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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by Zurf
I was going to post the lyrics to the Cheers theme song but I might get into soapy bubble. It's nice just to stop by once in a while.
HA-HA-HA! The very first thing that came to my mind when I saw it was our old buddy Selso checking in was "Noooooooorrrrrmmm!!!" My mind, sadly, is a compendium of lyrics, movie lines, and TV gags.
- Zurf
It was good getting in touch with you again earlier today Damien. We're hoping to have the basement remodel finished in April. Afterwards, I'd love to have a jamm session to break it in right with laughter and song. I'll definitely let you know when that's going on, and see if Jeff can come around again too. Maybe a couple of the church guys and fishing guys will fall on by. April the fishing guys will probably be on the water...
- Zurf
I'm glad your kid liked that ginormous pick. I dropped that in there. It's a promo item from my neighborhood music shop. I put in a couple felt picks for the ukelele players too.
- Zurf
You can probably Youtube a tutorial. But I like Butch's advice.
- Zurf
I've got nothing.
For me, strumming and even a repetitive finger pattern while singing is no problem. But there is just absolutely no way this side of heaven that I can play my bass and sing. It ought to be easier, right? Bass lines, especially for the kinds of songs I do, tend to be a lot simpler. But, there it is.
I'm sure others have got good advice. I'm just suggesting that it's not an unusual problem and don't beat yourself up about it. Just keep trying you best, and then read the quote from Mekidsmom in my signature line.
- Zurf
Nice. Now I just need to go buy an Epiphone EJ200. It's on the short list for when I upgrade.
Doug - I teased Russell about having his fingers "gnarled into compliance." Seems like you took the quick and painful route.
Craig - That made me laugh out loud.
- Zurf
It's been a few days, but my grouchy old lady is on the back of the sofa barking at passersby, squirrels and phantasms. She's blind from cataracts, so she's not above random barking just in case someone or something may be trying to walk near "her" lawn. She can see well enough to know when another dog is passing by. Or perhaps it's her powerful beagle's nose.
Thank you all for your kind thoughts. Though I wouldn't wish it upon anyone, it's an encouragement that we have so many in the same boat. This is price we pay for the laughter and the cuddles. Ivy dog has finally gotten over her pride at not being able to climb onto the bed any longer (despite the set of stairs I built her) and has started to permit us to lift her. So, I once again have my foot warmers.
As a puppy, we called her Schwarzenpuppy because of her extremely powerful physique. It's amazing that though arthritis and age have stolen her power, and she has gained weight from general lethargy, that her muscles still ripple when she trots up the street. She is roughly equivalent to a centenarian for humans, and yet her muscles ripple. Would that I can be so strong.
- Zurf
Zurf wrote:My usual solution is to play a B7 instead and call it an arrangement.
Lawlz!
Playing a single B bass note in a bass run (up or down) works too. Anytime in key of E where a B is needed, I use B7. If B is a sixth or a second, I slip in a Bm and transition early to the next chord. Sometimes I let the chord before it ring while I sing a little louder where the B chord belongs. The only problem with that is the only thing that sounds worse than my B chords is my singing. But singing is easier, and I'm big enough most people won't laugh in my face for it.
B chords can readily be avoided with sufficient motivation.
- Zurf
Big mik -
Start by getting the C chord. Take as long as you need to, but get it to ring cleanly on every string (except the low E of course, because that's not part of the chord). Now, let go of the guitar neck. Form the open C again, taking as long as you like. Let go. Form the open C again, taking as long as you like. Do that 100 times a night for a few nights.
Once you can get to the C chord reliably taking as long as you like, start getting there from the G chord. Again, take as long as you like. Strum the G, then the C, then the G, then the C. Don't worry about timing yet. Take as long as you like to form each one - but get it clean. Do that 100 times a night for a few nights, until you can do it pretty well.
