Awesome, cheers scrawl!

Thank you Moot!

I've been playing for a long time and there have been many times when I've felt stuck in a rut, just playing the same stuff over and over and feeling thoroughly bored. Sometimes I've got out of it by hearing something I really want to play and working on that, and that can kind of kick start me into learning more things that are in a similar style. John Fahey got me out of a major rut - I learned so much through trying to emulate him (pretty poorly, but still). Tackling a new instrument can help too - I started playing loads more guitar after taking up the banjo, and the same thing happened when I got a ukelele. For some reason you approach the guitar a bit differently, even if you're not trying to play the same stuff as on the other instruments.

Short scale guitars are really easy on the fingers ain't they? That one of the nice things about ukes - actually there's no need at all to play barre chords on a uke because there are on as many strings as you have fingers.

If you're finding the action tough on your acoustic, have you tried using lighter gauge strings and/or tuning it down a tone? You can always capo back up to standard and while keeping the extra string slackness. That's what my Dad did on my first guitar when I was struggling with barre chords.

Nice! It's been so long since I've rocked out on an electric guitar. Unfortunately I only have 25 watt amp so there's a limit to how 'stadium' I could possibly sound.

Enjoyed that.  Jim Ford meets Larry Jon Wilson (with a touch of Charlie Daniels' excellent Trudy).

Love those both Nick - no flies on that rhythm section! Foot tappin' is the word! Really infectious.

I haven't got round to doing a vid of the new palour guitar but I will soon. I realised there's a simple but nice picking piece in open-D I've written but not recorded yet so if I YouTube that on the Tanglewood I can kill two birds with one stone, as it were.

Tomorrow I'm going to my friend's party - she's asked me to bring an instrument and play for a while as there'll be a little stage at the place. I'd love to bring both a a guitar and a banjo but it's too far to carry two instruments. So I'm just taking the new guitar and I'm going to play some nineties tunes. I've known this person since about '96 so I reckon if I play some songs from around that time I can get a singalong going, which will hide my awful voice.

I'm doing Polly by Nirvana (my friend's request) Smashing Pumpkins - 1979, Meat Puppets - Oh Me, Green Day - Good Riddance, - Deus - Little Arithmetics, Radiohead - No Surprises, Blur - End of a Century, and anything else people shout out that I can make a decent go of. Then I'll finish up with There is a Light that Never Goes Out.

I'm afraid I will be very, very drunk.

Here's a recording of my new palour guitar as promised - like I said Nick, this may be close to what you're after from what you've said.

The playing's very sloppy I'm afraid, I'm just not on form at all tonight.

metascrawl wrote:

Moot - I saw Justin Townes play by himself in a small pub venue near me a year or two ago. I went along knowing nothing of his music and I came away a huge fan. I felt genuinely a bit upset when it was over - I could have listened to him all night. This is my favourite vid of him (bonus that there's some clawhammer banjo going on here too).

"Well when John Henry died he lay looking at the sun / he said lord take me now my work is done, lord lord"

That was great.  I've spent hours watching KEXP online, they have some great acts on.  I've only got one JTE album so far (Harlem River Blues).  Will probably rectify that on payday.  I'm currently reading Doghouse Roses, which is a collection of short stories written by his dad.  Only started it today, but I can already tell I'll make short work of it, it started well.

I done did set a up a group type thing on google + for Merlin players. I know, google +, right? But as it's going to be largely YouTube based I figured it kind of made sense, and I'm not on FB.

Anyway, here it is: https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/118439335147665343514

Come troll the hell out it!

How you playing eb G? Only way I know how is to barre around the 8th or wherever it is, you know, near that Jimi Hendrix purple haze e chord.

metascrawl wrote:

Here's a recording of my new palour guitar as promised - like I said Nick, this may be close to what you're after from what you've said. The playing's very sloppy I'm afraid, I'm just not on form at all tonight.

Been meaning to reply to this for ages, apologies Scrawl!

That guitar seems just the kind that I need: wide fretboard, smallish body and cool looking to boot! Nice sound too (not as sloppy as you claim!). I'm yet to look one up in a shop but will do so soon, keep on spending the money I'm saving on dinners and socialising, like a fucking idiot.

Anyway, seems unfair for just yourself to shoulder the burden of actually posting forum-made music in here, so here's a little jam I've been playing the last week or so, very rough 'n' ready (i.e. sloppy and a bit shit), but whadyagonado? Been working on my chopping lately, trying to get a good rhythm down. Still can't decide whether it's working, or is just annoying, but I kinda like it.

https://soundcloud.com/tumbleweed-6/chopped-vegetables

Never ventured past a Best Of with Jim Croce on cd, but he's got some great songs.

Damn I want a banjo. Have done for years now. One day.

I tend to end up there 'cause it's usually the first hit on a search. Only problem I get is massive fucking adverts on mobile although I rarely use it tbh due to, aye, the site being crap. Haven't really used proper tabs in yonks though, it's a search for chords usually.

I mean, I never understood wanting to copy note-for-note a piece of music anyway (not saying this is you, just waffling a bit - indulge me); I know this girl who's learning guitar and she keeps posting about getting a new part of the solo to Sunshine of Your Love down when she's literally just starting to play. I haven't heard her at all but I'd very surprised if it sounds anything approaching what it should, she's better off learning the basic notes in the solo then doing a watered down but probably more soulful version that she's capable of. I used to do the same thing, check for tabs of favourite solos and try to copy them, but now I just think "fuck it", get the gist of the song then nail your own version. On the other hand, if I were good enough to copy bitchin' solos note-for-note I'd probably be all over it, I'm too lazy/not good enough.

Yeah that kind of thing, more expressive and enjoyable that some carbon copy "look what I can do ma'!"

She's good... makes me want to spend more time with my electric, find it boring though on me jacks, backing track or not. Have hit a plateau again on the ol' nylon I think, just playing the same things over and over. Need to get Escape's dusty steel string fixed to reinvigorate, been sat there for a while now. This concludes my brief summary of progress.


Gonz - absolutely, chords first. When I started playing my mate wrote down the chords for House of the Rising Sun in tab: showed me how to read tabs and covers a lot of chords (and a good 'my first' song too). Get those down and you're sorted. Mostly.

hah! I didn't mean to sound as cuntish when I said that, I can't really do stuff by ear either. I guess what I tend to do is try something for a bit, mostly fail, pickup on one or two key bits you need to include then just noodle, improvise but make sure you hit those key-sections on the way.

Short version of what I meant is, don't get hung up trying to emulate someone else.