Thursday December 18, 2008: Acoustic Rock DVD, Vocals

Acoustic Rock Guitar DVD:

• Figure 2a chord progression (Title 3, Chapter 3 on DVD)
• Figure 4 Solo #1 (Title 4, Chapter 2)
• Fig. 8a chord progression (Title 4, Chapter 6)
• Fig. 9a chord progression - Working with the capo (Title 4, Chapter 9)
• Fig. 9c chord progression - (Title 4, Chapter 11)
• Fig. 9d chord progression - Title 4, Chapter 12)
• Fig. 10c chord progression (Title 5, Chapter 4)

Vocals:

• Me and Bobby McGee
• Hey There Delilah x2
• Society x2

Monday December 14, 2008: Slide, Vocals, Scales

Slide:

• Feelin' Bad Blues x1
• Slidin' and Frettin' x2

Scales:

• Major Pentatonic, all 5 positions x2

Sunday December 7, 2008: Slide, Vocals

Slide:

• Feelin' Bad Blues - Ry Cooder
• Slidin' & Frettin'

Vocals & Rhythm:

• It Ain't Me Babe x2
• Me & Bobby McGee x2
• Hey There Delilah

Friday December 5, 2008: Slide, Vocals & Rhythm

Slide:

• Slidin' and Frettin' - David Hamburger
• Feelin' Bad Blues - Ry Cooder

Vocals & Rhythm:

• Hey There Delilah x6 (once with the track)
• Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain x2
• Me & Bobby McGee x2

Wednesday December 3, 2008: Slide, Vocals & Rhythm

Slide:

• Slidin' and Frettin' - David Hamburger
• Feelin' Bad Blues - Ry Cooder

Vocals & Rhythm:

• Hey There Delilah x2 (plus practice going from F#m to Bm)
• Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain x2
• Me & Bobby McGee

Wednesday November 26, 2008: Electric lead

Today's focus is electric lead. Goals include:

• pentatonic scales, both minor and major
• Riff Interactive - Blues Solo Riffs: Lesson 1, Blues solo in A

Accomplished:

• major pentatonic in A, up and down the neck, all positions
• minor pentatonic in A, up and down the neck, all positions
• integrate major and minor pentatonics in A, position 1
• Riff Interactive - Blues Solo Riffs: Lesson 1, Blues solo in A x4

Also:

• Under the Bridge

Tuesday November 25, 2008: A New Plan

Alright, my practice sessions have been all over the place lately, and that's partly because I haven't been logging anything. I see my last entry was over 20 days ago, but it was sketchy for some time before that. So, lately I've been doing a little of this and a little of that, pretty much every day. I'm thinking that the new plan is to pick one area to concentrate on per day. Obviously I will not be bound by that one area per day, but I feel I should concentrate on each day's focus first, get it out of the way, then be free to practice whatever I want.

Here are the basic areas:

• Singing with acoustic accompaniment
• Acoustic techniques: rhythm, lead
• Electric techniques: rhythm, lead
• Slide guitar

Today's focus is singing/acoustic accompaniment:

• Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain x2
• Hey There Delilah x2
• Society x2
• Me & Bobby McGee x2
• Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down x2
• In The News x2
• All Our Past Times x2 (having trouble hitting high notes in chorus)
• Long Black Veil x2
• It Ain't Me Babe x2
• Jealous Man x2

Tuesday November 4, 2008: Slidin' Like Ry

Learning Feelin' Bad Blues in open-D tuning has of course inspired me to open up the "Acoustic Guitar Slide Basics" (by David Hamburger) lesson-book again, so lately, in addition to Feelin' Bad Blues I've been doing a whole lot of:

• The Cover-up (p. 45 in nav-panel)
• Better Late Than Never (p. 48)
• Slidin' and Frettin' (p. 52)

Saturday October 25, 2008: Feelin' Bad Blues

Just retuned my electric-acoustic from the bizarre FFCCCC tuning for Chris Cornell's Seasons to Open D (DADF#AD) to work on slide technique again. Specifically, Feelin' Bad Blues by Ry Cooder:



Recently I've added a couple more songs to my list, and started work on an improved (a table on contents with links to each of the songs) document with all of the songs I attempt to sing. I'll have to see if I can post the document somehow.

Added songs:

• Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain - Fred Rose
• All Our Past Times - Eric Clapton and Rick Danko (not sure if they wrote it or not)

I also finally started to attempt to play lead solos on the electric along with blues jam tracks. So far I've just been noodling with the blues scale (minor pentatonic with blue notes) in the key of A. It's fun!

Thursday October 9, 2008

Learning 'Under The Bridge' by Red Hot Chile Peppers.

This instruction video is great:





The embedding has been disabled for this one with John Frusciante, but the video above looks almost the same as the real deal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQWmHeK-3CM


I've still been singing 'Hey There Delilah' and 'Society' fairly regularly, but neglecting all the other songs. Need to change that.

