Alright everyone. Here go's. I want to thank Hank first for being in charge of this for so long and it being a big part of my regular play when I first started out. Being able to have something you can see yourself progress at over time gives you confidence and motivation to continue with and grow your passion. So, I couldn't bare see this not be a regular thing. Another thing that helps you a great deal is recording yourself and posting it for us to see. This is another great tool in growing as a mandolist. It'll help you build confidence in playing in front of others out there in the real world when it comes to jam time. I'm going to mix it up a bit and break away from traditional songs for my first TOM. We are going with Heart of Gold by Neil Young . As a newbie, sometimes it helps with songs we might be super familiar with and get more comfortable playing the mandolin. I'll be mixing it up with traditional TOM songs and ones that make you think outside of the box. But since this is a Newbies group, I'll always keep that in mind So, don't panic. There is a great lesson from Rock&Pop Mandolin that has gotten me hooked with playing rock songs. I've included the link to that lesson, the song itself, info about the song and even Jonny Cash playing it. It's in the key of G or Em Hope you enjoy and please post your performances. I'll be posting mine at the end of the month Lesson Song Jonny Cash version Song facts Lyrics Ellsdemon
P.S. If someone could tell me how to embed the videos to the post, I'd appreciate that. That way you don't have tabs opening up everywhere
testing video button OK what I did was to copy the address url for the video to the pastboard, Then when I was ready to insert the video, I positioned the editting cursor where I wanted the video to appear. Then I hit the video button - the one that looks kinda like railroad tracks or two frames of 35mm film. Paste the url you copied into the blank and hit OK. This will put the correct bbcodes into the body of the text. You probably won't be able see the actual video until you save the post. Embedding videos is a sore point with our software but if you fiddle around with doing it, you get the hang of it. There are other ways to do it, but I think this is the officially sanctioned method.
Thanks a lot for stepping in, Ellsdemon, and I like you shaking it up a bit. I hope to do this one justice!
Thanks Hank and bbcee. Hope everyone enjoys it.
Great choice! I’m totally going to learn this one.
I figured you'd be all over this one, Don. Are you planning to add any harmonica?
Yeah when the guy in the video was talking about playing the harmonica part on the mandolin I was thinking heck no, I’ll cheat and use the harp I’m just trying to decide whether to play it straight harp (G) which I suspect Neil did, or cross harp (C) which works fine and is what I usually default to on most songs. I just tried both and all the notes are there for either option.
We play this nearly every gig, my duo partner on guitar and harmonica with me on mandolin
The chords are really easy and the little picking riffs are pretty easy too. The right hand is the most challenging part. The video from RPM does a great job with each of the pieces of the song but doesn’t tie it all together as a whole so it will take a few days to make it a song. Mark you should post up a video of you guys playing it if you have one, it would be great to see (hear) it.
Here's a backing track with just drums & bass that I found on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJb0PNXz9RI
Thanks Jeff, that's a big help. You've got a good point NDO, it takes a bit to tie it togehter
In case it helps string together the three segments from the video lesson in proper order, here’s what I hear: Intro progression 2x Verse progression 3x with harmonica Intro progression 1x Verse progression 3x with vocals (verse 1) Chorus progression 2x with vocals (chorus) Verse progression 3x with harmonica Intro progression 1x Verse progression 3x with vocals (verse 2) Chorus progression 2x with vocals (chorus) Verse progression 3x with harmonica Intro progression 3x with vocals and no riff (bridge) Chorus progression 1x with vocals <end> And I think some of the leading Em’s could be Em7s on intro and chorus.
Hey NDO thanks, that is really helpful! You'd think after hearing this song a million times I'd know it by heart but having the format laid out really helps when nobody is singing or playing harp. I think you need to add a 3x on the 2nd to last line (Intro progression with vocals and no riff.)
You’re right Jeff, I included it in my mind and didn’t write it down
That's a lot fewer mistakes than when I write stuff down. When it comes to music, my left and right brains both attack it, but they don't communicate to each other. Comedy ensues.
That progression is really helpful
Holy cow. I was right, all the challenge is in the right hand. That, and the second and third harp breaks are tougher to remember than the first one everyone has stuck in their head (at least I do). I keep messing up my mandolin playing when I try to play those harp parts. I haven’t gotten it solid yet but I thought it might help us all get the timing figured out if I posted a mid-process progress video. I found it a little challenging to line up the strumming and the vocals and harps. This still has a lot of mistakes so I’ll post a better version in a week or two. https://youtu.be/uj3UDO53X6I
Really good, NDO! Playing two instruments at once (or singing while playing) is way more than twice as hard as doing either alone. I play a little harp but I'm never going to go for the neck brace (or whatever it's called.)
BTW, I see all the tutorial videos do the walk-down at the end of the chorus, and sure, it makes sense and sounds good. But, listen carefully to the original: do you hear that? I think I almost do but not quite. For one thing, I think it varies a bit. For another, I can (sometimes?) clearly hear one of the walk down notes but not the other. I suspect that what's going on is that most instruments are not walking, some are doing one of the steps, and (maybe) one is playing all four notes but is very low in the mix. Personally, I like the third note to be "played" as a rest, used as punctuation. One of the things I notice about the best musicians is that sometimes, the best notes they play are the ones that they don't. (Not quite but a little bit like the Miles Davis quote, "Think of a note ... then don't play it!") The last few decades for me have been struggling to play fewer notes, and trying to make it so the ones I do play are the important ones. Also, there's something good musicians call "push" -- when they emphasize a part. I confess I don't know quite how it's done, though I can often hear it. But I think there's also something we might call "pull", where an intentional silence has an almost percussive effect.
Well done, NDO! Thanks for the video, that helps me a great deal with putting it together. There's no way I'm throwing my hat into the ring with a harmonic. Hope others are enjoying this tune this month and are thinking of posting a version of their own. I'll have next month's (May #2) up a bit early as I'll be in St Augustine for a Billy Strings concert. I'll have mine up before I leave on Friday, that's if I remember how to pay videos. Ellsdemon.
NDO, that's all the pieces, all put together into a neat little package.
Good job, NDO!
Defiantly not NDO's quality and off of memory and throw some sloppy picking and you've got me version.
Nice job, Otto! Sounds good. I like the strength of those chords.
I can’t see that video on my phone, can you include a URL link so it’s accessible from an iPhone?
I don't even see a link to Ellsdemon's version.I'm on a laptop, not a phone.
@sue and NDO the youtube link https://youtu.be/mtJE6we10PQ
That link just took me to the RPM instructional video. I was looking for Ellsdemon’s version.
Here it is: https://vimeo.com/704323780?embedded...owner=46979634
Thanks Hank! Way to go Otto, I never tried doing the solo on the mando because I had an easy cheat available with the harps. Sounded good, just maybe a touch on the fast side!
Just had a chance to hear these, bravo! to Don & Otto!
I finally got around to recording a slightly better copy…still not quite clean but it’ll take a lot more repetitions to get it much better, and it’s time to start working on Amazing Grace. https://youtu.be/i4QUNizhA1I
