On Playing Songs "Correctly" - and When to Cut Corners
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- Опубликовано: 11 апр 2024
- When learning songs, is it okay to cut corners? Are we allowed to simplify things that are beyond our skill level? When is it worth learning songs exactly as they're recorded? Here's some quick thoughts!
Happy Friday y'all ✌️
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🎸 Wish You Were Here (intro solo) by Pink Floyd
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🎸 Stairway to Heaven (intro riff) by Led Zeppelin
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I agree with you 100%. Some of my favorite artists never play their own songs the same way twice. I always enjoy your lessons and learn a lot.
Most of the time when I'm learning a song from RUclips, I like to watch a bunch of different tutorials and covers, then I pick which interpretations fit best for me. Good topic! Dave Grohl played a very simplified version of Tiny Dancer on a late night show years ago and it worked perfectly. In the end it's whatever way you can perform it best. I've been playing for almost 50 years and whoever made that comment is missing the point. Keep up the great work. Every Breath You Take is a good example of song that's very tough to play the Andy Summers way but it can be modified to a workable campfire version rather than get finger hernias. Speaking of different interpretations, if you ever come up with a fairly simple way to play Still Crazy After All These Years, I'd be all over that. ❤
An approachable version of ‘Still Crazy After All these Years’ would be SO amazing if David could teach us! ❤
As an older player (76) with hands less flexible than a younger player I appreciate simpler songs. There are certain things I physically can’t play and I get rather frustrated with some instructors who lack understanding of limitations. I have found it’s ok to barr only the high five strings on barr chords rather than just not play them at all. Thanks for your lessons.
I will never be a guitar virtuoso but I like to try to play my favorite songs recognizably. That is exactly why I like your lessons. Keep doing what you’re doing. A lot of us love it and need it.
Boy did I need to hear this. I have wasted so much time being obsessive about playijng things EXACTLY as recorded, getting frustrated, and moving on to another failed attempt at something else. I wind up not even playing anything all the way through. I seize up as I approach the dreaded difficult measure and never get past it. Time for a new approach, and glad to hear it's OK.
I can relate. Some of us tend to be perfectionists, in the negative sense of the word. I started telling myself, "let the guitar speak" and it helps when I get too focused on the mechanics instead of the music.
I lost my sight 87. I play guitar a little bit when I was a kid. I sang it quite a few bands for over 40 years, but I was a lead singer. Did I play guitar start playing guitar again about a year ago and like I said, I try to play this song I know in love and do the best I can and sing along and people enjoy it. I think that’s what’s really important. Thanks for what you do man and I enjoy your lessons.😅
You are so right. All you can do is be yourself,yes aspire but most of all enjoy! People don’t say work the guitar they say’play’ guitar. Thank you for very valid reflections
It's supposed to be fun. I'm not going to join a band and go on tour. I wanna play some songs in my room for myself and their needs to be a place for that. And some people wonder why lots of folks are turned off about learning an instrument.
I wish I could hit the thumbs up button a lot more than one time.
keep on keepin on. we all do our own thing. some like it, some don't.
Dave, I love the way you teach and your excellent notes. As someone new to the guitar, the last 4 years doing your lessons has been inspirational. Your simplifications (work arounds) to difficult songs make them accessible to 90% of us. Please do not worry about those comments from those seeking perfection. You help us make those great songs our own unique covers. Please keep doing what you are doing and rest assured that we appreciate your work. Thank- you, Dave from Nova Scotia, Canada
I could not agree with David and this comment more.
If it weren't for your lessons and teaching style I would have stopped trying to learn guitar long ago 😊
Perfect example your long long time lesson, I think u said it wasn't exactly note for note like the original but it was enough to get us started and it sounded great the way u taught it. Keep doing what ur doing, there's a million lessons out there for anyone who needs to learn a song exactly like the original.
I agree wholeheartedly! There are lots of songs that are taught at a beginner level and then also taught at a more advanced level. You choose based on your ability. When you are just starting to play, it’s nice to be able to play songs. It can be very discouraging to go well beyond your current ability level and perhaps there’s enough frustration to cause you to give up. Like you have said, the vast majority of the time I’m playing for myself and my dogs 😂. They have never complained to me.! When I have been playing and others are around to hear, they have complimented me and have said they enjoyed the music. What more can you ask for? Don’t get discouraged by ‘negative’ comments. You have thought about what was said, and are very justified to go about teaching acoustic guitar using the approach that you are most comfortable with. The number followers for your channel are a testament to your approach. Keep up the good work.👍👍👏👏
Absolutely! No sense stressing over a note or two. Make it work for you.