Been practicing the follwing almost every day:

"How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD:

• Figure 4 Solo 1 (Title 4, Chapter 2 on playlist)
• Figure 6 Solo 2 (Title 4, Chapter 4 on playlist) - still working on first half; can't play along at tempo yet.
• Figure 8a chord progression (Title 4, Chapter 6 on playlist) - Have the chord progression down pretty well, and most of the strumming pattern.

Friday October 3, 2008

Been playing pretty much every day. Mostly working on:

Songs:

• Hey There Delilah
• Society
• Pancho and Lefty
• Me and Bobby McGee

"How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD:

• Figure 4 Solo 1 (Title 4, Chapter 2 on playlist)
• Figure 6 Solo 2 (Title 4, Chapter 4 on playlist) - still working on first half; can't play along at tempo yet.
• Figure 8a chord progression (Title 4, Chapter 6 on playlist) - So far mainly working on the chord progression, with a bit of the proper strumming pattern.

Update: List of Songs I (try to) Sing

Added Hey There Deliliah by Plain White T's

Kris Kristofferson:

• To Beat The Devil - If I thought Little Boxes explained my outlook of our society fairly well, this one by Kris Kristofferson couldn't be more me if I wrote it myself (if only I had a fraction of Kristofferson's talents...). This page seems to have the same chords as the original.
• Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down - words and music by Kris Kristofferson. I don't think the chord progression I have works for me. Looking for another version. UPDATE: This webpage seems to have the appropriate chord progression, although the formatting has bumped some of the chord changes away from the correct positions.
• Me & Bobby McGee - I finally found the chord progression of Me and Bobby McGee that I feel sounds most like Kris Kristofferson's version. I would say "Kristofferson's original", but although he wrote it, the original performing/recording credits are generally given to Roger Miller or Gordon Lightfoot (according to wikipedia) .
• In The News - lyrics and music by Kristofferson. Lyrics can be found here. As you can see, that page claims the chorus is the verse that starts "Not in my name...", and I guess since it is the only verse that repeats completely with no change in lyrics (other than the intro/outro) I can see where they're coming from. However, based on my interpretation of the chord progression, there's nothing that musically distinguishes any of the verses in what could be viewed as a chorus. Of course, since my knowledge of musical composition is very close to zero, who am I to argue? Either way, I'm simply going to call them all verses. I think it's in the key of D, and I think the progression is as follows: Verses 1-2 and 8: D D - A D - D D - A D; verses 3-7: D G - A D - DG - A D.

Johnny Cash:

• It Ain't Me Babe - lyrics by Bob Dylan, but I sing the Johnny Cash cover version. It's a very simple song to sing; 4 chords right in my vocal range. This is the best lyrics/chord website I could find.
• I Walk The Line - lyrics and music by Johnny Cash. The March 2006 issue of Guitar World Acoustic has both the actual chords and tabs, copyright 1956 HOUSE OF CASH, INC. While I certainly know I can't scan the docs in and post them, I don't think I'd be in breach of copyright laws if I said it's in the key of A (I think), and contains 4 chords: A, B7, D and E. You'll have to figure out the progression from that!
• Long Black Veil - Lyrics and original music by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, but I'm doing the Johnny Cash (again) style. Here are the lyrics and chords.
• Port of Lonely Hearts - Lyrics and music by Johnny Cash (I think). Here are the lyrics; the chord progression is quite similar to Long Black Veil. I'll post my interpretation soon.
• Ring of Fire - Gotta post the website.

Hoyt Axton

• Della and the Dealer - Great song by Hoyt Axton. Lyrics and chords here.
• Jealous Man - Another song by Hoyt Axton (both of these songs were on that episode of WKRP). Here are the lyrics and chords, although I play in the key of G (I think, anyhow. Chords - G - C - D instead of C - F - G)

The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem

• The Moonshiner -
• The Real Old Mountain Dew - http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-songs-with-chords/Real%20Old%20Mountain%20Dew.htm
• Brennen On The Moor - http://www.itroubador.com/subPage/tunes/BrennanOnMoor2.htm
• Jug Of Punch - http://unitedireland.tripod.com/id57.html

Others:

