need advice

TAYLOR310CE · #1 January 17th, 2006

My playing sounds choppy to me. Also, Im struggling on the walk down on blackbird . This in turn causes me to lose timing , rhythm, etc.. any suggestions. I havent been playing fingerstyle long so please keep that in mind.
~James

TAYLOR310CE · #2 January 17th, 2006

My playing sounds choppy to me. Also, Im struggling on the walk down on blackbird . This in turn causes me to lose timing , rhythm, etc.. any suggestions. I havent been playing fingerstyle long so please keep that in mind. Any suggestions on sliding across the fingerboard without getting that awful scratchy sound... Thanks
~James

allthumbs · #3 January 17th, 2006

Your double stops sound good to me. You tend to fall behind on some of the chord transitions which makes you speed up to catch up so look at where the changes are giving you trouble and work on them. Slow the whole thing down a bit,It is better to play it cleanly at a slower speed then make mistakes trying to play faster than you can. You can speed it up once you have smoothed out the rough spots.
Listen to the tune and focus on the parts in between the up and down double stops. You tend to lose the rythmn of the piece at those points and rush through the notes. Pay attention to how your foot taps through those sections. Thats my 2 cents worth. Hope that helps. It is coming along by the way.keep twanging.

WernHalen · #4 January 17th, 2006

Keep at it, you are doing well for a starter. You might want to get your self a metronome and start practicing at slower speeds and then speed up to the required level. I always try to speed the song up to 10 or 20 BPM past the performance speed, this way i know that at normal speed i will play comfortably...

TAYLOR310CE · #5 January 17th, 2006

do you think its better strum with the tip of the index finger on those parts or to pick it out ? Thanks for the reply. Honestly , after posting it then hearing it I tried to delete it ... lol No such luck so I posted anther recording of it . I have been working on this song for about 3 days now. When I practice it I do play it slow ( the orginal from Paul Mc cartney is just played pretty quick .) And, I didnt want people to fall asleep listening to me play it =)
~James

WernHalen · #6 January 17th, 2006

3 days for a beginer, thats not bad! Keep at it Youll get better with practice, and everything Allthumbs said...

TAYLOR310CE · #7 January 17th, 2006

ok maybe you misunderstood that .. Ive only been working on Blackbird for 3 days . I have been playing learning guitar close to a year now. My timing is my biggest weakness I think. I never thought about till the replies but a metronome is what I need . I listened to Blackbird again and metronome clicks in the backgroud (or something) But, on every beat it sounds like he is picking with his thumb... not sure. I guess I will slow the metronome down and then work up to speed till I can play it clearly and rhtymically. Thanks for the replies.
~James

PickNGrin · #8 January 17th, 2006

I took me a lot longer than 3 days to be able to play that one smooth and error free! And even longer to be able to play it and sing it at the same time. "Choppy" is fairly common in new players. Indeed, tap your foot if you can -it's in the song!
And yes, McCartney "flicks" at the strings at times in between the finger picking.--it's not a "proper" finger picked song either, just the way McCartney made it up ---I read in a recent interview he never learned proper finger technique, but John Lennon did.
Thanks for posting.

allthumbs · #9 January 17th, 2006

I knew some players that put baby powder on their hands to cut down string noise.

Kirk Lorange · #10 January 17th, 2006

Hi James. Don't be too hard on yourself. It's sounding pretty good to me ... 3 days is nothing. Even a year is not very long when it comes to become fluent on an instrument.

Sometimes it's the guitar itself that holds players back. If it's difficult to play, you won't progress as quickly. Are you happy with the playability of your guitar?

TAYLOR310CE · #11 January 17th, 2006

Im very happy with my guitar . The action is low and the neck is somewhat like a electric guitar neck. I use meduim gauge strings. I have played a couple of Taylors but I would not trade mine for anything.

Yeah I was real reluctant to post that but I guess its better to be brave than stupid. I mainly use a pick and play mostly older country from the Outlaw days of , Hank , Waylon, Willie, Merle, etc.. Also , like bluegrass=)

~James