Cinnamon Girl - Songs for Intermediates #21

[Big Ed]

I wanted to let Mr. Hodge know how much fun I'm having with this lesson. It's my first attempt with alternate tuning. I'm lucky enough to have 2 acoustics so I have left one in DOUBLE DROP D tuning and give the lesson a go once the a a day or so the past few days. It's starting to sound pretty good!
I've enjoyed several of Mr. Hodge's lessons and articles on GN. I've learned a lot and had a lot of fun.

Thanks!

[clideguitar]

In example #3 there is a curved line that connects the F5 chord. What does that mean (let it ring?). When the curved line is on top does that mean something else? Thanks, Bob Jessie

[dhodge]

In example #3 there is a curved line that connects the F5 chord. What does that mean (let it ring?). When the curved line is on top does that mean something else?

Hi Bob

That curved line is a "tie." It combines the timing value of the two chords. In this case, it combines two eighth notes into a quarter note. "Letting it ring" works fine in that case.

It doesn't matter if the curved line is on bottom or the top. What does matter is if the notes on both sides of the curved line are the same. If so, then it's a tie. If not, it's a slur. A "slur" is, at least as far as the guitar is concerned, either a hammer-on, pull-off, slide or bend. In Example #2, for instance, the first curved line is a slur, indicating a slide from the first chord to the second one. The second curved line is a tie, indicating that the chord is held for a duration of two eighth notes (just like the one in Example #3).

I hope this helps.

And thanks, Big Ed, for your kind words concerning this lesson and my other work here at Guitar Noise. I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying them and having fun. That's what it's all supposed to be about!

Oh, and please call me "David," okay?

Peace

[clideguitar]

First off, sorry BIGED I didn't mean to steal your thread, I thought I started a new one but mistakenly replied to this.


David, thanks for the explaination. I must admit I might have been a little lazy, I should have it in one of my music books what that symbol means. Great song and great lesson.


Thanks,
Bob Jessie

[dhodge]

You're welcome, Bob!

Don't worry about the "being lazy" - one thing that happens a lot is that someone has a question but doesn't want to ask. Chances are very likely that someone else has the same question and, because no one's asked, goes without an answer. So ask away! Here at Guitar Noise, there's no such thing as a silly question.

And, just so you know, you didn't steal Big Ed's thread. You did start a new one, but in this particular forum we find it helpful to have one thread per song lesson. Makes it easier to see all the tips, ideas, common troubles, etc., from one lesson. So I combined your post with Big Ed's original one.

So you're not imagining things!

Peace

[clideguitar]

Gotcha! The thing I like about this tuning is, even if I'm hitting strings I'm not supposed to, it doesn't sound bad and I don't have to worry about being precise. I'm still a little slow in spots (the riffs) but I have most of it worked out.

Bob Jessie

[clideguitar]

I think I know what the answer is but I'm going to throw this out there anyway.

I worked on this song a long time ago but want to play it at an upcoming party. So, I've started praticing it again and I've got most of it down! The only problem is in RIFF A and RIFF B I can't seem to hit that "C" chord in time? It just seems to take too long to fret? I thought I might be able to get past this because "Silver Bells" was another song where you go way (down?) the Fretboard for the "C" chord and somehow I worked that out. Not in this song though? So, any suggestions?

Bob Jessie

[dhodge]

A possible suggestion for "Riff A" is not to worry about the C chord at all and just go for the C note on the third fret of the A string. Being heavy handed on the bass will certainly make up for the rest of the chord not being there and that one note is more imporatant than the whole chord in this case anyway.

For "Riff B" (and "Riff A" too, for that matter) remember that the C chord in this tuning can be made quickly by barring the first four strings at the fifth fret. You don't get the bass note, but many people find it quicker. So for the C right before the G, go with the barre or even just play C5 again. When you hit the open strings of the G, that should give you plenty of time for the last C chord or you can hit the barre at the fifth fret again.

Hope this helps and good luck at the party. Be sure to post a report of it on the "News" page.

Oh - and I took the liberty of merging this with the previous Cinammon Girl thread so we can keep the GN Lessons
Forum page neat and tidy. Hope that's okay.

Peace

[clideguitar]

David,
Thank you! A quick practice at lunchtime and I think I can do riff A well enough with your suggestion. Riff B, I'm very close to getting to that C in time so I'm going to keep trying that.

The party I'm talking about is JESSIEFEST #20! It's not until Memorial day. This year I'm going to have nieces, nephews (kids) playing and singing so I have some easy songs picked out and need to dumb things down a bit. (This one (Cinnamon Girl) is just me!)

Now I have to go off on a tangent – there is a song “Sweet Jane” by Lou Reed that I wanted to finish with. I was planning on maybe tuning their (kids) guitars to an open G so they could do the D – A – G – B –A – D riff. After you reminded me that fret 5 first 4 strings was “C” then I thought, hmm! “D” must be at 7'th fret (Was I paying attention in your lesson)? So, I tried that Riff with just the high E tuned to D and played the riff and it sounded pretty darn good and very easy to play!
D xx7777
A xx2222
G 32000x
B xx4444
I think I can get someone good enough to play the lead, but, need a singer! I don't know, this may be too hard to pull off but I have a couple of months!Sorry for going off topic (that's what I do) and Thanks again!

Bob Jessie

[dhodge]

Another thing to think of, especially with a rocker like Sweet Jane is to go for just Drop D tuning and teach them the "power chords" on the low three strings (which are all one fret as well in Drop D tuning).

I play this in G, so the chords go

G D C Em D

I think, in your version in D, you might find Bm more to your liking than B, but if you go with a B5 it kind of makes the whole thing moot.

So anyway, if you're playing in D and in Drop D to boot, you'd have

D - 000xxx
A - 777xxx
G - 555xxx
B - 999xxx

Yes, they're all actually "5" or power chords. And with everyone banging out the bass end it should sound very powerful.

Whatever you end up doing, it sounds like it's going to be a very fun time. Looking forward to hearing more about it.

Peace

[clideguitar]

Sounds good and Thanks again.

Bob Jessie