• Pancho and Lefty - Townes Van Zandt. Lyrics and chords here. Note that I've transcribed it with the actual chord pitches, but if you detune all strings half a step, the chords go from C#-A♭-F#-B♭m to the simple chords D-A-G-Bm
• Life By The Drop - Written by Barbara Logan and Doyle Bramhall, but of course I'm doing Stevie Ray Vaughan's version. Acoustic Guitar magazine, July 2008. I'll try to write out the lyrics and chords at some point.
• Society - A song from Eddie Vedder's soundtrack from 'Into The Wild'. Lyrics, music, guitar and backing vocals: Jerry Hannon. Lead Vocals: Eddie Vedder.
• Little Boxes - Lyrics and chords by Malvina Reynolds. Great song that tells it like it is, at least in my opinion. I'll be back to link to a Youtube video.
• Bye Bye Love - Lyrics and chords. Not in the same key as the original by the Everly Brothers. haven't bothered to figure it out yet.
• Simple Man - lyrics and music by Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd). Again, I have the true tab sheet music from the August 2007 issue of Guitar World. Lately I've been spending all of my time just practicing the finger picking and not singing. I have a bit of difficulty attempting to hit some of the higher notes (in the chorus) in the same octave as Ronnie Van Zant, and that pisses me off! Again, hopefully this isn't a breach of copyright: guitar is standard tuning, but down half a step. Chords include C, G, Am7, A5.
• Hey There Delilah - Plain White T's. This may very well be the most beautiful love song ever written. Got the correct chords from this video, this page has lyrics and pretty much the correct placement of the chord changes, and this is a user's Plain White T's lyrics video.
• Over There - This isn't the classic 1917 song, but the theme for the shortlived television show of the same name. I thought it was a good program that showed many sides to the Iraq war, but I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it. Here are the lyrics, here is one interpretation of the tab, here's the Youtube video of the theme song (words, music and sung by Chris Gerolmo), and here's a Youtube video of a fan's interpretation and instruction.

This site has tons of songs to check out.

Thursday August 28, 2008

As always, haven't been logging, but have been practicing almost every day:



Songs:

• Me and Bobby McGee
• Sunday Morning Coming Down
• It Ain't Me Babe
• Long Black Veil
• Society
• Pancho and Lefty
• Life By The Drop

Fingerpicking riffs:

• Hunger Strike
• Seasons (Chris Cornell, bizarre tuning of FFCCCC)
• Simple Man
• messed around with the Pink Floyd's Brain Damage a bit

Acoustic Lead:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Basic Soloing Fig. 4 Solo 1, but also a few of the other lessons

Electric fun:

• Riff Interactive: Stevie Ray Vaughan lessons. Still working on Lesson 1, part 1.
• Riff Interactive: Angus Young lessons. Lesson 1 (all).
• Riff Interactive: Blues Solo Riffs, Lesson 1, solo in A

Today:

Electric:

• Riff Interactive: Angus Young lessons. Lesson 1, rhythm riff.

Acoustic:

• Major scale in E (standard tuning, down half a step for better vocal range - I can pretty much do the two octaves of E, which, according to wikipedia, is pretty much the range for baritone), positions 1,2,

Update: List of Songs I (try to) Sing

Kris Kristofferson:

• To Beat The Devil - If I thought Little Boxes explained my outlook of our society fairly well, this one by Kris Kristofferson couldn't be more me if I wrote it myself (if only I had a fraction of Kristofferson's talents...). This page seems to have the same chords as the original.
• Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down - words and music by Kris Kristofferson. I don't think the chord progression I have works for me. Looking for another version. UPDATE: This webpage seems to have the appropriate chord progression, although the formatting has bumped some of the chord changes away from the correct positions.
• Me & Bobby McGee - I finally found the chord progression of Me and Bobby McGee that I feel sounds most like Kris Kristofferson's version. I would say "Kristofferson's original", but although he wrote it, the original performing/recording credits are generally given to Roger Miller or Gordon Lightfoot (according to wikipedia) .
• In The News - lyrics and music by Kristofferson. Lyrics can be found here. As you can see, that page claims the chorus is the verse that starts "Not in my name...", and I guess since it is the only verse that repeats completely with no change in lyrics (other than the intro/outro) I can see where they're coming from. However, based on my interpretation of the chord progression, there's nothing that musically distinguishes any of the verses in what could be viewed as a chorus. Of course, since my knowledge of musical composition is very close to zero, who am I to argue? Either way, I'm simply going to call them all verses. I think it's in the key of D, and I think the progression is as follows: Verses 1-2 and 8: D D - A D - D D - A D; verses 3-7: D G - A D - DG - A D.

Johnny Cash:

• It Ain't Me Babe - lyrics by Bob Dylan, but I sing the Johnny Cash cover version. It's a very simple song to sing; 4 chords right in my vocal range. This is the best lyrics/chord website I could find.
• I Walk The Line - lyrics and music by Johnny Cash. The March 2006 issue of Guitar World Acoustic has both the actual chords and tabs, copyright 1956 HOUSE OF CASH, INC. While I certainly know I can't scan the docs in and post them, I don't think I'd be in breach of copyright laws if I said it's in the key of A (I think), and contains 4 chords: A, B7, D and E. You'll have to figure out the progression from that!
• Long Black Veil - Lyrics and original music by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, but I'm doing the Johnny Cash (again) style. Here are the lyrics and chords.
• Port of Lonely Hearts - Lyrics and music by Johnny Cash (I think). Here are the lyrics; the chord progression is quite similar to Long Black Veil. I'll post my interpretation soon.
• Ring of Fire - Gotta post the website.

