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Just a simple (not very good) recording. I've been practicing finger picking and this is the first song I've learned. Just wanted to see if anyone had any tips on how i can improve.

Thanks a bunch,
Naomi Sue

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8568839

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

Hello NaomiSue

I think its great that you are learning to play, My only suggestion to you is to learn about meter and timming, its the math that allows you to play with other musicians


Paul Gaines AKA Shooter

I can't comment on the guitar as I am no expert at that for sure, but I do know I loved the vocals. Very nice...
Kim

Naomi,

The finger picking sounds really good -- and your singing is fine as always. Way to go.

What Paul is alluding to above is that using a metronome will teach you to keep things steady and make it easier to play with others. When I counted off to your song, I noticed you weren't starting phrases near the "one" beat (or you were adding 2-bar phrases here and there). While this is only a inconvenience when you are by yourself (ha, ha), it is important to know where that "one" is if you are playing with others.

Good job, keep it up!!!!!

Kevin

Thanks Paul, Kim, and Kevin. Just one question though and it maybe be silly (imagine that) but a click track will work in place of a metronome right? I mean they're pretty much one in the same, right? or am I way off?

A click track will be your metronome for recording purposes -- same thing. If you can, make the "one" beat sound different. It helps in 3/4 and 4/4 songs (OK, all songs). I lose count all the time when I play (LOL!). It seems to me that sometimes you are playing this one in 3/4, but then it drifts to 4/4 -- but I am really not too good at this counting and paying attention stuff.

Kevin

Kevin

You're comin' along fine Naomi! Keep it going...

Yeah, the vocal is very good.

John

Sounding Great Naomi......thanks for sharing......Gus

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL RENDITION YOUNG LADY ... BEAUTIFUL

Dan

Good to see you back! Vocals are very pretty, and good for you for keeping up your playing.



redwing

HI,

Your vocal is quite pretty, thank you for sharing this great song with us.

Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

Girlfriend,
I tell you what, you can sing good. You got a timber/quality to your voice that no one could teach you. That is the kind of thing you are born with on not.
Screw all that keeping time. That will come when you can do it better. My only advice on the finger picking and playing guitar in general, is to do it day and night. There just ain't no substitute for playing the guitar for a million/billion hours.
If you have friends who play the guitar have them teach you everything they know.
Look up tabs of your favorite songs on the internet and learn to play as many songs as you can. That teaches you progressions too and song structure (verse, chorus, bridge)too.
Naomi, I am not being patronizing when I say you have serious inate talent when it comes to this songwriting thing. Just the way you write is interesting and unusual and grabs the listeners attention. How far you push your talent is up to you. Actually if you get bit by this songwriting bug it is as much a curse as a gift. It is consuming and other parts of life suffer. But if you have the fire in you go for it.
I see that you are collaborating a lot. That is a good teacher in that it pushes you to work on your melodies. But I see you at your best probably doing both lyrics and melody. You can just create a very compeling world in your songs.
By the way, I think Amazing Grace is tied as the most beautiful melody ever written with "I'm so lonesome I could cry" by Hank Williams.
Tom

Naomi, this was just breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL both in the guitar picking and your lovely voice! I liked how you paused between the 1st and 2nd line, and again between the 3rd and 4th line of each verse. I noticed too, that you incorporated just the right amount of vibrato from time to time, really nice! You were right on top of those high notes, good pitch. Well Sis, you waaaay surpassed me on guitar picking, and I've been attempting it for years, so it shows the work you've put into it. Good job!

BTW, I still listen to "My Hand (Yours For the Taking)". Just love what you did on that song!

Very pretty, Naomi. Seems like just a little while ago that you were starting to think about learning fingerpicking - so you are making good progress.

Tom's advice was right on - doing it as much as possible is the way to get good at it. This is easiest to do by playing songs that you like - over and over again.

I was never any good at reading tabs - I could never get the syncopation right. So I listened to and watched what others were doing. Now there are places on the web where you can both see the tab and hear an audio file. I picked up a few new picking patterns that way. Ssdly, I don't remember the site but I probably found it by doing a google search on guitar and fingerpicking.

Nice to see you back.

Scott

I don't how to tell you anything about finger picking, but I can say this sounded really good. Beautiful voice! I love this song and really enjoyed it.

Charles

I LOVE your voice! Keep this sound I love it!

Thank you everyone for taking the time to listen and all of the wonderful things you've said. I know practice makes perfect so I fully intend on practicing until i'm the best I can be at it. Thanks again!

Naomi Sue

Well as everyone has said the vocal sounds great.

