Repeating parts of the songs

[Andy H]

I love these guitar lessons! Each time that I finish learning a song I get a huge sense of accomplishment and I am excited to play them for friends and family!
I sometimes wish the songs were a little longer though! I have tried to repeat parts but have never found a way to place a repeat that sounds good. I am a newer player so doing my own changes to the songs and improvising is still a ways away. Does anyone have some good advice for where and how to repeat parts of these songs so that I can make them longer and more interesting for friends to listen to?

[JoLa]

Hi Andy, not sure what particular lessons you’re referring to but a great majority of Brian’s lessons have an A part and B part. If you want to make them last a bit longer, you could simply repeat the whole lesson, i.e. play ABAB or repeat the first part, i.e. play parts ABA.

However, I would strongly suggest you trying to come up with your own parts once you master the original. It is not as hard as you think. Repeat the same chord structure but change the licks and phrases just a little bit or insert your own based on what you’ve learned in the lesson. You could simply jumble the same notes Brian played in any particular spot or copy and paste the licks somewhere else. I promise you it is not as hard as it may seem, your ear will guide you and you just may surprise yourself. It is also very fun to do 😊

🎸JoLa

[sunjamr]

Hey Andy, I’m glad you mentioned this. Many years ago at AM we members decided that quite a few of Brian’s songs could do with a second part or an interlude to extend the length of it. So some of us set about creating longer versions. I think Charjo has done quite a few, so you could check with him and see if he has a list.

As for me, I wrote some second parts, like this one for EP059, Mark Knopfler style. The original jamtrack is useless, so I had to make my own, as will you.

Now days if I want to make a lesson sound longer, I can pretty much just make stuff up on the fly. It won’t be as clever as Brian’s original, but it won’t sound totally stupid either. Another trick is to play the same solo in a different octave. That’s what Brian has done in the bluegrass lesson EP448 (Shady Grove).

Sunjamr Steve

[Richard G]

Hi Andy, in addition to some very good suggestions already, you could compose a simple intro or vamp which you could then use throughout Brian’s lesson. For example:-

Intro/vamp – Verse 1 – vamp – Verse 2 – Outro/vamp

This is probably the simplest way to extend a short lesson. Another way could be to include part(s) of other lessons in the same key, with a similar tempo etc. I use this technique regularly.

Hope that helps,
Richard

[charjo]

Hi Andy,
It does take some level of understanding to get to the point of adding parts.
Early in my AM learning it was all about the minor and major pentatonic scale. Maybe start with a piece that involves creating a few of your your own minor or major pentatonic phrases.
Over the years it has become apparent how important CAGED, triad shapes and arpeggios are. Pay attention to how Brian creates licks and phrases around these shapes to apply to each chord in the progression. Understanding harmonization of the major scale, ie. which chord belong in the key and how to deal with chords that are borrowed from out of key will really help your progress. Don’t be afraid of a little music theory.
Here’s one from very early in my AM days. My version starts at about 1:35.
John

[6stringer Pete]

charjo wrote:

Hi Andy,
It does take some level of understanding to get to the point of adding parts.
Early in my AM learning it was all about the minor and major pentatonic scale. Maybe start with a piece that involves creating a few of your your own minor or major pentatonic phrases.
Over the years it has become apparent how important CAGED, triad shapes and arpeggios are. Pay attention to how Brian creates licks and phrases around these shapes to apply to each chord in the progression. Understanding harmonization of the major scale, ie. which chord belong in the key and how to deal with chords that are borrowed from out of key will really help your progress. Don’t be afraid of a little music theory.
Here’s one from very early in my AM days. My version starts at about 1:35.
John

Had your own that was pretty cool I enjoyed listening to it.

The melody of the notes is what expresses the art of music . 🙂 6stringerPete

It really is all about ”melody”. The melody comes from a language from our heart. Our heart is the muscle in music harmony. The melody is the sweetness that it pumps into our musical thoughts on the fretboard. 🙂 6 stringer Pete

Pete
Active Melody
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[John H]

Andy
What I do is (I suppose you are using a DAWS) and can drop Brian’s MP3 files into lest say your GarageBand, IK Multimedia, BAND IN A BOX or whatever you use. If you don’t I would recommend doing it. That way you can copy and paste or extend the length of Brian’s backing tracks and play along with for hours on end. Additionally, you can loop trouble spots and play over them no matter how short until you master it with endless repetition. That way you have complete control over the duration, length of the backing track.

John

[Sal]

Been listening to a lot of Nick Drake songs lately, and I notice he repeats the first verse at the end of his songs! Trying to play his music is a little complicated as his tuning and timing signature are really different from anything we usually try to do!!

[Author]

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