Hoyt Axton

• Della and the Dealer - Great song by Hoyt Axton. Lyrics and chords here.
• Jealous Man - Another song by Hoyt Axton (both of these songs were on that episode of WKRP). Here are the lyrics and chords, although I play in the key of G (I think, anyhow. Chords - G - C - D instead of C - F - G)

The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem

• The Moonshiner -
• The Real Old Mountain Dew - http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-songs-with-chords/Real%20Old%20Mountain%20Dew.htm
• Brennen On The Moor - http://www.itroubador.com/subPage/tunes/BrennanOnMoor2.htm
• Jug Of Punch - http://unitedireland.tripod.com/id57.html

Others:

• Pancho and Lefty - Townes Van Zandt. Lyrics and chords here. Note that I've transcribed it with the actual chord pitches, but if you detune all strings half a step, the chords go from C#-A♭-F#-B♭m to the simple chords D-A-G-Bm
• Life By The Drop - Written by Barbara Logan and Doyle Bramhall, but of course I'm doing Stevie Ray Vaughan's version. Acoustic Guitar magazine, July 2008. I'll try to write out the lyrics and chords at some point.
• Society - A song from Eddie Vedder's soundtrack from 'Into The Wild'. Lyrics, music, guitar and backing vocals: Jerry Hannon. Lead Vocals: Eddie Vedder.
• Little Boxes - Lyrics and chords by Malvina Reynolds. Great song that tells it like it is, at least in my opinion. I'll be back to link to a Youtube video.
• Bye Bye Love - Lyrics and chords. Not in the same key as the original by the Everly Brothers. haven't bothered to figure it out yet.
• Simple Man - lyrics and music by Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd). Again, I have the true tab sheet music from the August 2007 issue of Guitar World. Lately I've been spending all of my time just practicing the finger picking and not singing. I have a bit of difficulty attempting to hit some of the higher notes (in the chorus) in the same octave as Ronnie Van Zant, and that pisses me off! Again, hopefully this isn't a breach of copyright: guitar is standard tuning, but down half a step. Chords include C, G, Am7, A5.
• Over There - This isn't the classic 1917 song, but the theme for the shortlived television show of the same name. I thought it was a good program that showed many sides to the Iraq war, but I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it. Here are the lyrics, here is one interpretation of the tab, here's the Youtube video of the theme song (words, music and sung by Chris Gerolmo), and here's a Youtube video of a fan's interpretation and instruction.

This site has tons of songs to check out.

Wednesday August 13, 2008: Update to practice log

I've been practicing regularly (almost every day, at least 15 min, sometimes more than an hour), but haven't been logging. I have primarily been continuing to work on:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Basic Soloing Fig. 4 Solo 1, but also a few of the other lessons
• Riff Interactive Stevie Ray Vaughan Lesson 1, Part 1 - Rhythm Guitar

And mostly the following songs:

• Me and Bobby McGee
• Sunday Morning Coming Down
• Pancho and Lefty
• Long Black Veil
• It Ain't Me Babe
• Life By The Drop (from Acoustic Guitar magazine, July 2008)
• Just started working on Society (chords) from Eddie Vedder's soundtrack for 'Into The Wild':

Wednesday July 16, 2008

Acoustic & Vocals:

• Pancho & Lefty x3 (w/ record)
• Me & Bobby McGee x2
• It Ain't Me Babe

Tuesday July 15, 2008

Yesterday:

Acoustic:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Figures 1 through 7.

Acoustic & Vocals:

• Me & Bobby McGee
• It Ain't Me Babe

Today:

Acoustic:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD.

Acoustic & Vocals:

• Pancho & Lefty (along with Townes VZ) x3
• Sunday Morning Coming Down (w/ K. Kristofferson) x2

Sunday July 13, 2008

Acoustic:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Basic Soloing Fig. 4 Solo 1, playing along with the rhythm on the DVD.

Acoustic & Vocals:

• Me and Bobby McGee
• Long Black Veil
• It Ain't Me Babe

Friday July 11, 2008

Acoustic:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Basic Soloing Fig. 4 Solo 1, playing along with the rhythm on the DVD. Started working on Solo 2 as well.
• Slide: Muddy's Blues

Tuesday July 1, 2008: Acoustic solo,

Acoustic:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Basic Soloing Fig. 4 Solo 1, playing along with the rhythm on the DVD. Started working on Solo 2 as well.
• Simple Man finger picking.

Monday June 30, 2008: Acoustic solo

Acoustic:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Basic Soloing Fig. 4 Solo 1, playing along with the rhythm on the DVD. Started working on Solo 2 as well.

Electric:

• Riff Interactive Blues Solo Riffs, along with the accompanying Blues Rhythm Riffs. Working on Part 1, the lead and rhythm in A
• Riff Interactive - Brian Setzer Style, Lesson 1, first exercise.

Sunday June 29, 2008: Acoustic solo

Acoustic:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Basic Soloing Fig. 4 Solo 1, playing along with the rhythm on the DVD. Started working on Solo 2 as well.