Your lessons are a gift…Even if I didn’t like like them, who am I to ask you to change. Thank you for all these free lessons! I’ve learned a lot from you ❤
Totally agree. Happy to learn whatever ways we can bring out the "sound " of the artist. Many teachers try to exactly copy the original technique, and then the less skilled are deprived of the opportunity to feel the pleasure of the sounds they created...but David's approach is what allows us all to enjoy and dream a little. What's wrong with that. Keep it up!
Thank you so very much David. Agree totally with your point of view and love the way you teach. Nobody can produce what an artist plays. Each of us are unique in what we can do. It's about the music and will always be. Even the artist does not do their song the same way twice. You see that time and time again. Creating an arrangement is creativity in its self and you teach us how. Thank you sincerely. Keep it coming!!
I highly doubt most people play EXACTLY as the artist played it. Even the original artists often don’t play their own recorded pieces the same every time! Unless you are a perfectionist (and many of us are) or are prescriptive ( like a classical pianist who desires to play a piece note for note from standard notation), then play it the way that suits you. Thank you David for providing us options however we choose to play. Diana
I think your approach has been most helpful for me, and likely helpful for many others as well. For me, it is important that you are explicit in the lesson about the simplifications you are making. You are intellectually honest about that. Doing so, for me at least, mean you can go forward without having to apologize for simplifying a song. Your lessons have become my number one source for any new song I want to learn because with practice I expect I will be able to play the song. That is inspiring.
I’m more interested in sharing the content (lyrics) of a song that moves me than precisely playing it as the original. I take inspiration from Richie Havens, who back in the sixties wanted to get into the music he was hearing but didn’t know how to play guitar. He developed his own unique method using open tuning and very simple fingers so he could play the music he wanted to be heard by others. As his skills developed he started using more elaborate fingerings as they were needed to serve the songs he wanted to play.
I’m learning how to Travis pick for the first time using your lessons. Played Clay Pigeons at an open mic this week. Thank you for your guidance and approach.
I love this. Thank you. It really is a gift.
I’m absolutely with you, David! I don’t want to win a cover band prize but like to play as many songs as possible with a reasonable effort.
You’re doing a great job for us starting out
Very interesting and helpful, keep doing what you're doing David 👍💯😎 happy days..
Good lesson- Thanks for posting
Cat Stevens himself said in an interview that one of the reasons he started writing his own songs is because he found it too hard to play other people’s music! I often think about that haha. Gotta embrace what we can do. Love your lessons and how you teach David! I’ve learnt a lot from you because you’re really good at breaking down songs even when they seem difficult. Thank you!
Well-said David. One of the first things I learned about music was kind of a variation on choosing my battles. I learned from Doug Marks' cassettes and booklets back in 1986, and one thing he said was you have to ask yourself if what you want is to sit and drill for 6 hours a day to get an extra millisecond of speed. I knew right away that that wasn't for me. I never wanted to shred even though I played metal back then. What I wanted to do was learn Rush songs and eventually write my own songs. It was a valuable lesson to learn right away when I was a beginner. I do regret not developing my ear more than I did, but I am working on that now. You seem to know what you want out of others' songs. Some we learn note for note because it's good for us, and some we simplify because we don't want to spend tons of time doing it when we can get what we want out of it in less time. Keep doing what you do. You put out some great lessons!!
Hey Dave, you looked a little down in that video, and I guess it's understandable, but you really shouldn't..
We follow you and support your channel voluntarily, knowing full well that the song lessons are tailored towards us lesser mortals that will never ever play like the Youngs or the Dylans or the Gilmours of the world. For me personally if I string a few chords together and it sounds somewhat recognizable I'm only too happy and I'm gonna keep at it.
I really like your style and your lessons are tops (not mention a lot of work to put together I'm sure!!) so please stick with it, keep doing what you are doing it's hugely appreciated......Thanks man!!!
Well said !! Thx
Absafrigginlutely!
