I'm having a difficult time getting the timing and syncopation on John Hardy. Is this normally a difficult tune to learn? I'm not giving up, but, it pushed me into a little slump. I've moved on to Old Joe Clark and will continue to work on John Hardy. Any suggestions on improving are appreciated.
9 Comments |
 | Craig_B says:
6/6/2016 6:16:46 AM
What part of the tune are you having trouble with? The timing from the pickup notes, or the syncopation of the D-chord part?
I don't personally think of John Hardy as a difficult tune, but there are three things that can trip inexperienced students up: the extended pickup notes (probably the longest pickup lick of any of Murphy's "beginner" songs), the syncopation (and length) of the D-chord part, and the fact that, even though the song is played in the key of G, it starts on the C chord.
If your problem is with the pickup, you can try starting right at the C chord part and go from there until you feel comfortable with the timing of the piece. The nice thing about JH in that respect is that the body of the piece includes that same pickup lick each time it leads to the C chord, so you'll absorb it sooner or later.
The fact that it starts on C doesn't affect timing or syncopation, so I'll skip that.
The last thing is the D-chord part of the song. It can be tricky because it's longer than most people are used to hearing in a song in G, and it starts with repeated 3-note rolls within a standard time signature, which is based on counts of 4, so it ends up with a syncopated feel that can be confusing if you're not used to hearing and playing that sort of thing. Just keep at it, slowly, learning to play it cleanly and evenly. As your tempo increases over time, your ear should be able to start to recognize the pattern. All it takes is practice.
|
 | caseyhenry says:
6/6/2016 6:22:02 AM
John Hardy can be a real bear, in lots of different places. Just keep it slow and try to play along with Murphy on the DVD or Slow Jam as much as possible (slowed down to your speed, of course).
|
 | pickn5 says:
6/7/2016 4:56:49 AM
Craig, thank you for your suggestions. I was able to iron out one of my problems with the turn around by going back over the lesson. I'll keep practicing.
Casey, thank you for your suggestions. I've been trying to play along with Murphy's slow with guitar version slowed down even more. I'll give the Slow Jam version a try. I think I need to listen to the tune more to get the melody in my head.
|
| Craig_B says:
6/7/2016 1:00:08 PM
Keep at it. When it clicks, and it will, it's a real fun tune to play. :)
|
| pickn5 says:
6/9/2016 10:37:45 AM
I really like this tune and want to do it justice. I had a breakthrough today. Using Casey's suggestion to try the Slow Jam is working for me. I was able to hear the melody and the syncopation. I still had to slow it down with my media player to play along, but, I was getting the feel of it. Ah, progress. The slump is over.
|
| Craig_B says:
6/10/2016 2:50:21 AM
Woohoo! That's what I'm talking' about! :)
|
| pickn5 says:
6/11/2016 6:02:19 AM
Thanks Craig, its a great feeling. Still a lot of work to do on it.
|
Tam_Zeb says:
7/27/2016 12:04:05 AM
Hi Jeff
It's been many years since I worked through that lesson but I seem to recall having a few issues with it. One was confusing the tune with John Henry.
I find it helps to hit the rewind button and just listen to the tune over and over. Listen for every note, every slide every pull off, every lick.
The D lick in that tune is pretty neat and a tricky one to get the syncopation right which is all the more important to listen closely.
Don't be afraid to go back to the lesson, and take out the problem section and just work on that. Keep in mind your main goal is not just learning the tune it's learning the foundational skills to play other tunes.
Every lick, roll and pinch you learn in this lesson you will use it again further along your learning path. Take all the time you need to study what it is that Murphy is teaching you. Get it right "mechanically" in your head before you move on.
Speed will come when the time is right, you WILL make lots of mistakes it's all part of the learning process. As Casey and Murphy says take it slow. Work through the problem, if you start to get frustrated, put it aside for a day but come back to it again and again until you figure it out.
Record yourself listen to how you sound. It will be terrible at first but the more you study and practice the better you will become. The key is LISTENING
|
| pickn5 says:
7/28/2016 6:53:27 AM
Thanks Archie,
It's getting better every day. I do need to record myself more to check my progress.
|
Post a Comment
|
You must be logged in and a member of this group to post a comment.
|