Friday June 27, 2008: Brian Setzer, Vocals, Acoustic Solo

Electric Lead:

• Riff Interactive - Brian Setzer Style, Lesson 1, first exercise.

Acoustic:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Basic Soloing Fig. 4 Solo 1.

Guitar and Vocals:

• It Ain't Me Babe
• Long Black Veil
• Della and the Dealer
• Jealous Man
• To Beat the Devil
• Little Boxes
• The Whistling Gypsy Rover
• The Moonshiner
• The Real Old Mountain Dew

Wednesday June 25, 2008

Electric Lead:

• Riff Interactive Blues Solo Riffs, along with the accompanying Blues Rhythm Riffs. Working on Part 1, the lead and rhythm in A

Guitar and Vocals:

• Learning Hey There Delilah (Plain White T's) from this video:

Tuesday June 24, 2008: Back to logging

It's been ages since I last logged my practice sessions. I've been fairly busy with the acoustic though, mostly working on a solo from a How-to DVD, although i have been singing a bit too. Still having some difficulty with some of the barre chords, but getting better. Major breakthrough with this DVD though. Haven't touched the electric in ages, and it's been at least a month since doing any slide.

Electric Lead:

• Riff Interactive Blues Solo Riffs, along with the accompanying Blues Rhythm Riffs. Working on Part 1, the lead and rhythm in A

Acoustic:

• "How to Play Acoustic Rock Guitar" DVD. Basic Soloing Fig. 4 Solo 1.

Guitar and Vocals:

• Me and Bobby McGee
• Pancho and Lefty

Friday April 11, 2008: Vocals & Rhythm

Vocals & Rhythm - standard tuning down-tuned 1/2 step:

• Pancho and Lefty

Thursday April 10, 2008: Vocals & Rhythm, Slide

Vocals & Rhythm:

• Pancho and Lefty x1. Considering downtuning half a step so I can use open chords but still stay in same key as the original.

Wednesday April 9, 2008: Vocals & Rhythm, Slide

Vocals & Rhythm:

• Pancho & Lefty x1, still completely hand-busting.

Slide:

• Muddy's Blues

Back to Rhythm and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil

Tuesday April 8, 2008: Vocals and Rhythm, Slide

Vocals and Rhythm:

• Pancho and Lefty 1x before barre chords caused pain in left hand. Took 2 ibuprofin; will see if I can do more later.

Slide (Open G):

• Muddy's Blues
• Three Note Jump
• 2 Chord Draw
• From 12 to 7
• Transposin' and Tumbling

Saturday April 5, 2008: Proper Pancho & Lefty chords

Found this page for the song in the key of D, which appears to be sharp by one semitone. When I transcribe it into C♯ I can play along with the original by Townes Van Zant.

C♯
Living on the road, my friend,
A♭
Was gonna keep you free and clean,
F♯
Now you wear your skin like iron,
    C♯                        A♭
And your breath's as hard as kerosene.
F♯
You weren't your mama's only boy,
        C♯               F♯
But her favorite one it seems
C♯                                     F♯   C♯   A♭
She began to cry when you said goodbye,
F♯                         B♭m                              
And sank into your dreams.                      
                                                              
C♯                                                           
Pancho was a bandit boys,                        
A♭                                                            
His horse was fast as polished steel.
F♯
Wore his gun outside his pants
C♯                  A♭
For all the honest world to feel.
F♯
Pancho met his match, you know,
      C♯               F♯
On the deserts down in Mexico. 
    C♯                   F♯  C♯   A♭
Nobody heard his dying words,
F♯                            B♭m  
Ah, but that's the way it goes.

F♯
All the Federales say
C♯                       F♯
They could have had him any day,
C♯                      F♯   C♯   A♭
They only let him hang around
F♯                        B♭m   
  Out of kindness, I suppose

C♯
Lefty, he can't sing the blues
A♭
All night long like he used to.
F♯
The dust that Pancho bit down south
C♯           A♭
Ended up in Lefty's mouth.
F♯
The day they laid poor Pancho low,
C♯               F♯
Lefty split for Ohio
C♯                       F♯      C♯   A♭
Where he got the bread to go,
F♯                       B♭m  
There ain't nobody knows

F♯
All the Federales say
C♯                      F♯
They could have had him any day,
C♯                       F♯    C♯   A♭
They only let him slip a - way
F♯                       B♭m
  Out of kindness, I suppose

Solo (3:10)

C♯
Well the poets tell how Pancho fell,
A♭
And Lefty's living in a cheap hotel.
F♯
The desert's quiet, and Cleveland's cold,
C♯                A♭
So the story ends we're told.
F♯
Pancho needs your prayers, it's true,
C♯                  F♯
But save a few for Lefty too.
C♯                          F♯   C♯  A♭
He just did what he had to do,
F♯                        B♭m  
And now he's growing old

