Hey Friend,
Well, some is better than none… right?
I hoped to have a video done for you of the picking pattern we’ll use throughout “Aubrey” by Bread. But you know what they say about having “hope in one hand and $%&+ in the other…"
The house served up a heaping pile of “fun” for me…
I think it was testing my commitment, and I have to admit, I got pretty frustrated. Even though nearly EVERYTHING in this house has been replaced, it really sucks when the replacements decide to quit on you, too.
Whatever.
I was able to get tabs done up, so that’ll have to do for the time being.
I’ve noted the finger usage with the classical “pima” notation we talked about last week.
Quick refresher:
P = Pulgar/Thumb I = Indice/Index M = Medio/Middle A = Anular/Ring E = Mignolo/4th (pinky)
Set your metronome to 60 beats per minute (BPM). If you don’t have a metronome, use this.
Or get one for your phone (just search your respective App Store and look for a free metronome).
When you look at the tabs, the first system (the first four measures in the tabs) is set to quarter notes so you can get used to the pattern.
Even though the tempo stays the same throughout the exercise, less notes feels like it’s slower to play. This will help you train your ears to hear the tempo and adjust your timing to match plucking each note.
It’s REALLY important to pay attention to timing in relation to when you pluck a note. You don’t want to “lead” the note (pluck before the beat) or lag behind it because it will throw off the flow of the song.
There are times when leading or lagging on the beat works and serves the riff, but now is not one of those times!
After the first system, you’ll double the finger activity, since I’ve changed the notes to eighth notes instead of quarter notes, to match the format of the song.
Here are the exercises:
(You can download them to your computer, too)
Again, the plucking pattern is thumb, thumb, index and middle together, thumb on the respective strings. Follow the tabs and listen to the MP3 to hear what it’s supposed to sound like.
Let me know if you have any questions or need help getting the pattern down.
Peace~
Dave
P.S. A word about using a metronome. FREAKIN’ USE IT! Timing is a CRITICAL skill when playing any musical instrument. I can’t stress this enough.
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