For the beginners..

[improv]

Hey all...read posts in here a lot over the last year or two..but finally wanted to post. There are some great tips by everyone shared in here...and a lot of them are positioned at players with moderate to advanced ability playing Dave. But I was thinking of a post for the person that comes to the board here that is a rookie...but wants to play some Dave.

In my mind, the corner stones of learning some Dave songs as a rookie is learning the strumming "percussion" sound, and the muting. The streches and "dave" style scles used in Satellite and Warehouse can come as the person progresses.

In choosing what songs to begin to learn, I would select: Gray Street, WTWE, #41, and two step. Now I know some of the pros would say..."well those songs have some streches in them.." True, but the difference is for the rookie, don't worry about playing as Dave does right now. First, work on the rythem and the muting. In the four songs I mentioned above...instead of playing the full chord as listed in the tab section simply play the low E and the G string to make the same chord...as done in the Gray Street Tab for the Verse.

#41 would be like this

Code: Select all

E:--------------------------------
B:--------------------------------
G:---5-----7-----7---x--0h4--x---- 
D:---x-----x-----x---4--x----0h4-- 
A:---x-----x---7-7---5--5----5---- 
E:-5-5---7-7-----x---------------- 

WTWE

Code: Select all

E:-----------------------------------
B:-----------------------------------
G:---7-----6-------12-----11----9----
D:---x-----x-------x-------x----x----
A:---x-----x-------x-------x----x----
E:-7-7---5-5---/12-12-----10----9----

Two Step

Code: Select all

E:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
G:-10---7/9----2/7---5---3----
D: -x----x------x--x---x---x-----  Repeat
A: -x----x------x--x---x---x-----
E:-10---6/8----1/6---5---3----   

The idea is progression...and this (although obvious to many here I know) is a good starting point. I hope this is helpful, heck somebody may have posted this same thing last week...and anyone feel free to add suggestions or ideas. but ya know...I feel like a boy scout that just helped an old lady across the street. Ahhh...good deed.

improv

[gumbomadness]

good help for the rookies. welcome.

[SpoonInSpoon]

DMBTabs, welcome to it.


good advice, my friend.

[improv]

thank ya...nice to be part of the crowd instead of just a *shadow*

[a1075dd63aa12]

good help for the rookies. welcome.

[deceptivehero]

good help for the rookies. welcome.

nice idea to help people.

[MWR]

don't worry about playing as Dave does right now. First, work on the rythem and the muting.

[bartrum]

Yeah--I can't make that strech on the first chord in #41. I usually just do this: 5X35XX and think it sounds ok to me (I'm usually the only person who hears my guitar playing anyways). I think sometimes people are a little too hung up on playing it exactly like Dave.

[filmdude100cms]

yeah good job on that man. back in the day when i couldnt quite get the verse on tripping billies, i had a picking way of doing it that sounded nice... lemme see if i can dig that up for the newbies at this.

[filmdude100cms]

Code: Select all

--------------------------------------------------
-----2--------------3------3----------------------
-----2--------------2------0------0---------------
-----2------2--0--------0------0------------------
--0------4------------3------2--------0-----------
--------------------------------------------------

----------------0--------------------------------- 2x then into chorus 
------------3-------------------------------------
------------2--------2--4-------------------------
----2---0-----------0---0-------------------------
-4------------------------------------------------
---------------------2---3------------------------ 

there we go, thats a simpler form to play the billies verse.

[improv]

yup...nice addition!

[tommymal]

I am having trouble understanding how to mute notes as I have no formal training. Any suggestions? Can you try to work me through this as if I am a complete moron!
Also can anyone eleborate on the Big Eyed Fish tab. It just doesn't seem correct when compared to the original studio recording I have of the tune, especially when Dave first starts the song.
Where is the instructional video!!!!!

[Kukini]

If I had a video I would record BEF for you but it's really simple. Just keep your indes on pinky fretting and have your middle and ring mute E,G,B, and E. By muting I just mean lay them softly over them so when strummed, they don't vibrate. As for the chorus, the Bm chord is played a little shorter than the other three. AIM me sometime if you need more advice.

[improv]

As for the muting question...here are my suggestions. I'm gonna try to make this as simplistic and step by step as I can. Grab your guitar...hope this helps u out....

First, experiment which fingering feels comfortable for you. The tabs I listed above use only two fingers...but which two fingers you use can be different (although in respects to progression of the fuller chords Dave plays , some are better to use than others). Anyway, lets assume you are playing the chord with your pointer and middle fingers. That leaves your ring and pinky fingers free.

Lets say you are playing this Amin varient:
E:--------- r p
B:--------- i i
G:---5--- n n
D:---x---- g ky
A:---x---- fgr
E:---5---

Again, the Low E will be freted by your pointer and the G by your middle finger. Now, simply lay down your ring finger and pinky down as the tab shows above. Strum the chord. Are you only hearing the two strings ring? The trick to continously muting well is yup...you guessed it...practice. To float up and down the neck on slides and quick transitions while muting well takes a conditioned response of your fingers just sitting where they need to sit. Using the tabs listed in this post...you should be able to pick it up pretty quick though. Good luck

[Kukini]

My pinky and ring stick straight out, I mute everything with my index.