The Videos are bang on, but....

[Chris_Newman]

Dave uses a lot of unnecessary movements when he's playing.

I would suggest that anyone, especially beginners, who is learning this stuff, do not try to copy Dave's style. The videos are great guides, but I can't help but notice on a lot of Dave's songs that he tends to waste energy. A lot of the time, there is an easier way to do it.

I notice this especially because of the Warehouse video. I know that Dave does the verse that way, but it can be played much smoother by not moving the hand at all, rather than moving to the first-position C chord form.

Just a little unsolicited advice.

Take care.
Chris

[fraggle]

That may be true, but a lot of the time it will not sound the same. Mutting, etc.

[gcom007]

dave is such an inefficient guitarist...it's honestly quite pathetic...people who say it's for a reason...ummm, in a word, no...you can make a lot of stuff sound the same if not better playing versions of a more standard variety...

[fraggle]

dave is such an inefficient guitarist...it's honestly quite pathetic...people who say it's for a reason...ummm, in a word, no...you can make a lot of stuff sound the same if not better playing versions of a more standard variety...

I guess to me it makes more sense, that if I am going to play some dave matthews songs, I will play it how he is.

[gcom007]

dave is such an inefficient guitarist...it's honestly quite pathetic...people who say it's for a reason...ummm, in a word, no...you can make a lot of stuff sound the same if not better playing versions of a more standard variety...

I guess to me it makes more sense, that if I am going to play some dave matthews songs, I will play it how he is.

that's all well and good, but his point is that it'd be better for a beginner to stear clear of playing just like dave does

[tomek322]

Dave uses a lot of unnecessary movements when he's playing.

I would suggest that anyone, especially beginners, who is learning this stuff, do not try to copy Dave's style. The videos are great guides, but I can't help but notice on a lot of Dave's songs that he tends to waste energy. A lot of the time, there is an easier way to do it.

I notice this especially because of the Warehouse video. I know that Dave does the verse that way, but it can be played much smoother by not moving the hand at all, rather than moving to the first-position C chord form.

Just a little unsolicited advice.

Take care.
Chris

Chris how can the verse to warehouse be played another way? just wondering.

[fraggle]

dave is such an inefficient guitarist...it's honestly quite pathetic...people who say it's for a reason...ummm, in a word, no...you can make a lot of stuff sound the same if not better playing versions of a more standard variety...

I guess to me it makes more sense, that if I am going to play some dave matthews songs, I will play it how he is.

that's all well and good, but his point is that it'd be better for a beginner to stear clear of playing just like dave does

I disagree. The learning curve may be a bit higher, BUT it will be more rewarding. I am not arguing, its just my opinion.

[Xoosh]

in the end it doesnt really matter how you play it. if it sounds how you want it to sound then by damn it's right

However, i've found that i typically ignore the finger charts adn do what is comfortable for me... im a learner of DMB before kanter, myself, and jpittman took it over so i never had the luxury of finger charts (i never really used kanter's old website too... i did occasionally but rarely), and i just learned what ever way my fingers got there easier... and for me ... i love it ;P

/x

[jkanter]

Dave uses a lot of unnecessary movements when he's playing.

I would suggest that anyone, especially beginners, who is learning this stuff, do not try to copy Dave's style. The videos are great guides, but I can't help but notice on a lot of Dave's songs that he tends to waste energy. A lot of the time, there is an easier way to do it.

I notice this especially because of the Warehouse video. I know that Dave does the verse that way, but it can be played much smoother by not moving the hand at all, rather than moving to the first-position C chord form.

Just a little unsolicited advice.

Take care.
Chris

I am not going to argue that Dave isn't an innefficient guitarist. The thing is, he has an extremely unique style. When playing DMB songs, I personaly think it's cool(and best) to play as Dave does. Now, that is not to say other people's interpretations are wrong or bad, it's just my opinion. I am also not saying, learn this style as your own. When playing DMB songs, I think you should play as Dave does regardless of style because it weilds the best sound(for me at least). I don't think anyone should go about copying his guitar playing style for their own as, like you said, it may be inefficient. Anyway, have a good one....peace

[DmbFanJason]

I used to think that Dave was inefficient as well when I first started, but after I started playing lots and lots of Dave, I have the view point now of doing it the Dave way or no way at all...I used to play a lot of different music(Pearl Jam, Blues Traveler, 3rd eye blind, "my version of a jimi hendrix song" etc...but now just Dave) After that I have found that Dave Matthews is the only musician where that one little bling or blang or chicka or twang or mute or slide makes all the difference in the world...I have found that Dave is soooo amazingly efficient and so talented that he made his songs to where they absolutely cannot altered to sound any better...thats why nobody can really play like Dave, and if you criticize him, its very apparent that you have fallen victim to not being able to play his music...