F♯
A few gray Federales say
C♯                      F♯
They could have had him any day,
C♯                       F♯   C♯  A♭
They only let him go so wrong
F♯                         B♭m    
  Out of kindness, I suppose

F♯
A few gray Federales say
C♯                          F♯
They could have had them any day,
C♯                   F♯  C♯   A♭
We only let 'em go so wrong
F♯                           B♭m
  Out of kindness, I suppose

F♯ C♯

 

Gotta figure out this intro (is there a C♯sus2 chord??):

Intro:
   Dsus2
e:-----0-----------0-----------0------|
B:-------3---3-------3---3-------3---3|
G:---2-----2-----2-----2-----2-----2--| Repeat
D:-0-----------0-----------0----------|
A:------------------------------------|
E:------------------------------------|

Monday March 31, 2008: Vocal, Rhythm

Rhythm & Vocals:

• Long Black Veil x2

Rhythm:

• Creation Science 101

Saturday March 29, 2008: Slide, Rhythm

Slide:

• Muddy's Blues

Vocals and Rhythm:

• Ron Zimmerman's 'Creation Science 101':

Friday March 28, 2008: Slide

Slide Guitar: Acoustic Slide Basics (David Hamburger): In open-D.

• Cucina Blues
• Steady Now
• Off-beat Blues
• The Cover Up
• Better Late Than Never
• Slidin' and Frettin'

Retune to open-G:

• From 12 to 7
• Transposin' and Tumblin'
• 3 Note Jump
• 2 Chord Draw
• Lessons from pages 57-59
• Blue Note Special
• Muddy's Blues
  

Thursday March 27, 2008: Electric (lead), Vocals, Slide

Lead Guitar:

• Minor Pentatonic/Blues Scale in A, all positions 3x.
• Riff Interactive Blues Solo Riffs: Lesson 1, final part in A. More pentatonic patterns in A.
• Solo in A with jam track at 64% tempo.

Slide Guitar: Acoustic Slide Basics (David Hamburger): In open-D.

• Cucina Blues
• Steady Now
• Off-beat Blues
• The Cover Up
• Better Late Than Never
• Slidin' and Frettin'

Wednesday March 26, 2008: Electric, Vocals, Slide

Guitar:

• Minor Pentatonic/Blues Scale in A, all positions 3x.
• Riff Interactive Blues Solo Riffs: Lesson 1, final part in A. More pentatonic patterns in A. Solo in A

Guitar and Vocals:

• Whistling Gypsy
• Little Boxes
• Pancho and Lefty

Slide Guitar: Acoustic Slide Basics (David Hamburger): In open-D.

• Cucina Blues
• Steady Now
• Off-beat Blues
• The Cover Up
• Better Late Than Never

Tuesday March 25, 2008

Slide Guitar: Acoustic Slide Basics (David Hamburger):
Starting in open-G.

• Cucina Blues
• Steady Now
• Off-beat Blues
• From 12 to 7
• Transposin' and Tumblin'
• Three Note Jump
• Two Chord Draw

Switching to open-D.

• first lessons
• The Cover Up

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil x2
• Jealous Man x4
• Me and Bobby McGee x2
• Della and the Dealer x2
• It Ain't Me Babe x2
• Sunday Morning Comin' Down x2
• Pancho and Lefty x2
• I Walk the Line x2
• The Whistling Gypsy x4
• Little Boxes x2

Monday March 24, 2008

Slide Guitar:

• Acoustic Slide Basics (David Hamburger): All tunes up till (and including) "Two Chord Draw".

Sunday March 23, 2008: Slide Guitar

Now that I'm playing the full-body acoustic for standard type playing again (back still not too sore as long as I take appropriate breaks) I've decided to use the acoustic-electric for alternate tunings for slide guitar.



Slide Guitar:

• Acoustic Slide Basics (David Hamburger): All tunes up till (and including) "Two Chord Draw". Will stay in Open-G for at least one more day since I can do the single-string melodies that are in Open-D at the beginning of the book in Open-G. Want to refresh my memory of these simple tunes at least one more day before changing to Open-D and moving on to "The Cover Up"

Tuesday March 18, 2008: Time to plug in again.

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", lesson 1 (solo in A) for around 30 minutes x2.

Thursday March 13, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Pancho and Lefty x4. Just started learning this one. Closest chords I have found so far are here. The progression seems correct, but it must not be in the same key cuz I can't play along with the recording.
• Long Black Veil
• Me and Bobby McGee

Monday March 10, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive - Picking & Strumming, Lesson 3, final part.

Guitar & Vocals:

• Me and Bobby McGee
• Long Black Veil
  

Wednesday March 5, 2008

Guitar & Vocals:

• Long Black Veil
• Me and Bobby McGee
• I Walk The Line x2
• It Ain't Me Babe

Guitar

• Riff Interactive - Picking & Strumming, Lesson 3, mostly the final part.