Very worthwhile comments. I love seeing Tommy Emmanuel in concert but I'm fine with the knowledge I'll never match his chops. In the five or so years I've been learning guitar I have grown to enjoy the greats more than ever. But it took me a very long time to quit beating my head against the wall trying to learn "that" hard chord or whatever, and just lighten up and be musical to the best of my ability. For some of us, this is what we need to hear, maybe more than once. Your lesson sheets pack so much detail into 2 or 3 pages I find them invaluable as I learn.
I couldn't agree more with you. I love to learn and play very old folk songs and you will find many versions of a given song. A great example is The Unquiet Grave. I don't know what version was the original, but they're all wonderful.
Agree 100%
I think you do a great job and you explain how you doing it
None of us need to always do “covers”. We should look to our own interpretation of the songs. You always do a great job presenting your music and I always enjoy your take on a song.
Literally just before watching this I watched Party Marti playing his version of In the Air Tonight - by Phil Collins. He made it his own but captured the essence of the song just with one guitar. 👍 So great advice David. 👏
Right on, brother. Get into the ballpark, add a couple of your own twists and be happy.
100% agreed. Especially where there are layered guitars and/or other key intrumentation that forms the identity of the song. I prefer to create a blend that provides the best possible ‘vibe’ of the song. That’s more effective in my view than following one guitar part slavishly x
If it sounds good, it is good. Very few artists can even play their own songs the same way twice. Music is alive.
After playing guitar for a few years now I’m going back to some songs that I learnt a while ago to level up now I’ve improved somewhat. I think it’s important (especially when starting out) to get something down that’s a good approximation of the song you love, you can always go back to it to polish it up down the line.
Thanks for the explanation, totally agree. Good topic because when learning songs sometimes I get hung up on little details and lose sight of the bigger picture like what sounds better to me? Which can I play more cleanly/consistently? I really like your stuff on YT and Musicnotes -really well organized and easy to follow.
Completely agree near enough is good enough a lot of the time especially when you have a group of drunken singers at a campfire who can't sing .keep up the good work
Most artists didn’t play it the same way twice. Or, they had multiple takes and tracks. Or, they had a studio musician with more talent play it.
without tutors like you on yt etc us guitarists like myself who want to learn songs would definitely struggle , tutorials they dont have to be perfect , just like you said , capture the essence of the song. id much rather learn something for it being recognised by the listener . so who ever emailed you is very wrong
There are plenty of songs where you can see videos of the artist play and what they're playing on stage isn' the same as what they played in the studio or on another stage. Sunshine of Your Love is an example I came across recently. And I would venture to guess that it's not uncommon for an artist to try in the studio something that might be too challenging risk playing live.
Inlike what uou do, keep doing it, dont be too self-conscious about thay criticism.. I'd say it would be good tp at least mention hiw much or little you change itnfor each lesson...just a little transparency should placate those guys....and i think you are CORRECT that the way YOU re-create, often, is more valuable for beginners than getting the exact way. WE can't always do it the "right" way either, so showing us jow we can make it work ot really amazing, and I thank you for it!!!
Thanks man,
Habe a great day everyone!
-kessler
If we could only play songs exactly like the original artist, I think most of us would have very tiny repertoires! I think that most listeners are far more focused on the lyrics anyway, so if you sing the song in the same style as the original, your guitar can just complement the vocals without needing to exactly replicate the recording. Works for me, but then I'm not a pro musician.
One of my best friends used to always be hung up about playing every song exactly as it was recorded or you couldn't play it. I never did that, and I always had more fun and learned way more songs. After a solo acoustic gig of mine that he came to, he told me, "you know, you played _________ wrong" (can't remember the song after all these years). So I told him, "well, I was singing at the same time and can't do both correctly, but more importantly, did you know what song I was playing?" Got a "well, yeah I guess" Never heard anything about it after that. The only people who care are overly pedantic guitar players, which is not a majority of your audience. I'm not saying I never learn a song accurately, but there's a time and place and reasons for both.
I don't think you need to apologize at all. Look at Mississippi John Hurt. He plays so many subtle embellishments, it's almost impossible -- for me! -- to play songs just like he did. How about Blackbird? Nobody plays it *exactly* like McCartney does. McCartney himself plays it differently in the various YT clips I've seen. Thank you for this encouraging video.
As long as you capture the essence of the song…who cares. Make it your own.
100% fact, most artist never play their own songs the same way as it was recorded. Music is interpretive.