When you can get the G and C pretty well, and do it cleanly, then start to worry about timing. If you have a metronome, set it. Do four down strums on the G, switch to the C and do four strums, and back to the G and do four strums, and back the C and do four strums, and continue to do this until it makes you sick. Get clean sound. Slow down the metronome as slow as you have to to be able to do this transition with a good clean sound. When you can do it cleanly most of the time (you'll still make blunders), then speed up the metronome a little bit. Keep speeding it up a little at a time until you can transition between the chords at the speed you need to for playing whatever song it is you have in mind.
You can do this with any combination of chords, any pattern. Metronomes are your friend. They just feel like your enemy.
Good luck. We've all been through this. Stick to it and you won't regret it. C is the first booger of a chord, then D, and then barre chords, and then B remains evil forever and always (despite some mutants who seem to be able to throw a B chord or variant at will). It won't be long before you're knocking out C and D and minors and sevenths and whatnot and you'll think back and wonder to yourself how it was ever a problem. It could take weeks, months, or even longer depending on how much time you can dedicate to practice and how fast your finger muscles learn the shapes and get the strength and toughness they need.
- Zurf
Thongs? I think we've just witnessed a classic Freudian slip. Wait. Slip is another kind of underwear. This thread is not going well.
Anyway, Badeye and bensonp, you're welcome for what little I said. I was just trying to get across the point that "practice" doesn't mean five repetitions a day, but 100, and that you need to do that 100 (or more) per day for weeks. And then if you haven't seen progress, it's time to knuckle down and get serious. We often say "practice" to new guitar players, but I think that alone doesn't get across the level of commitment and intensity that is required for progress. At least that's my experience. But there are some folks, I suppose, who get it right away. For me, I don't get anything without hard work.
I am sure that on the evil B progress, you must have received some kind of blessing in addition to your hard work. There are considerations that go beyond the mere physical related to the B chord. There are psycho-spiritual alternate realities that must be considered when one heads down the road towards B chord mutation. Nevertheless, I am pleased to hear that your mutation is under way. Some day, perhaps I will join you. Until that day, B7 and Bm are my friends. LONG LIVE THE MUTANTS!!!
- Zurf
My condolences to you. I'm sure your heart will fill in where your voice and fingers fail.
- Zurf
"almost as good as my instructor"... Careful there. She or he may have taught you everything you know, but probably not everything s/he knows.
That said, in two years some people get pretty awesome.
- Zurf
It is a common problem. The B chord is evil. Only mutants can play the B chord, and even then they must take special precautions to protect themselves from the evil nature of the chord. LONG LIVE THE MUTANTS!
Please contact Russell Harding to request B chord amnesty. He's been pretty generous with it.
My usual solution is to play a B7 instead and call it an arrangement.
- Zurf
edit to add: Welcome to the Chordie forums!
Well, she made it through the night, which I was not sure that she would. At some point during the night she ate her dinner, which has her pain medication in it. She seems to be a little better this AM, crawling up to her standard perch on the back of the sofa to bark "Stay off the lawn!" at all the squirrels. Though she isn't barking much today. It's normally extremely annoying, but I wish I could hear it today. It would mean she's her normal grouchy old lady self.
- Zurf
Another time-based message. I'm getting maudlin. Tonight, it's my dog has me in that mind frame. She was a puppy in August of 1995 when we moved into this house. She was as fast as lightning and could fly. Really. From the hall she could jump, and in the air pass through the doorway and land on the bed ten or twelve feet away without even a thought. From a stand still, she could barely move and make it onto the dining room table, which caused some consternation when we discovered she could do that. Tonight, she can barely stand. And when she does, she is quivering in pain. Back in '95, she wouldn't leave my side. Much to my wife's dismay, she's slept at my feet or curled up against my legs for most of those years. The past few months, she's preferred her own company. For fourteen years, whatever room I was in so was Ivy Dog. Today, I roused her from a nap to take her out as it had been a long, long time. She didn't recognize me. She had no idea who I was, what the leash meant, or what the command "Walk" was. It's her favorite word, next to "Dinner" and "treat" of course. Tonight, there are several biscuits uneaten in her kennel and the dinner bowl remains full. In order, she's lost her eyesight, her speed, her strength, her mind, and today finally her appetite. Anyone who understands geriatric care knows what it means when the patient has lost her appetite. I know what it means too.
