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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
 Posted - 09/26/2017 : 9:02:43 PM
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| One more thing: Slipry1 says that playing music is subjective: what we play and what we want to play can be 2 different things. That's why Ledward laughs when he plays, because he surprises himself. |
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JackSprat
Aloha
USA
6 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2017 : 11:46:54 AM
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Geoff, I recommend grabbing those tabs Duke mentioned for "Ku'uipo Onaona" and "Slack Key Hula". I'm lucky enough to be one of his haumana and those two are a great foundation to see how you can take pieces from your inventory and work them into the chord progression in those two songs. You mentioned "inventory" and Duke likes to hammer that point home - every time you pick up a tab or figure out a lick you like, you get another tool in your improv toolkit. One thing I've promised myself is to never say, "I can't do that."
Personally, I think tabs are awesome, as long as you can appreciate their limitations (hard to show timing and ringing notes). My ear needs work, too, so I try to marry up the tab with the wealth of examples on YouTube to figure out the "right" way to play a song. Once you get a new song down, take those bits & pieces and see how they fit in other songs you already know. That's the best way I've seen to figure out "why" songs are put together the way they are, and then how to do some tweaks to them, based on things I like.
And as for guitar playing being like a vast ocean - totally agree, but that's what makes it so cool. It's really a limitless instrument. It can seem daunting, but I'd say just take one paddle stroke at a time, rather than focusing on that big scary ocean. Thanks for starting this conversation - you're saying what a lot of people probably feel. :-) |
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kihoaluatl
Akahai
USA
57 Posts |
Posted - 10/01/2017 : 4:55:04 PM
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I can certainly identify with having no one to play along with. I have not found any kihoalu players here in Georgia. So I mostly play along with YouTube, first learning to play the backup parts to get the chord changes, then moving on to the melody. It is surprising how much easier it is once you get the chord changes then playing arpeggios with the melody. Watching and listening to other styles of common songs has helped to keep things interesting when I hit a block.
I am amazed that there is no limit to playing three chord G, C, D. Keep it up, I have been playing the same songs for nearly ten years starting with memorizing the tabs and now I find myself adding bits from the different styles when I practice. I can't say exactly when that happened but I find that I can now listen to a song and am able to pick out the chords with relative ease. All I can say is that practice does pay off. |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 10/02/2017 : 8:46:39 PM
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I've been playing the same tunes since I learned them in 1974. Something new always falls off of the guitar (that's why it's good to play on a drop cloth). YouTube, the 'patch, books, CDs, weren't available. For over 20 years, I played Hawaiian music by myself (unless I got a Bluegrass buddy to play rhythm). Keep searching, keep practicing, keep talking it up.
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akinoguy
Aloha
USA
19 Posts |
Posted - 10/12/2017 : 3:00:22 PM
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| It is certainly a lonely pursuit if you don't live in the islands, and outside small spots in California. Even here on the desert side of Los Angeles at the edge of the Inland Empire near the Cajon Pass. At least, I know a fellow Taropatch member about an hour away who plays much better than I do. |
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Eh, any you guys remembah da old kine 'patch?
