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Guthrie Govan music arranged for intermediate players

 
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cluster_one



Joined: 17 May 2009
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:51 am    Post subject: Guthrie Govan music arranged for intermediate players Reply with quote

Hi, even if i pratice 1000 years, i'll never be as good as Guthrie. This guy has a genius mind and mine is very common... well the idea here is : take the song 'Waves", i can play the intro at 70 % of the real speed, more than this my heart bleeds, i can play some parts of the rest of the song but most of it i can't.

So i was wondering, wouldn't be cool if some of you guys could propose some easier arrangements so that a guy like me could be able to play the music of Guthrie but still sound good. (sorry for my bad english, i'm french).

If ever it is something that could interest some, please start for me a tread so that could play Guthrie but at my possible own limits. Thanks
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jordan



Joined: 28 Sep 2004
Posts: 161

PostPosted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi,

Firstly, don't be discouraged.....there aren't many people here who could take, say, the intro of Waves and play it up to tempo straight away. Yes, Guthrie appears to have more fingers than the rest of us, but if there's a specific lick you're struggling with just take it slowly with a metronome - play it at a speed where you don't make *any* mistakes, and then bump it up over time.

As for creating 'easier arrangements', the first thing I would do is to ignore the solos and try to pick out the underlying harmony of the pieces. Can you pick out the chord progressions? Even without any chord extensions, you may be able to pull out the key of the piece by looking at what fundamental chords you're playing with.

Once you've pulled out the key, can you spot which scale might be being used? What I'm leading to here is that you could well get to a stage where you can improvise along to the songs using sensible scale choices, in much the same way that Guthrie does when playing live (I've rarely seen him play solos the same as on the record).

If there are songs with particular melodies that are key to the piece, then go ahead and learn them note for note (they're usually the slower parts Wink ) .....and after that, improvise around the solos with something you're comfortable playing.

I hope that helps a little.....I'd be interested to hear what others say on this topic.....I suspect Guthrie would be an advocate of learning how to improvise over a tune as opposed to learning his licks note for note?

Cheers
Jordan
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Scias



Joined: 26 Jun 2005
Posts: 92
Location: Scotland

PostPosted: Sat Sep 05, 2009 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jordan wrote:
As for creating 'easier arrangements', the first thing I would do is to ignore the solos and try to pick out the underlying harmony of the pieces. Can you pick out the chord progressions? Even without any chord extensions, you may be able to pull out the key of the piece by looking at what fundamental chords you're playing with.


Great Idea. Also I agree that you shouldn't be discouraged. Guthrie is amazing and in my mind the best guitarist I've ever heard of, as he can put his own style to music, or he can flawlessly imitate any other guitar player, and he can play at the maximum speed, or create heart-warming melodies with note choice and phrasing on the spot.

However, try to let this inspire you as much as possible, and discourage you as little as possible. Right now I can think of one main reason why Guthrie has his skill level, and that is he loves the music, and I mean real love for music. If I understand correctly, he'll think of every note with intent and passion when he listens to music, let alone plays music.

Other people say that the reason Guthrie is so good is because of the practice he has put in over the decades, which is true, but I dare say that even above that he needed to have the love for music. In turn this love will drive a person to practice hard but enjoy it, and when you get a little bit better from this practice, you love the music more, which in turn inspires you to practice again, like a chain reaction. It is important to realise that Guthrie probably loves listening to music, ESPECIALLY when he's playing along or improvising.

When you pick up a guitar and switch on a backing track or jam with friends, when you're playing, remember to focus on how the music sounds as much as, if not more than focusing on the fretboard. Playing excercises and scales alone in your room is the time for focusing on the fretboard and getting your technique right. One more thing, timing/rhythm of notes is just as important as note choices.

Please excuse the over-use of the word 'love' in my comment, but I do mean it, I'm not a hippy, honest, I'm listening to Killswitch Engage at the moment.

I do like Jordans Idea of taking the chords of Waves (simplified ones if necessary) and being able to just play them in sequence. Once you've done that, record yourself playing the chord sequences repeatedly, so that you can play it back and attempt to improvise over it. Learn the Minor pentatonic scale if you don't know it already, as it fits into most music if you know what fret to start from. (F# in Waves)

I've posted elsewhere about more improvising techniques in more detail but I can't remember where, sorry!

But I hope that helps
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