Hmmmmm. Not completely hopeless. A little furry nose just poked itself into the room.
Maybe there's a few days left.
I don't think I'm going to complain about going out in the cold rain to walk her tonight. It will be an honor and a pleasure.
Maybe tomorrow will be a better day. Maybe.
- Zurf
Welcome Ivanp84.
- Zurf
jerome.oneil wrote:No desire to practice criminal law, or family law, or even see the inside of a courtroom. I want to sit in a board room and negotiate contracts.
That sounds like it would be fun, honestly... but exhausting at times. Good for you for knowing what you want and going after it Jerome!
Zurf... ha ha... did you kick those lawyers butts on the other side of the table? I used to REALLY enjoy understanding the UI laws and Contracts and having chats with the "higher ups" and putting them in their place. Explaining to the owners and HR reps (college educated people... while I was NOT college educated) that you can't fire someone because you don't like them and then not allow them Unemployment became a bit annoying after a while. Keeping people's jobs by highlighting points in our Union contract on the other hand was 99% pure pleasure. The 1% that wasn't enjoyable was when I could save someone's job but didn't feel they deserved it.
No I didn't kick their butts. We did negotiate a suitable contract that was advantageous for both companies. I did get a job offer out of it. When the director of contracts for that company left, the managing director instructed a recruiter to 'get that guy who got the best of us' on the particular deal. So they seemed to think that I kicked their butts, but honestly I think we just came out to a reasonable agreement that allowed us both to make a responsible profit and still served our client at a fair price. That's all I ever try to do in a negotiation.
- Zurf
No desire to practice criminal law, or family law, or even see the inside of a courtroom. I want to sit in a board room and negotiate contracts.
I've done that for many years without a JD. I can even recall teasing one company about how much I must have scared them when it was me on one side of the table and four attorneys on the other side of the table. A law degree will help, though. Quite a lot.
- Zurf
Well the problem with teaching yourself is that your student won't listen to you because your teacher doesn't know anything more than you do.
Try a different style. Try playing a song you know in a different style - maybe even changing the time signature. Take Crocodile Rock for instance. It's a piano rock song, but I worked it out to play in a bluegrass fingerpick style. If you normally play rock then switch up to folk, or if you normally play with a pick try finger picking, or if you normally interpret to a personal style from chord charts learn to read music and cover a song with precision. Learn something that has some jazz chords or chords you wouldn't normally know. And if you haven't already, practice scales, argeggios, and inversions until they make you sick. Start slow and build up speed, then listen to anything from Allman Brothers to Yngwie Malmsteen to Segovia and you'll be amazed at how much of their outrageous solos are applications of scales, arpeggios, and inversions.
I hope at least one of those helps. I need to work on the scales, arpeggios, and inversions myself. They are the keys to blues music, and I really want to learn to lay out some folksy blues riffs like Jim Croce.
- Zurf
Well, my buddy Herschel who came on Chordie to comment on the song I wrote about him "Herschel's Campfire Song", is a rocket scientist. My other buddy AlfromWV who came on to harass Herschel on his song is a nuclear engineer, and while I'm not an attorney I do work with them all day and am in the Legal department. And Phil is a doctor. He's not been around much lately, but he's in our thoughts so that counts I suppose.
- Zurf
Should I use the one that ends in .mil or the one that ends in .com?
It'll be a while anyway. If a song doesn't come to me in ten minutes, it takes a long, long time. The ones that come to me in ten minutes tend to be pretty silly, like my Country waltz song "My Life Revolves Around Pee" that is all about cleaning up pee (as one might imagine).
- Zurf
No worries. You can e-mail me with your address and I'll get you taken care of. Detman101 once promised he would put something up on YouTube for me if I needed him to. I haven't seen him around these parts too much, but I've got his cell phone number. Now that I've noticed his absence, I probably ought to give him a call and check up on him.
- Zurf
How the heck are we gonna see it if you can't post the friggin thang.
e-mail.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by Zurf
