Participate in the October 2024 Site Member Challenge!

[Brian]

Hi Active Melody family!

It’s October, 2024 Site Member Challenge time!

For this month’s challenge, I thought it would be really fun for everyone to take the song, “When the Saints Go Marching In” and create your own arrangement of it. You can create something with multiple tracks (rhythm / lead), or you can create a stand-alone guitar composition version of it.

I don’t want to tell you what key to play it in, what tempo, what chord arrangement… you should figure it out and create the version you want! Jazzy, bluesy, country, classical, rock … so many ways you could arrangement the melody of that song!

The submission date for this challenge will be Sunday, November 10 – you can start submitting Friday, November 8

**If you need assistance with how to record yourself and post to the forum see this post**

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GROUND RULES FOR PARTICIPATION:

1. Post your Youtube, Vimeo, or Soundcloud links of you playing your chosen lesson anytime between Friday, November 8, through Sunday, November 10, 10:00 pm CST. Please do not submit earlier. I think it is fun to see everyone’s posts at once.

2. Submit individually in the “Active Melody Member Challenge Response Submissions” forum. Title your posts “October 2024 Challenge Response – [Your AM Screen Name]”

3. Please submit only a single video or audio file for this challenge.

4. Have fun and don’t be intimidated by these challenges!!! Use these challenges to help you set goals and complete them by a deadline. You can also use this as an opportunity to chat with your fellow Active Melody members and share tips or tricks on this challenge that you think are useful.

5. In my opinion, it is better to show progress versus perfection with these challenges. So if you are a beginner and can only play the first couple of measures. That is completely ok. If you play two more measures of the next challenge piece than you did the previous one, you are on track to getting better. This is what these challenges are about…you learning guitar and getting better. Remember we are all here to support you no matter what your current playing level is.

I look forward to seeing everyone’s posts! 🙂

[sunjamr]

Sounds like fun! But it could be difficult: In my mind, all I can hear is a brass band marching down the road in a New Orleans funeral procession. I love this version from Preservation Hall:

Sunjamr Steve

[Michael L]

Great version Steve! Thanks for posting.
For me, the quintessential version was from a demo cassette tape that came with a Panasonic cassette recorder when I was a kid. I listened to this a lot way back then. I still hear some of the melodies in my head every time I think of this song. Can you find EVERYTHING on YouTube!?

[sunjamr]

That sounds a lot more polished than a typical New Orleans street band. But it’s amazingly good quality, all things considered.

Sunjamr Steve

[Manfred M]

Not to forget Brian’s lesson about this song:

How to Improvise Around a Melody – When The Saints Go Marching In – Guitar Lesson EP385

It’s such a great lesson and so much fun to play ….. and possibly helps to get all these brass out of the head.

Take the chance to meet your AM friends on Zoom
The next Meetup is expected to take place in November 2025

There will be a detailed announcement here in the forum in good time.

I look forward to meet you.
Manfred

[Denise]

The only way for me to do this is to rock this song up with a straight 4/4 beat!
Denise

More Blues!

[Andy N]

Go for it Denise! Get on that bridge pickup and turn it up to 11 👌

[John H]

Denise
You need to break out “Chetty” and get some slapback delay going on there. Rockabilly style.

John

[Robert G G]

Brian,

Thanks for the fun and educational project. It gave me an opportunity, and challenge, to play my resonator. I’ve only had it two months. Excuse my voice. But, been playing guitar for a while. I have always coveted the sound of slide guitars and resonators. Like the man said you can play in any open chord for hours and not get bored.

I played Saints in open D. The same key as Feelin’ Bad Blues.”

I love Delta blues and so many past players that left us their body of work. My favorite movie/album is “Crossroads”. I had to learn Cy Rooders “Feelin’ Bad Blues.” What a classic.

My resonator is an inexpensive one, but I had it set up by a master. He set the first three frets for me to finger and chord easier than the rest of the neck for slide. He is great. He adjust’s each string at the nut.

I wanted percussion but didn’t have drums. So I beat on my resonators strings while it set on my lap like a dobro. I forget what that’s called. Mine is a round neck. It’ a Pyle, spider cone with a walnut body. I wanted a mellower sound then the solid brass.

I recorded everything thru a Focusrite Scarlette 4. With GarageBand DAW on my older iMac. Not knowing what I was doing I made the file too big. Thus the abrupt cutoff at the end.

Enjoy all AND buy a resonator. Soooo much fun and if you have soul, you can beat songs and rhythms out of it. Love it.

Best to all….

Robert G G

[Michael L]

Hi Robert, great submission and slide/resonator sound.

You probably want to re-post this in the Active Melody Member Challenge Response Submissions section of the forum. Not too many will find your submission here.

Best,
Michael

[Robert G G]

Thanks Michael. Be well…

[Author]

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