Monday March 3, 2008

Guitar & Vocals:

• Long black Veil x2
• Me and Bobby McGee
• Sunday Morning Comin' Down
• In The News
• Della and the Dealer
• Jealous Man
• Little Boxes

Sunday March 2, 2008

Guitar & Vocals:

• Long Black Veil x3
• It Ain't Me Babe x2
• Me and Bobby McGee x2
• Sunday Morning Comin' Down x3

Friday February 29, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive Picking & Strumming module: Most of lessons 1, 2 and 3

Thursday February 28, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil x2
• In The News x2
• Della and the Dealer x2
• Me and Bobby McGee x2
• Sunday Morning Comin' Down
• In The News x2

Guitar:

• worked on changing from C/G to F chord and back for about 45 minutes.

Sunday February 24, 2008

Forgot to log this yesterday.

Guitar and Vocals:

• In The News x2
• Della and the Dealer x2
• Long Black Veil x2
• Me and Bobby McGee x2
• Sunday Morning Comin' Down
• In The News x2
• It Ain't Me Babe x2

Saturday February 23, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Della and the Dealer x2
• Jealous Man x2
• Long Black Veil x2
• Me and Bobby McGee
• Sunday Morning Comin' Down
• In The News x2
• To Beat the Devil x3

Tuesday February 19th, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Della and the Dealer x2
• Jealous Man x2
• Long Black Veil x2
• Me and Bobby McGee
• It Ain't Me Babe

Friday February 15, 2008

Guitar:

• Double-stop lesson from Acoustic Guitar # 181, examples 1-5 for around 20 minutes (mostly #5)

Tuesday February 12, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Jealous Man x2
• Della and the Dealer x2
• Me and Bobby McGee x2
• Long Black Veil x2
• Sunday Morning Comin' Down x2
• It Ain't Me Babe x2

Sunday February 10, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Jealous Man x2
• Long Black Veil
• Della and the Dealer x3
• It Ain't Me Babe x2

Thursday February 7, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil x2
• Me and Bobby McGee
• Della and the Dealer x3

Wednesday February 6, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil x2
• Me and Bobby McGee x2
• Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down x2
• Little Boxes

Tuesday February 5, 2008

Been a couple days since I touched a guitar, but I definitely played a bit since the last entry but didn't record it.

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil x2
• Della and the Dealer x5

Friday February 1, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Picking and Strumming Patterns", all of lesson 2 (45 min or so).

Wednesday January 30, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Picking and Strumming Patterns", all of lesson 2 (45 min or so).

Guitar and Vocals:

• Della and the Dealer x5

Updated List of Songs I (try to) Sing

Kris Kristofferson:

• To Beat The Devil - If I thought Little Boxes explained my outlook of our society fairly well, this one by Kris Kristofferson couldn't be more me if I wrote it myself (if only I had a fraction of Kristofferson's talents...). This page seems to have the same chords as the original.
• Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down - words and music by Kris Kristofferson. I don't think the chord progression I have works for me. Looking for another version. UPDATE: This webpage seems to have the appropriate chord progression, although the formatting has bumped some of the chord changes away from the correct positions.
• Me & Bobby McGee - I finally found the chord progression of Me and Bobby McGee that I feel sounds most like Kris Kristofferson's version! I would say "Kristofferson's original", but although he wrote it, the original performing/recording credits are generally given to Roger Miller or Gordon Lightfoot (according to wikipedia) .
• In The News - lyrics and music by Kristofferson. Lyrics can be found here. As you can see, that page claims the chorus is the verse that starts "Not in my name...", and I guess since it is the only verse that repeats completely with no change in lyrics (other than the intro/outro) I can see where they're coming from. However, based on my interpretation of the chord progression, there's nothing that musically distinguishes any of the verses in what could be viewed as a chorus. Of course, since my knowledge of musical composition is very close to zero, who am I to argue? Either way, I'm simply going to call them all verses. I think it's in the key of D, and I think the progression is as follows: Verses 1-2 and 8: D D - A D - D D - A D; verses 3-7: D G - A D - DG - A D.

Johnny Cash:

• It Ain't Me Babe - lyrics by Bob Dylan, but I sing the Johnny Cash cover version. It's a very simple song to sing; 4 chords right in my vocal range. This is the best lyrics/chord website I could find.
• I Walk The Line - lyrics and music by Johnny Cash. The March 2006 issue of Guitar World Acoustic has both the actual chords and tabs, copyright 1956 HOUSE OF CASH, INC. While I certainly know I can't scan the docs in and post them, I don't think I'd be in breach of copyright laws if I said it's in the key of A (I think), and contains 4 chords: A, B7, D and E. You'll have to figure out the progression from that!
• Long Black Veil - Lyrics and original music by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, but I'm doing the Johnny Cash (again) style. Here are the lyrics and chords.
• Port of Lonely Hearts - Lyrics and music by Johnny Cash (I think). Here are the lyrics; the chord progression is quite similar to Long Black Veil. I'll post my interpretation soon.
• Ring of Fire - Gotta post the website.

