@FD.. Might want to read entire message first because I am eventually going to tell you try to learn this --not-- as a Reggae song... which I think you are probably trying to do.... so I have made some Reggae oriented suggestions. I got distracted writing all this so I hope it makes sense...
Try playing the bass note then the chord. Boom chick. Now you can mute the bass strings to make it even easier and play the chord on the upstrum which can get into a bit of a Ska feel. Very mechanical. That is not Reggae
The way the lesson is taught it's taking a Reggae song ( feel ) and making it an easy strumming Folk song. You probably hear in your head though the Reggae feel of the Marley version.
But the count is always going to be 1 2 3 4. Now the thing is, for the Reggae version the guitar is really playing 1
2 3
4 accents on the 2 and 4. They are down stabs.
The problem is they are singing to the other beats.... so when you try to do it yourself the bass groove is gone and drums with their tick tick tick are gone too.
Sooo... if you want to try to keep a bit of the reggae feel you can try this....
1 - play that as a down strum on the bass strings. Doesn't matter if they are muted or not, but your hand needs to bounce right up. Not a full swing but it still forms a down up movement of your arm.
1 - Down
& - bring hand/arm up but don't strum strings
2 - accented down strum on whole chord
& - upstrum
3 - light regular downstrum on whole chord
& regular upstrum on chord
4 - accented down strum
& - bring hand/arm up without strumming chord and get ready for next 1 with that little thumping bass note up/down action as 1 above. OR... you can strum this up too, muted or not.
Just keep repeating that. None of the chords change mid way. Everything will change on the 1 and because you are muting the bass note it gives you time to form your next chord and be ready for that accented 2.
Alternately... and to get started try this....
Open the book in front of you so your see the words and chord change. Play to this video.. The drum intro leads to the bass coming in on 1. When that comes in play a down strum and bounce up on the bass notes. Muted is fine. Then play the chords on the 2 and 4 as down strums with bass bumps in between. this should feel very natural. Bass chord bass chord bass chord. The chord should always hit where you hear that "skank" ( scratch sound ).
If you get locked in when the lead guitar comes in he will play his note before you strum your chord and your chord -should- sound like it matches. the only exception is the D line over "this is my message..."... just hold your count steady..... If you stay locked up when they sing "Don't worry" you should still be dead on.
If you find you are getting off, you either need to slow down or speed up. Reggae has what is know as the "bubble" and you can actually find yourself either locked to 1/8 or 1/16 notes on this song. either works. It probably depends on how much Reggae you have in your head and if you are hearing the bubble as you play.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGYAAsHT4QENow having said all that... because of the nature of Reggae, if you want to go for that feel, you are going to have certain aspects of the song down cold. Like can you sing it? If so then play -to- your singing that would be ideal. There are just so many parts that create true Reggae and for even advanced players to do it, is very difficult. Most people can not play Reggae so don't feel alone.
This lesson is to get you strumming with 3 popular chords. Justin has the notes right where they need to be. Try singing the song as a ballad. Make the chord change words extend. Exaggerate them.
Don;t worryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy about a thinggggggggggggggggg. Extend the words because they are the root note of the chord that you are playing and will help hold the music up. the other words are other scale tones and could throw you off.
If you have listened to Bob's version very much, then learning this in a Folk method of getting on the beats might seem odd but... if you get it so you can play it on the beats, you will be able to transition to the Reggae feel easier ( as long as you or someone else there can carry the vocal melody )...
But once you get to doing the Reggae guitar solo you either need to be very advanced because most Reggae parts are sparse and complex and while locked to a rhythm, they are not necessarily locked -on- a beat like 1 2 3 4.....
Again, Reggae is a massive rabbit hole that sounds easy but is incredibly intricate so it's no wonder you have problems if you try to play this solo as a beginner in Reggae fashion.
Try to sing and play the song like cowboy lullaby ballad... all your strumming and chords should line up right where Justin has them and with your singing. Once you get the changes down, try singing -to- your playing. By that time you should be strumming well and steady. Just sing to it, if you miss words don't worry, just hum, make noise, but keep strumming in time.
The book tells you to try the off beats after you get through Stage 4. I would not use upstrums if you aspire to learning Reggae. If you are SKA oriented though that would probably be a good idea.
The reason why is because a Reggae player will be chopping down on the strings and there will be a little bounce at the bottom that gets played as an upstroke ( sometimes.. maybe 50% as desired ) and it's only catching the high strings. that's a major difference between SkA and Reggae. SKA might sound like stiff chick chick chick and Reggae will more often sound like swung chicka chicka chicka. This creates two totally different sounds. A good exercise would be to do it both ways until you can keep time and clearly hear the difference.
1st - Folk - Get your strums on the beat
2nd - Try the SKA upbeat strums. You should feel like you are popping like a pogo stick
3rd - Swung skanks chicka style downstrum. This should give you swaying back and forth Reggae feel
Don't expect that to happen over night. At the same time... with this lesson... don't be concerned you don't sound like Bob Marley ( no one else does either ) ... just try to make the song your own with the chords changing smoothly in the proper place as Justin has them notated.
Topic: BS-101 • Three Little Birds - Bob Marley (Read 151063 times)
