New to bluegrass. Tyminski cover inside.

crcantley · #1 07-31-2010, 10:17 AM

Hey all. My father and I started playing together a few months ago (he's a beginner/intermediate guitarist) and for a while we had a difficult time finding things to play. But since I come from Blues/Rock and he comes from Country, Bluegrass seemed like an ok place to try and it has turned out well.

For Bluegrass, I don't try to learn tabs. I get the chords and play along as I will. I haven't built up a repertoire of licks yet, but I can make a decent show of it.

I'd like some critiques of the file below. It's me playing along to Dan Tyminski's "Whose Shoulder Will You Cry On". It sometimes gets tiresome playing Root, 5, Root, 5, run, Root etc... So maybe some Bluegrass veterans out there can help me out.

Mind you, this recording isn't the best. I'll try to find a better place for my mic next time.

crcantley-tyminski-whoseshoulder_2_.mp3 - 2.14MB

Oscar Schmidt OB100N, Mesa Fathom, Aguilar GS212, Audio-Technica AT2020 USB mic, fingerstyle.

(The link takes you to zshare.net where the file is free to listen to.)

crcantley · #2 07-31-2010, 11:47 AM

Here's another I just recorded. Hopefully the quality is a bit better. It's pretty much the same thing, just a different song, it's even in the same key.

Dan Tyminski - "Sunny Side of the Mountain"

crcantley-tyminski0sunnyside.mp3 - 3.10MB

crcantley · #3 07-31-2010, 12:14 PM

One more I suppose.

Dan Tyminski - "Man of Constant Sorrow"

I feel like I was all over the place in this one. I didn't really want to post it, but I need pointers.

crcantley-soggy.mp3 - 2.88MB

crcantley · #4 08-02-2010, 02:41 AM

Still trying. I guess I might use this as a sort of Bluegrass learning blog.
This time I recorded the bass separately and mixed it in Audacity. I hope I'm not breaking any rules here, but it is for learning purposes.
I'd love some feedback and most importantly some help.

Dan Tyminski - "Tiny Broken Heart"

Tiny Broken Heart-mixed.mp3.mp3 - 2.60MB

Steve · #5 08-02-2010, 08:46 AM

You don't need to stick religiously to the root, fifth. Think about playing the same note twice a little more often.

If you can walk into the change with 4 eighth notes, it's probably better to walk in with 2 quarter more often than not.

If I'm playing bluegrass on an electric, typically I'll palm mute and use my thumb. It slows me down a little, helps me to think more "upright" and sounds a little more authentic.

You have a real good start it's just a matter of listening to a bunch of it and getting the feel. Palm muting to get that quick decay of the note is a biggie for me.

crcantley · #6 08-02-2010, 09:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve

You don't need to stick religiously to the root, fifth. Think about playing the same note twice a little more often.

If you can walk into the change with 4 eighth notes, it's probably better to walk in with 2 quarter more often than not.

If I'm playing bluegrass on an electric, typically I'll palm mute and use my thumb. It slows me down a little, helps me to think more "upright" and sounds a little more authentic.

You have a real good start it's just a matter of listening to a bunch of it and getting the feel. Palm muting to get that quick decay of the note is a biggie for me.

Thanks a ton for the reply.

For the last one, I still used my acoustic Oscar Schmidt, but ran it through a Sansamp which took away the acousticness of it some. I've never really tried to play palm muted. On your advice I might try some foam with fingerstyle.

One question: Is it ok instead of playing, say, 1,5,1,5,1,5,1,5 to play something like 1,3,1,4,1,5,1,5?

I'll also try to slow down the runs a little bit and find something different.

(On a side note, I tried to play Foggy Mountain Breakdown.... disaster.

)

crcantley · #7 08-02-2010, 09:33 AM

Oh, just a thought, should I string my Acoustic with flats?

Steve · #8 08-02-2010, 01:15 PM

If you're trying to cop the quick decay of an upright, you have to keep shifting your palm position and pressure on the fly depending on which string and note you're playing to really get it right. Get it right and it should be really difficult to distinguish between electric and upright on a recording in a bluegrass context. I've never been able to get anywhere near it with foam or flats.

To my ear, the line, whether you choose 1-5-1-5, 1-5-1-1 or some sort of walk isn't nearly as important as keeping that quarter note pulse with a quick note decay.

Bluegrass to me just sounds wrong if it doesn't sound like an upright no matter how you approach it. You get that vibe and the next thing you know, everything works.

IMHO

This is quick so...all the excuses apply. I went at it just noodling different approaches, single notes, alternating, walks, whatever. It all pretty much works because it sounds upright. If that actually sounded like you would expect a Sadowsky PJ5 with brand new stainless steel strings to sound, all of it would suck.

Song Link

crcantley · #9 08-04-2010, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve

If you're trying to cop the quick decay of an upright, you have to keep shifting your palm position and pressure on the fly depending on which string and note you're playing to really get it right. Get it right and it should be really difficult to distinguish between electric and upright on a recording in a bluegrass context. I've never been able to get anywhere near it with foam or flats.

To my ear, the line, whether you choose 1-5-1-5, 1-5-1-1 or some sort of walk isn't nearly as important as keeping that quarter note pulse with a quick note decay.

Bluegrass to me just sounds wrong if it doesn't sound like an upright no matter how you approach it. You get that vibe and the next thing you know, everything works.

IMHO

This is quick so...all the excuses apply. I went at it just noodling different approaches, single notes, alternating, walks, whatever. It all pretty much works because it sounds upright. If that actually sounded like you would expect a Sadowsky PJ5 with brand new stainless steel strings to sound, all of it would suck.

Song Link

Since I read your post, I tried to learn how to play palm muted which I"ve never done. That's just going to take some work. When it sounds good, it sounds great, though.

In other news, I've gotten out of 1-5-1-5 all the time and the same runs. This has turned into, besides blues, my favorite genre to play even though I don't listen to it at all.