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Last Friday my grandson Jai was asked to play a guitar solo – his choice – in front of his junior high school the following Tuesday. Being a kid, he decided to learn a whole new song over the weekend and play it…which he apparently did. But that made me think, if someone handed me a guitar and said to play something, what would I play? Nothing would jump out of my mind immediately, and I would be stuck pondering over my repertoire (many of which require a jamtrack) and wondering if I could play some stand-alone solo perfectly. BTW, this did actually happen to me recently.
So it occurs to me that I need to keep maybe 4 stand-alone songs/lessons in my permanent long-term memory, ready for instant recall, so that I can play them flawlessly at any time. I haven’t chosen any yet, but I’m thinking of categories like slap-fret, call-and-response, Piedmont blues, and chord based melodies. The idea is to sound more like a one-man band than a guy noodling around on a string of single notes.
Have you thought about this, and do you have a go-to repertoire that you could comfortably play on a moment’s notice? If so, what is your repertoire?
Sunjamr Steve
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An interesting question Steve, I do keep a written list of approx 12 pieces I’ve learnt over the years but most would need a little practice in order to perform reasonably well. On my list are mostly traditional fingerstyle blues/ragtime pieces such as:- Hesitation Blues, Too Tight Rag, Mississippi Blues, Windy & Warm, Cincinnati Flow Rag, I am a Pilgrim, Hangin with the Girls, Diddy Wa Diddy etc., etc. Plus the inevitable 12 bar slow blues.
These traditional numbers are definitely my ‘go to pieces’ which I play every now and then just to keep fresh in the repertoire. I added one from Brian’s lessons this year and that was St James Infirmary.
Richard
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Learn a fancy blues turnaround, start with the turnaround, then do a 12 bar blues. Next, play Blackbird. Follow that up with a simple chord melody, either one from Active Melody, or something popular such as Over the Rainbow, the theme from Star Trek Voyager, or Amazing Grace. Be prepared to be asked to play a gig.
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If you can’t impress them with what you know, dazzle them with BS……….
Or so the saying goes. I’ve got enough fingerstyle pieces that it will keep me in their good graces. My father in law is a die hard bluegrass fan and he always tells me that I’m playing that “Chet Atkins stuff” and is fascinated that I don’t use a thumbpick
Hard to say that a song is “Chet Atkins stuff” when its titled Dedicated to Mississippi John Hurt LOL
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Ha ha, playing with a thumbpick is like playing with a tennis racket with a right angle bend in it.
Sunjamr Steve
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This might become an interesting list of pieces to learn. I’ve played plenty of Brian’s lessons but I don’t retain them in my memory as there is always a new one coming along. I was thinking only the other day I should actively try to develop a wider and more solid repertoire. Here’s some tunes I play sort of regularly, but I could get better at all of them.
Needle and the Damage Done; Old Man; Out on the Weekend
Windy and Warm
Intro to Stairway to Heaven
A couple of traditional Delta Blues type things
Nobody Loves you when your Down and OutAnybody else got any good pieces?
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Great topic Sunjamr, I’ll usually play something that most people will recognize. Blackbird or Moon Shadow, the intro to Stairway to Heaven is always a hit. But some of Brian’s stand alone pieces are ideal for these situations. Like EP121 that I posted a few months ago.
James
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Hi James, if I could play EP121 as well as you, I would play that as an ‘opener’ every time. No other description than, very well played and ‘damn good’
Richard
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Thanks Richard, a while back, I was in a music store and a young man was blistering the pentatonic scales up and down the fretboard. It sounded really cool. I can’t do that. But it really wasn’t very musical. A little later I played EP121 and he was just amazed. ‘Wow that was so cool? Where did you learn that? Show me what you did. I’ve never heard that kind of song’! It was a neat experience sharing Brian’s catchy tune with that young gunslinger.
James
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