P.S. kanter....good job on the vids...your hands really do look like Daves hands...sometimes on the vids though the rhythm seems a little off or shaky to me(warehouse verse, nancies verse and "look up at the sky"chorus, stone verse, one sweet world verse...) maybe its your recording device, but I can't hear any of the mutes in the songs...peace

[jkanter]

P.S. kanter....good job on the vids...your hands really do look like Daves hands...sometimes on the vids though the rhythm seems a little off or shaky to me(warehouse verse, nancies verse and "look up at the sky"chorus, stone verse, one sweet world verse...) maybe its your recording device, but I can't hear any of the mutes in the songs...peace

Thanks....First off, I basically just plugged my guitar into the camcorder so I have NO say on the sounds at all....and it is also compressed into MP3. As for the video's, the main thing is that I want people to be able to see how to make the frets and when to make changes. I would have been just as better off leaving out the sound. The video's are there for visuals(and the sound just to hear the changes of chords). If you want to really learn everything about the song, use my video's to figure out the changes and get it down pat....then listen to Dave playing it to really learn the strumming/muting technique. I have never claimed to be able to perfectly replicate his songs, I just do my best at bringing you the right tbas....anyway, have a good one, thanks for the kind words....peace

[dustin]

Iand if you criticize him, its very apparent that you have fallen victim to not being able to play his music...

man you make me sick to come here sometims jason. because someone has a diff opinion then yours doesn't mean can't play it just as good as you do. stop acking like your God at playing the guitar. if david J. matthews would read your post he would think your a idiot. at least thats what i think he would think:) and i've listen to your music yes they are good,but you may play it like dave and you might sing it like dave but your never going to be dave man so do something orignial so we can one day be talking about why no one can be like jason.


thanks dustin sorry for missspellings i'm from alabama

[AnandPatel]

Iand if you criticize him, its very apparent that you have fallen victim to not being able to play his music...

man you make me sick to come here sometims jason. because someone has a diff opinion then yours doesn't mean can't play it just as good as you do. stop acking like your God at playing the guitar. if david J. matthews would read your post he would think your a idiot. at least thats what i think he would think:) and i've listen to your music yes they are good,but you may play it like dave and you might sing it like dave but your never going to be dave man so do something orignial so we can one day be talking about why no one can be like jason.


thanks dustin sorry for missspellings i'm from alabama

nicely said.

[Chris_Newman]

Hey,

I'm glad this opened up such a great discussion. I think the videos are a great thing, or else I wouldn't be looking at them. There are some cases where my way of doing it was inefficient compared to the way jkanter (and presumably Dave) do it - such as the OSW intro.

As for the Warehouse verse, I don't lift my hand completely off the fret board and readjust like Dave does, I bar the 7th fret and play the roots with my other fingers. I just lightly lift my hand at times to get that chunky sound. I find that it flows a lot better that way. If I had a camera on my computer I would upload it somewhere, but alas, I don't.

The other thing I've noticed about Dave's playing from watching the DVDs is that his guitar is turned down really low in the mix and a lot of the times what you think he's playing is actually Butch. Otherwise, the songs wouldn't sound so smooth. So the idea that it wouldn't sound like Dave to not do things the way he does it is kinda silly, in that respect, since Butch tends to play over him. Of course, I could be wrong; that's just how it appears to me.

Chris

[DmbFanJason]

Iand if you criticize him, its very apparent that you have fallen victim to not being able to play his music...

man you make me sick to come here sometims jason. because someone has a diff opinion then yours doesn't mean can't play it just as good as you do. stop acking like your God at playing the guitar. if david J. matthews would read your post he would think your a idiot. at least thats what i think he would think:) and i've listen to your music yes they are good,but you may play it like dave and you might sing it like dave but your never going to be dave man so do something orignial so we can one day be talking about why no one can be like jason.


thanks dustin sorry for missspellings i'm from alabama

What the hell was so "nicely said" about that? the man can't even spell

Naw, just playing...It's like this...a while ago I was at a guitar shop and I was listening to this guy play the guitar that was good at best...and we were talking about musicians and what not, and he was telling me that Eric Clapton was no good...It's like, there is no argument, I mean he is a great musician...but anyway, say you tried to play a sport and you pretty much blew ass at it...would you say that you loved playing that sport and it was a very fun great sport to play??? probably not...I feel thats the same way with some people that criticize Dave Matthews. Now, I am not saying that if you can't play exactly like Dave(or anything close to it, I won't say names) you are going to say he is "inefficient and not that creative", but I am just trying to give yall something to think with as to why people will criticize Dave Matthews' music as well as other musicians'...lata