what are you learning/practising currently?

racefaceec90

i have decided to finally try and learn a song by one of my all-time fav guitarists steve rothery (a big marillion fan also). have never even tried to learn anything by him yet for some strange reason. so, attempting to learn easter as it is one of my fav marillion and steve songs. i have been spending the past 3-4 hours trying to learn the opening to the song and can sort of do it now (not very well) but was chuffed with a couple of my attempts.

i have attempted the solo in the past (not the whole thing you understand just the beginning) and that will def take me a long time to try and get play (especially the sweep bit he does i don't do sweeps at all apart from sweeping a floor etc). but the whole track will def be a challenge for me but will be worth it for sure if i can even muddle my way through it. 

am also trying to learn time stands still by rush and am starting to get there but that middle section that alex lifeson repeats about 20 odd times i cannot do (it's quite a tricky thing for me to do atm). i hope to get there eventually though. 

i must add that my covers are nothing like how the artists play them just my hack attempts lol. i do play things differently when i do a cover (i find ways to play something if i find it too hard to try to play what they did if you know what i mean?) 





     

fretmeister

In a bid to get out of a rut I bought the Levi Clay Beginners Country book.

Only just got it but it seems well put together. Hopefully it will do the trick.

Give it 2 weeks and that Danny Gatton stuff will be easy.... [/lie mode]

CoffeeAndTV

Learning Charlie Parker and Dizzy heads at the moment.

loving every minute.   

thecolourbox

I'm trying to get to a point where I can play through as much of Jeff Buckley Live in Chicago as I can, though not necessarily note for note (there are two guitarists) but enough that I could pull it off. Trying to do the singing as well but if I were to do it myself, I'd need to tune down a tone in order to do a better job.

More specifically detailed, I'm trying to do Lover You Should Have Come Over in his solo "cafe" style, with vocals, like the Sine version but the song structure as it is on Grace rather than the earlier version on the Sine album.

None of that really involves solos or tricky riffs, but just good chord voicing and dynamics I guess.

Oh and on piano I'm learning Brahms Intermezzo in B♭ minor, which is nice

Keefy

Re-learning a 2-hour set of Dire Straits songs, on bass for 27th (Camp & Furnace, Liverpool), and on rhythm guitar for 28th (The Barn, Ringwood).

Also learning some new numbers on guitar for my rockabilly band:
- The Chicken and the Hawk (Big Joe Turner)
- Tear It Up (Johnny Burnette)
- Boppin’ the Blues (Carl Perkins)

Supportact

Interesting one, at two different extremes really:

On Classical guitar I'm trying to learn Vivaldi's Concerto in D Major, Largo. 

With the band, although we play original material we've started playing 'Need Your Love So Bad ' (Peter Green's one). So trying to play the intro solo and chords. 

Both deceptive in that they don't look really complicated,  but it's playing them with feeling that's the thing. They're both immensely emotional in different ways. Obviously,  also I'm never going to play like Peter Geen, I'm not fit to restring his Les Paul...

thecolourbox

Supportact said:

Interesting one, at two different extremes really:

On Classical guitar I'm trying to learn Vivaldi's Concerto in D Major, Largo. 

With the band, although we play original material we've started playing 'Need Your Love So Bad ' (Peter Green's one). So trying to play the intro solo and chords. 

Both deceptive in that they don't look really complicated,  but it's playing them with feeling that's the thing. They're both immensely emotional in different ways. Obviously,  also I'm never going to play like Peter Geen, I'm not fit to restring his Les Paul...

I wonder if Peter Green would be better at playing Vivaldi than Vivaldi would be playing Peter Green?

Supportact

thecolourbox said:

Supportact said:

Interesting one, at two different extremes really:

On Classical guitar I'm trying to learn Vivaldi's Concerto in D Major, Largo. 

With the band, although we play original material we've started playing 'Need Your Love So Bad ' (Peter Green's one). So trying to play the intro solo and chords. 

Both deceptive in that they don't look really complicated,  but it's playing them with feeling that's the thing. They're both immensely emotional in different ways. Obviously,  also I'm never going to play like Peter Geen, I'm not fit to restring his Les Paul...

I wonder if Peter Green would be better at playing Vivaldi than Vivaldi would be playing Peter Green?

I don't know but I'd buy a ticket. 

Rocker

Struggling a bit with the intro of Money for Nothing.  Very occasionally it sounds reasonably close enough.  Occasionally.

