Lightfoot tribute, "If you could read my mind" - July Patreaon

 

Your summer guitar project - strum along with a Lightfoot tune.

This Patreon post has embedded links to technique reels and videos, along with chord sheets.

Have a great summer.

Enjoy!

If you could read my mind Patreon, Gordon Lightfoot

Wildwood Flower -April 2023 Patreon

Bluegrass classic by the Carter family.

Post features audio jam tracks & video for play-along.

Also a new feature from an app called Strum Machine, that gives a chord chart for the tune and an in-rhythm audio of the chord progressions.

Below is the link to the video on my YouTube. It's just 1 rep. But you can loop the video keep repeating thru the mini-player function:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP5cl8uOnHs&list=PLgbH3RzNEUKWw98-1CL33hE83nPe178k9

Here's the link to the full Patreon post:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/wildwood-flower-82077045

This unit used the arrangements in Steve Kaufman's 'Bluegrass Instrumentals' Band in a Book series. Highly recommend for fairly easy to work up ensembles. Also great for family practicing.

Be thou my Vision - final March Patreon post

This beautiful hymn is based on an Irish folk tune, Banks of the Bann.'

 The sacred lyrics are old enough. There are also original folk lyrics.

Regardless of how you know this tune, it's a great one to add to your repertoire.

I used an arrangement in drop D tuning for this study unit.

Patreon post features links and attachments for: audio jam tracks for playing along. short technique videos. video fingerstyle solo, tips on chording along with it. Link below:

Be thou my vision lesson on Patreon

Harfoot Song - Patreon post Feb 2023

Mar 3 is basically Feb 31, right?!

Finally got around to developing a lesson on Nori's song, 'This Wandering Day,' from the Rings of Power series on Amazon, prequel to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Song composed by Bear McCreary.

There's sheet music available out there for piano with guitar chords and piano melody. But not specifically for guitar. Or that break down strum, fingerings etc. for guitar.

My Patreon study has links to sheet music marked up for guitar, audio strum & melody jam tracks, short demo videos for guitar and soprano uke.

Also the usual performance notes, tips and list of gear, apps.

One thing I discovered while working this up is that the chord fingerings in this Bb major key signature is probably easier on uke than on guitar. 

The background on this song is that it's a working song to provide motivation for these tiny denizens of 2nd age Middle Earth, progenitors of the Hobbits, for loading up their belongings & migrating by push or pull cart. So a small portable instrument like a uke works well.  Even tho the song is an a cappella solo, for some reason I'm hearing a small ukulele orchestra in my head. Maybe a few around a Harfoot campfire at end of a travel day. Or perhaps a tribute in later generations to the endurance of their ancestors.

Here's the link to the Patreon post: 

Harfoot Song lesson, LTG Patreon

I've put a stylized variation up on YouTube as a playalong:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGOxPUnl7W0&t=3s

New Patreon page - starts with Christmas uke play-along, 'Down in Yon Forest

I've been hesitant to build traffic to the home studio. Close family member came down with covid 10 days before Christmas. Second (positive) finally gone today, a full 15 days later. And this person was careful too, up to date on shots, etc. Not to get public health political, but it's not over.

So have decided to put fully supported play-alongs online for Patreon subscribers. I'll keep putting up little hints and tips on the socials. But I guess this is reasonable with respect to the amount of time that goes into them. Here's the link to my Patreon page. Here's the Yon Forest post.

My first Patreon post is a Christmas play-along for uke. I've done it on banjo uke. It's a slightly lesser known tune, ' Down in Yon Forest.' Canadians will perhaps recognize as a Bruce Cockburn Christmas offering.

It's adapted from Steve Kaufman's Smokey Mountain Christmas. Steve has 2 volumes of this, 1 for guitar, and 1 for mandolin/violin. I just adapted the notes and chords for ukulele.

The collection includes a breakout solo for the instrument on each song. My play-along includes finger-picked melody and chording files, as well as a combined clip. I also did a separate set for the solo part. Found a new app for combining audio files, BandLab. I'm kind of analog for doing it on phone. But it's working great for me on computer.

The main song is pretty easy, altho in Dm with the Bb in it. Here's a link to jpgs taken on phone cam for partial screenshot of sheet music. Album includes jpg of charts of chords used, as well as chord 'map,' which shows the order of the chords in song. Also a badly aligned video clip of the solo. 

The book is well worth it, with fresh arrangements for what can be over-played Christmas tunes. You can get the book or ebook on MelBay.com.

My goal is to post something fresh to the Patreon once a month. It's a toe in the water. See what you think!

And by all means shoot me a note if you have a play-along you'd like to see, or an explainer developed.