The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem

• The Moonshiner -
• The Real Old Mountain Dew - http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/folk-songs-with-chords/Real%20Old%20Mountain%20Dew.htm
• Brennen On The Moor - http://www.itroubador.com/subPage/tunes/BrennanOnMoor2.htm
• Jug Of Punch - http://unitedireland.tripod.com/id57.html

Others:

• Little Boxes - Lyrics and chords by Malvina Reynolds. Great song that tells it like it is, at least in my opinion. I'll be back to link to a Youtube video.
• Simple Man - lyrics and music by Ronnie Van Zant and Gary Rossington (Lynyrd Skynyrd). Again, I have the true tab sheet music from the August 2007 issue of Guitar World. Lately I've been spending all of my time just practicing the finger picking and not singing. I have a bit of difficulty attempting to hit some of the higher notes (in the chorus) in the same octave as Ronnie Van Zant, and that pisses me off! Again, hopefully this isn't a breach of copyright: guitar is standard tuning, but down half a step. Chords include C, G, Am7, A5.
• Della and the Dealer - Great song by Hoyt Axton. Lyrics and chords here.
• Over There - This isn't the classic 1917 song, but the theme for the shortlived television show of the same name. I thought it was a good program that showed many sides to the Iraq war, but I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it. Here are the lyrics, here is one interpretation of the tab, here's the Youtube video of the theme song (words, music and sung by Chris Gerolmo), and here's a Youtube video of a fan's interpretation and instruction.

This site has tons of songs to check out.

Monday January 28, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Picking and Strumming Patterns", parts of lesson 2 in both Em and E

Guitar and Vocals:

• Sunday Morning Comin' Down
• To Beat The Devil

Sunday January 27, 2008

Sang a few songs yesterday and did part of Riff Interactive Picking Lesson 2.


Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Picking and Strumming Patterns", parts of lesson 2 in both Em and E

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil (gripping too tight on this one, busting hand out. Gotta loosen fret hand)
• Sunday Morning Comin' Down x3 - capo on first fret.

Friday January 25, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Picking and Strumming Patterns, lesson 2 (first half, in Em)

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil

Thursday January 24, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil
• It Ain't Me Babe
• Me and Bobby McGee

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", lesson 1 (solo in A) for around 30 minutes.
• Riff Interactive "Picking and Strumming Patterns, lesson 1 once through (around 30 minutes)

Wednesday January 23, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil x2

Guitar:

• Major Pentatonic Scale in A, all five positions up and down the neck, 10x each.

Monday January 21, 2008

Guitar:

• Minor Pentatonic Scale in A, each position up and down the neck 10x

Saturday January 19, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", lesson 1 (solo in A) for around 20 minutes.
• Major Pentatonic Scale in A, all five positions 10x each

Monday January 14, 2008

Guitar:

• Double-stop lesson from Acoustic Guitar # 181, examples 1-5 for around 20 minutes (mostly #5)

Saturday January 12, 2008

Guitar:

• Double-stop lesson from Acoustic Guitar # 181, examples 1-5 for around 30 minutes (mostly #5)

Friday January 11, 2008

Guitar:

• Major Pentatonic Scale in A: all positions 10x
• finger tips too sore to continue

Thursday January 10, 2008

Guitar:

• Major Pentatonic Scale in A: all positions 10x
• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", lesson 1 (solo in A) for around 45 minutes

Wednesday January 9, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", lesson 1 (solo in A) for around 45 minutes in the afternoon, then another 40 minutes or so in the evening.

Monday January 7, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", lesson 1 (solo in A) for around 30 minutes.

Sunday January 6, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", lesson 1 (solo in A) for around 10 minutes.

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil


• Me and Bobby McGee

Saturday January 5, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", lesson 1 (solo in A) for around 30 minutes
• Hunger Strike finger picking on the electric, attempting to mute strings with right hand (not successful at this point!).

Friday January 4, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", lesson 1 (solo in A) for around 15 minutes starting around 9:30 am. Again for around 15 minutes at midnight.
• Sunshine of Your Love intro riff for 10 minutes or so.

Guitar and Vocals:

• Little Boxes x2
• Long Black Veil x2

Thursday January 3, 2008

Guitar:

• Riff Interactive "Blues Solo Riffs", parts of lesson 1 (solo in C, solo in A) and lesson 3 (solo in Em) on and off through the day and evening.

Wednesday January 2, 2008

Guitar and Vocals:

• Long Black Veil
• It Ain't Me Babe
• Little Boxes
• Sunday Morning Coming Down

-voice is off today, so enough of that.

Guitar:

• Simple Man finger picking
• Hunger Strike finger picking

Tuesday January 1, 2008

Lead Guitar:

• Riff Interactive 'Blues Solo Riffs', Lesson 1 for over an hour