GuyBoden

CoffeeAndTV said:

Learning Charlie Parker and Dizzy heads at the moment.

loving every minute.   

Well done, I've practiced quite a few very slowly over the years, but never at a reasonable tempo. I learned a lot in the process, stealing and creating many licks from the heads. 

drpbier

I'm getting my Grade 6 pieces ready: Cramp Your Style

Shook Me All Night Long

No One Knows

Just

The Wind Cries Mary

joeW

Currently working on 4 on 6.  I’ve avoided most Wes tunes as I don’t want to over hear them but our drummer wants to play it.  Obvs the head is very simple but the changes come pretty quick on the solos 

richman6100

After a period of only learning new finger-picked stuff - Sleeping on the Black top (Colter Wall), Hallelujah (Buckley's version), Every Breath You Take (Police), I figured I'd try something completely different.

I've always wanted to be able to do that circular Texas Blues Shuffle strumming/picking thing that SRV did so well. Pride and Joy seemed like an obvious choice because a) I love the song, and b) consistent strumming for any length of time is one of my great weaknesses as a player, so I figured it would be a good challenge. And a challenge it has proved to be. I've only dedicated about a couple of hours to it so far, but keeping it going, muting the upstroke, not hitting three strings when I'm aiming for one or two, is really tough. For me at least. Time will tell if I can solve the style, or if P&J gets added to the 'a bit too tough for me' pile of songs I've started but never finished.

Dr_Necessiter

Still grinding away on Minor Swing and Nuages. 

Roland

Twenty something years ago I transcribed Bach’s organ Toccata in Dm. I seem to have forgotten it, ,and am currently re-learning. 

flying_pie

I'm trying to get on top of one of my Nemesis riffs - Hallowed Be Thy Name by Iron Maiden. It's annoying me so much because the main riff is not that fast but I find my fingers easily get tangled and my timing drops off. If it was for a gig I could cheat my way through it using hammer ons/position shifts but I'm using it as a strict alternate picking and timing exercise instead

TheBigDipper

I'm doing a couple of solo acoustic pieces right now.

An old guitar magazine had a tab for a solo arrangement of the theme to M*A*S*H from Eric Roche. It's beautiful. I can play it in short sections, but I'm having trouble memorising it. The tab is slightly weird, as it is capo'd on the 2nd fret. The fretted notes are tabbed as they really are (so 4th fret is "4", not "2") but the open strings are tabbed as "0", not "2"). I will succeed!

My dearly-missed neighbour/mate John, who I played with on a weekly basis in our kitchens and as an open mic duo before he passed away last August, used to play a version of Anji. That sort of playing style was his thing, so I never tried to learn it. I'm learning it now. Much easier to memorise than the M*A*SH piece, but a different playing challenge. I don't flat pick or use a thumb pick. I play with a classical right hand. Getting the bounce of the bass line whilst syncopating the melody line and having it sound like music has been a fun exercise. It's involved me customising my right hand a little. Which was the same when I learned to play Blackbird (McCartney). 

Mood For A Day is next, I think. Closer to my classical approach than Clap. 

bloodandtears

RUSH:  Superconductor, Red Barchetta and Emotion Detector

axisus

@racefaceec90 I was a MASSIVE Fish era Marillion fan back in the day. Loved Rothery's solos! I haven't loved the post-Fish stuff, other than Easter, which is a beautiful song.

When you say 'currently', I assume that we can be loose with that. I have had Satriani's Always with me, always with you and Vai's Crying machine on the go for a great many years. They are both beyond my skill level hence the time frame. Not given up yet though ....

My other current songs are Rush's Anthem plus Montrose Rock the nation & Bad motor scooter.

Most songs that I 'learn' I just go for the vibe rather than note for note. I'm a real hack player!

racefaceec90

@axisus i remember watching one of your videos you are definitely aren't a hack player good sir :-)

ha yes currently that can mean literally years for me to try to learn something. (definitely applies to rush covers i have tried to learn lol) i have literally just started to try and learn easter yesterday so i expect it will take us a long time to try and play through it.

i won't even attempt anything shred/fast as i just cannot play like that.

i wish everyone well in whatever you are learning :-)   

axisus

racefaceec90 said:

@axisus i remember watching one of your videos you are definitely aren't a hack player good sir :-)

You are too kind! I have played a couple of specific things OK in the past, but my attempted covers are definitely hack jobs!