Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Big thumbs up from here EA. Even after nearly 25 years of serious fingerpicking, I don't know if I'd be able to do this one more smoothly in front of an audience. Your practice routine is really paying dividends. Really nicely done. Until the end, though, I could have sworn that you were playing the Aaron and not the Bird. Those shoulders look so rounded and narrow from that angle. The burst looks dark too. Only when you swung forward a bit to the mic were the profile and colour recognizable. The guitar sounds good anyway. My impression is that transducers are a lot friendlier to fingerpickers than to strummers. (Whether you're using the Aura or not.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Great job, Mark. I've gone back to fingerpicking in the last couple of months, and am trying to unlearn the bad habits I developed as an untrained picker back in the 60's. It ain't easy to teach an old dog new tricks, but like you, I've decided to make a go of it. The only bad thing is that now that I'm concentrating on fingerpicking, my flatpicking skills have fallen apart. I think the key might be to mix them up a bit more, with the hope that some sort of symbiotic impact will make both styles a bit better. When I was training as a runner, we used to distinguish between "junk miles", which were just miles of running you put in with no coherent plan, versus "quality miles" that were focussed on a specific goal. It's not just the quantity of time you put in, but how you focus when you do it. I'm trying to make the transition from "junk playing" to real practice now, and it isn't easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 i dig what ya sayin Nick as we all know.. we just gottta play and play and play........ fingers..picks... flat... spikes..and any thing else u like I love the blues players...there is no foerced playing there..and even mistakes.. but you have to learn the basics..maybe all over again in ur case Nick as an aside..i just listened to Billy corgan doing his version of |Landslide..and it sounded terrible..haha sounded good when i was in my 20's... still nice little braek in there keep on pickin folks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Cheers Del. Youre right the HB TV does need a fair bit of attack to get a bit of bite into the notes as it has that natural, rounded, nectar finish. I think this track needs the bass notes to stand out as it drives the groove, but definitely there is room for more slurs and melodic sparkle. Lindsa Buckingam incorporates a lot of that in the live perofrmances Ive seen, thats something i will be working on over time. Funny you say Billy Corgans version of Landslide, thats actually how I was introduced to this track. Was a massive Pumpkins fan back in the day. Simese Dream is still to be one of the all time great albums, of any generation. I hope with a few more years pickin' practice to get somewhere to your level, I loved you last Blues tune, think I listened to it 8 times, inspiring ! " Well time makes you older even children get Older and I'm gettin older too " Well done EA.. its a life long thing playin the old geetar in it ! Your finger pickin is comin along nicely... you tend to concentrate on the bass first..as i done and i think thats how u learn..then you start concentrating more on the melody//which i have been doing for years... now I'm actually starting to think of the bass again.. ( the HB needs more attcak than some ) then we try n put them togtehr..haha maybe another 10 years for me good one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Mojo, thats very kind of you. The good thing about this track is that it can sound more sophisticated than it really is. It has that nice jingle jangle tubby groove that sounds cool, but its just really following a basic pattern with no weird, finger twisting chord voicing. Interesting you thought it was the AL SJ. I think its very much a Bird tone, the big give away are the rounded, nectarish notes. If I played this on the SJ you would find the notes to be much sharper and bitier. Thanks for the encouragment man ! Big thumbs up from here EA. Even after nearly 25 years of serious fingerpicking, I don't know if I'd be able to do this one more smoothly in front of an audience. Your practice routine is really paying dividends. Really nicely done. Until the end, though, I could have sworn that you were playing the Aaron and not the Bird. Those shoulders look so rounded and narrow from that angle. The burst looks dark too. Only when you swung forward a bit to the mic were the profile and colour recognizable. The guitar sounds good anyway. My impression is that transducers are a lot friendlier to fingerpickers than to strummers. (Whether you're using the Aura or not.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Thank you Nick, and I do know what you mean. I have also lost some of my flatpicking edge, however in my case I can make it up as we still gig a lot and that is all 99% flatpicking / strumming, so that keeps me in focus. But youre right, its all about balance and trying to get some kind of a routine that can cover the key bases ...... as you said, not an easy task ! Great job, Mark. I've gone back to fingerpicking in the last couple of months, and am trying to unlearn the bad habits I developed as an untrained picker back in the 60's. It ain't easy to teach an old dog new tricks, but like you, I've decided to make a go of it. The only bad thing is that now that I'm concentrating on fingerpicking, my flatpicking skills have fallen apart. I think the key might be to mix them up a bit more, with the hope that some sort of symbiotic impact will make both styles a bit better. When I was training as a runner, we used to distinguish between "junk miles", which were just miles of running you put in with no coherent plan, versus "quality miles" that were focussed on a specific goal. It's not just the quantity of time you put in, but how you focus when you do it. I'm trying to make the transition from "junk playing" to real practice now, and it isn't easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Wow! The fingerpicking is GREAT! I've always thought Lindsay Buckingham's fingerpicking style was difficult to copy....but you nailed it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Nice perfomance ! Kept the thumb thump going on a consistent basis, which I have never been able to do. Getting the fingers on one hand to do two different things has always been a giant hurdle, but then I never have been one for disciplined practice. I'm impressed. The guitar sounded fine, fits the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Wow! The fingerpicking is GREAT! I've always thought Lindsay Buckingham's fingerpicking style was difficult to copy....but you nailed it! Hey Rob, I agree his picking is pretty tough on many songs, but I watched an interiew with LB and he was saying that for this song they deliberately wanted to keep a simple, repetitive pattern with a strong groove, mission accomplished. But I still have a long way to go with this song as LB really does use a lot of dynamics and slurs to give the track a couple more layers, but Ill be working on it ! Thanks for the thumbs up ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 13, 2012 Author Share Posted October 13, 2012 Nice perfomance ! Kept the thumb thump going on a consistent basis, which I have never been able to do. Getting the fingers on one hand to do two different things has always been a giant hurdle, but then I never have been one for disciplined practice. I'm impressed. The guitar sounded fine, fits the song. Cheers Dan, and yeah the thumb thing does take a while, but the good thing here is that its a repeating pattern on standard, first position chords so makes it somewhat easier. When it comes to the blues Im still finding it hard to keep the thumb steady, especially when you have to deal with so many syncopated melody notes ..... its driving me a bit bokners I must say .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Boom Chick, Boom Chick.... Boom CHECK! or should that be Czech.... Nice one fella Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatbaroque Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Good one EA.I admire your determination.Seems you set yourself a guitar task and really carry through with it.That sounded smooth and authentic.I know on the rare occasions I play before more than a few people my nerves often turn picking into strumming.Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 Boom Chick, Boom Chick.... Boom CHECK! or should that be Czech.... Czech me out ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 14, 2012 Author Share Posted October 14, 2012 Good one EA.I admire your determination.Seems you set yourself a guitar task and really carry through with it.That sounded smooth and authentic.I know on the rare occasions I play before more than a few people my nerves often turn picking into strumming.Well done. Ha, ha ... i defnitely had a strumming back up to this in case it all started to go pear shaped mid track FB ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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