dave's fingerings on grey st, billies...

[Jay]

the more i play, the more i notice that dave plays overly complicated things, but he usually has a reason...

how many of you use dave's fingerings on grey street and billies for the 2xx2xx, 3xx4xx, 5xx6xx, 7xx7xx chords? i use my first finger for the e string, and my second or 3rd finger depending on the chord (middle finger for 2xx2xx, ring finger for 3xx4xx).

the thing is, i end up hearing these slides between chords because i am using the same fingers....is it worth re-learning these songs the "dave" way? i want this stuff to sound as good as it can, and the slides - even though they are really quiet - are still there...

do many of you play it "like dave"?

[Pickles]

i dont. i dont hear those slides either. maybe its the elixirs

[m98ter]

I dont play them that way either, mainly cause I can't tell a big difference between the two, and using the same two fingers for all of them is alot easier. On a side note though, I do play them the "dave" way for Two Step's part with the chords. Something about the way he plays that makes it necessary to do it to get the right rythm.....least if you ask me anyway.

[Corona5k1635]

I use the dave way all the time for smoother looking stuff. and i get tons of slide sound anyway. its whatever you want i guess. but i dont think you'll cut down much slide noise if you switch. i just like doin' it the dave way..its more controlled...but ..just in my opinion.

dave

[Jay]

i think for grey st it will cut out the slide noise, at least the one i am making...because in stead of moving your hand to a new chord, you just plop down new fingers.

[Speenis]

WOW!!! I'm really surprised to see that some people that frequent this site don't play these chords the Dave way. It's so easy once you learn it. And I know most of you can play the nature intro to billies and the verse, which is a lot harder to learn than playing those chords the Dave way. It took me a few hours to learn those chords, and a few days for the nature intro, and months for the verse. I don't see why you people don't play them like that. Jay is right, he plays it like that for a reason, and if you can't hear the slide(shane!) then I'm afraid you're going deaf, cuz I remember how annoying that used to be.

[Jay]

this sucks though, i've known grey street for like 8 months and now i feel like a baby with a lawnmower....i dont know what to do and i am afraid i will hurt myself...

i hate relearning songs...i noticed a few days ago that i learned minarets wrong, and rather than fix it i've stopped playing it. i'm hoping i will forget it and i can start from scratch...

[Speenis]

Believe me, I know what ya mean. I did the exact same thing. I guess I wanted to learn grey street as fast as possible. What I usually did was place my index and middle fingers on the 2xx2 and my ring finger and pinky on the 3xx4, and just hold them there for a while. I would just strum those chords for a while for practice, but not really trying to play a song, just strummed them a bit. Also, the intro to Billies is a good place to start, because it isn't as quick as grey street. And by the intro, I don't mean the Nature intro, just the normal intro before the verse.

[Jay]

good idea with billies....but i'm going to bed...grey street is making me mad....my fingers keep playing D strings instead of G's.

i played through Grey really slow, and there is something special about this fingering....i feel more "in touch" with the song, instead of sliding around....

[Speenis]

Yeah, it feels like your left hand is in sort of a more rhythmic pattern. It kind of flows with your other hand more. Kind of like the Stone.

[mbgreen]

I too am a bit suprised that some of you regulars still slide on these chords. Before I found dmbtabs, I was sliding. Relearning was kind of a bitch, but in the long run its well worth it...I definitely recommend learning to play those chords the way dave does. It makes it a lot easier once you get it down, and improves finger dexterity. Why slide if it isn't necessary? It makes a noticeable difference with rythm too...

Plus if an asshole like me sees you sliding, they'll automatically write you off as an amateur, no matter what you sound like.

[Speenis]

I too am a bit suprised that some of you regulars still slide on these chords. Before I found dmbtabs, I was sliding. Relearning was kind of a bitch, but in the long run its well worth it...I definitely recommend learning to play those chords the way dave does. It makes it a lot easier once you get it down, and improves finger dexterity. Why slide if it isn't necessary? It makes a noticeable difference with rythm too...

Plus if an asshole like me sees you sliding, they'll automatically write you off as an amateur, no matter what you sound like.

Much better put than me.

[ryopan]

man, its nuts that this popped up like it did because i was just about to pose that very question. i have been sliding but like two days ago while jamming to some billies i thought "hey, i bet dave does it this way" and started the switch over. grey street gave alittle trouble for some reason but its all good. man, it just goes to show you that old people, while slow and dangerous behind the wheel still can serve a purpose. dont yall go dyin on me... 8)

[DMBFan63]

I use the dave way also. It really helped me build my pinky up. it makes the song flow better too.. either way works though.

[Roastbeef]

Playing GS with just a two finger slide makes it sound horrible. You need to nail the index/ring and middle/pinky transition to make it sound good. I have a Grey Street post in Recording & Critiquing forum. Here's the MP3:

Grey Street.mp3

I'm playing this with a variation of "Dave way". I play it like this:

Code: Select all

e:--
B:--
G:-7 <--Pinky
D:-0
A:-x
E:-7 <-- Ring

e:--
B:--
G:-4 <--Index
D:-0
A:-x
E:-3 <--Ring

e:--
B:--
G:-6 <--Pinky [Edit]
D:-0
A:-x
E:-5 <--Middle [Edit]

e:--
B:--
G:-2 <--Middle
D:-0
A:-x
E:-2 <--Index

On the "And she says 'Hey!'", "She says 'I pray!'", and the "But she says 'Please!'" parts I switch to full chords to add a little umph and mimic the sax and violin parts:

Code: Select all

e:-2----3---------2
B:-3----3----2----3
G:-4----0----2----2
D:-4----0----2----0
A:-2----2----0----0
E:------3---------2

The fingering is only half of this song. Nailing the rhythm/strumming pattern is the second part. This is by far one of my favorites though...