Timing is just as important in a song as anything else. As Kevin pointed out, you have put a couple of extra beats in at a few points in the song. They are between the lines of vocals - right at the beginning - Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, (two extra beats) that saved a wretch.... I would guess that you are waiting to complete some portion of your finger picking before proceeding.

The finger picking itself is coming along nicely. Try working on rolling back down near the end of each phrase. In other words, you are picking on 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 & but the red &s are not being heard - try picking them with your first finger on the string below the highest one you went to. You should roll up and then back down each time (at least that is a good way to do it)....

Hard to explain this stuff from 500 miles away!

and your picking is coming along just great, i love it

Beautifully sung Naomi.

Can't comment on the picking.. I'm no muscian.

One day you may sing one of my songs.. I live in hope


God Bless Roy

Naomi Sue...

Since I am not a guitar guy I cannot comment technically on your pickin...but I can surely say that you have progressed nicely...As far as the practicing goes the best inspiration I ever had was from my piano teacher who quoted a pretty famous pianist by the name of Arthur Rubinstein who said..."If I don't practice for a day...I notice it....If I don't practice for two days my audience notices it.."

Sounding good girl...

Larry

Heck you already pick better me, great singing too

Hey Naomi Sue,

I'm afraid I can't give you any advice on the pickin', but you're singin' one of my favorite songs, so just listenin' to your vocal was good enough for me.

Keep at it...sounds like you've received some good pointers.

Ciao for now,
Beth

Hi Naomi

I think that your guitar work is starting to pay off - do as much work as you can. You won't regret one minute of if. Well done. Jm

Nice voice, really nice. This song always makes me want to sing harmony...

As far as the guitar goes, I've been playing and teaching for 30 plus years, and here's my standard speil for someone who's at the stage you seem to be at.
Remember that you're learning to do two different things at once. (And when you’re singing, three.)
So practice them separately, as well as together.

As far as the left hand goes, you seem to know the chords, but there's a little pause as you switch. Very standard obstacle.
The best way to address it is to practice the left hand alone.

Don't sing or pick. Just strum once per chord and let your left hand get the confidence to change chords without you having to consciously think about it.
It's muscle memory, a lot like typing.
And -- this is important -- to facilitate that muscle memory development, when you're changing chords to practice up the left hand, don't think about switching the whole chord.

Instead, as you strum, think about where just one finger in the first chord will wind up in the second chord.
When you know the chords, as you seem to, the rest of the hand will follow if you let it. Before long, you won't have to think about how to change chords you're familiar with at all.

As far as the right hand goes, well, it's muscle memory too.
So grab one chord and practice one picking pattern until anyone else within hearing distance starts throwing things at you.
The trick is, once you learn the pattern, to practice it looking at your hand as little as possible.
Concentrate on listening to what the pattern SOUNDS like as you play, not what finger follows what finger.
After awhile, your fingers will do what they need to do to get that sound.

Remember: Practice. Practice. Practice. But practice with a purpose.

Hi Naomi Sue,

Your playing is coming along nicely. As has been stated, timing is important but I wonder, are you putting those pauses in there on purpose, or just not keeping track of the beats? Before saying not to do that, maybe it was intentional? Either way, you know what you have to do and practicing is really paying off. Well done!

Ricki

Naomi Sue,

Very, very pretty, indeed! You have a full, rich voice that fills the vocal space without over-saturating it. That's nice.

As far as the guitar picking...you've already received some good advice from several folks. I'm a pretty decent player but a horrible teacher. The only thing I can say is that keep practicing the chord changes with your left hand. At this point, let the rolling of the fingers on the right hand wait. No matter how good that roll becomes, if you don't get to the chords smoothly with the left hand, it is for naught. Just strum the chord with your right hand until the chord changes become relatively smooth with the left hand. I worked on smooth chord changes several hours a day, every day, for 6 months when I first started playing. It paid off as once I gained the confidence I needed with my chord changes, the right hand mechanics just fell into place with minimal effort. The right hand just naturally followed. For me the point at which my playing began to sound good was when I became comfortable with the left-hand chord changes and I could do it smoothly and without much thought. Everything else took off from there.

For what it is worth, that's what worked for me.

Again, a very, very nice sing! Good luck with the pickin'!

Alan

Thanks again for taking a listen. Colin I'm pretty sure I understand what you're saying so thank you for the advice. The pauses were intentional but I guess I'll leave them out. Joyboy thanks for the advice it helps a lot. Thank you to everyone else who listened and your wonderful comments.

Naomi Sue

Oh! The pauses were intentional! Glad the advice is still helpful. You really do this song well.