Blackberry Blossom

Posted by delboy

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- Play count: 227

Size: 1,856kb, uploaded 3/23/2011 3:29:16 PM
Genre: Bluegrass / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

See my blog from last November for details on this.

I was - and I am - striving for nothing more than a decent touch and rhythm but both remain elusive. I also struggle with improvisation over fiddle tunes - the chords change far to fast for my liking... and as improvisation is something I love it all adds up to a lot of frustration.

Anyway, this was a bit like doing a gig and getting a request - one has to strive to keep one's public happy. So, Wayne, this one's for you!

Derek

Daley's Reel

Posted by delboy

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- Play count: 256

Size: 810kb, uploaded 3/2/2015 11:24:12 AM
Genre: Bluegrass / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

It's been an age since I posted anything. I wanted to do a recording with the new Furch. So here 'tis.

East Tennessee Blues

Posted by delboy, written by Charlie Bowman

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- Play count: 331

Size: 1,676kb, uploaded 3/26/2011 11:27:04 AM
Genre: Bluegrass / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

Based on the Steve Kaufman version (although a lot slower - any faster and I keep making mistakes!) but with a few licks and arpeggios from other sources thrown in for good measure.

Freight Train

Posted by delboy, written by Elizabeth Cotton

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- Play count: 786

Size: 2,443kb, uploaded 5/10/2012 5:32:48 AM
Genre: Country / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

This was originally just an exercise in playing the fingerstyle arrangement from Mark Hansen's wonderful Travis Picking book, but as I haven't posted anything here in many moons I figured if I added an improvised flatpicking lead I might just be able to sneak it in!

Georgia

Posted by delboy, written by Hoagy Carmichael

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- Play count: 457

Size: 3,305kb, uploaded 2/2/2011 2:33:13 AM
Genre: Jazz/Blues / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

This is a fingertsyle piece - not a pick in sight. Sorry. It's my first attempt at arranging a song for solo guitar. That said, I did double track it (with intentional variances between tracks) due to a lack of confidence... The ultimate intent is for a harmonica playing friend of mine to add a harp track to this (once we figure the mechanics of long distance collaboration) but meanwhile I thought I'd post it here. As ever, it's my 30 year Yamaha FG335 with the laminate top and aging strings recorded into the Xmas toy (Tascam DP-004),

Minor Swing Etude

Posted by delboy, written by Django Reinhardt

- Play count: 141

Size: 957kb, uploaded 4/28/2011 9:06:13 AM
Genre: Jazz/Blues / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

**** WARNING: For the swing group only! **** This short piece demonstrates how one can take some reasonably simple arpeggios and link them together to create a whole. The basic material comes from Gonazalo Bergara's "How I learned" book. Here I've taken a couple of his arpeggios from All Of Me and cut them up, transposed them, and twisted them around a little to fit Minor Swing. Played on a Gitane DG 250m.

Salt Creek

Posted by delboy

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- Play count: 1133

Size: 1,089kb, uploaded 10/22/2011 6:02:15 AM
Genre: Bluegrass / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

Just a couple of rounds of the beginners version of Salt Creek from SK's PLP volume 1. This is played on the new Tanglewood http://www.tanglewoodguitars.co.uk/products/acoustic/sundance/tw6070/TW60SCVSE.html which isn't a flat-picking guitar but I thought, what the hell... I have a metronome ticking away at 230 bpm which I think is getting somewhere close to where SK plays it, but maybe not yet close enough.

Sister Kate's Syncopated Dance

Posted by delboy

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- Play count: 62

Size: 1,963kb, uploaded 4/17/2012 12:56:27 PM
Genre: Jazz/Blues / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

Fingerstyle, I'm afraid. Been trying various things to get a decent recorded sound - tried a moderately expensive dynamic mic on this but it's a bit noisy and doesn't have the clarity I'd like. I reckon I need a nice condenser... The tune is ragtime jazz piece based on the old jazz tune I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate

Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness

Posted by delboy, written by John Prine

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- Play count: 616

Size: 3,443kb, uploaded 1/1/2011 2:44:41 AM
Genre: Country / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

Following on from my Tascam DP_004 forum thread here's another early demo as I learn to use the machine. It's all done on my old Yamaha FG330 and the internal DP_004 mic's. Excuse the vocals - as mentioned elsewhere I'm more of a growler than singer, but I wanted to demo the mic's with a human voice as well as guitar. I really like the tone of the old Yamaha through these condenser mics - it sounds much brighter than when I'd recorded it previously (still hanker after a solid top one day though!!). I mixed the final version using Audacity - if you listen through headphones you'll hopefully hear three or four guitar parts all spread across the stereo spectrum. Anyway, in my humble opinion, the DP_004 is a superb piece of kit. Kind regards and happy new year! Derek

Texas Swing Backing Track - Key Of A: I - IV - V (Swing Group Content)

Written/Posted by delboy

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- Play count: 158

Size: 1,909kb, uploaded 7/16/2011 2:01:23 PM
Genre: Rhythm Tracks / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

As currently discussed in the Swing group. My first attempt at a backing track - probably needs some work (including a count in !). Anyway, let me know if this is of any use. The chords are a simple: | A | D | A | E | A | D | E | E/ A / | with some passing chords and an attempt to get a bass line flowing through it. This based on the Texas Swing video I posted a few days back. I *think* the chord sequence is the same. The song off that video was Grey Eagle so that might be a starting point for playing over this track.

Thwarted

Written/Posted by delboy

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- Play count: 33

Size: 2,213kb, uploaded 5/6/2014 1:11:28 PM
Genre: Unknown/None Chosen / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

My take on the Robert Johnson legend. A mix of flat-picking and finger-picking. It's very English - for the lyrics to work you have to know what a roundabout is...

Two Tier Bungalow

Written/Posted by delboy

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- Play count: 108

Size: 1,188kb, uploaded 3/3/2011 5:46:57 AM
Genre: Jazz/Blues / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

Part 2 in the "Writing An Instrumental" project. I've now come up with a second section and, as it's start to develop into something mildly approaching a proper tune I've given it something mildly approaching a proper name.

Whisky Before Breakfast

Posted by delboy

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- Play count: 296

Size: 1,376kb, uploaded 11/28/2010 10:35:15 AM
Genre: Bluegrass / Playing Style: Unknown/None Chosen

Just a couple of choruses as I set out on this journey. The first chorus is pretty much as per the melody I found on bluegrassguitar.com. The second includes one or two licks that I pre-planned and a few improvised moments that I didn't. Not quite there... but it might be fun and interesting to look back on this in a few months (years?!). Recorded direct into Audacity with a Yamaha FG335 from about 1980.