Nirvana "Come As You Are"



Kurt Cobain

I'll be honest, I didn't completely "get" Nirvana when they came out.  I was a junior in high school and while I was obsessed with Led Zeppelin and Monty Python - two things still worthy of obsession - I'd also had my head up the ass of hair metal for the last four years.  When "Smells Like Teen Spirit" hit the airwaves, I couldn't deny the catchy spirit of the song...but I was resistant; and then Come As You Are came out.  That song really did it for me.  The dark riff and refrain "and I swear that I don't have a gun..." - I loved it.

I'm pretty sure that I learned that riff way back then...but never finished the song.  So, I decided to include it in this project and took it on yesterday.  It's not too hard and it took me about 20 minutes total to learn and play.  I almost don't feel like it's worth doing a video documentation of it as the constraints of my apartment lifestyle will make it hard to approximate the fuzzed out tone and it's just not necessarily that impressive of a song to watch played in such a context.

There are people who argue that Kurt isn't a great guitarist.  But, his influence is undeniable; and the great lesson of his playing is that less is more.  Moreover, his body of work is a great reminder of the real goal of playing an instrument - to create and play great songs.  Writing a great song will always be more important than wowing someone with speedy finger gymnastics.  Moreover, sometimes music simple in construction better allows the complexity at the emotive heart of the song to shine.  As a player, my goal is make the instrument capture a feeling - an emotion or a sense of time and place.  Kurt's playing captured the feeling of my generation's youth better than any other.

 

Step 2 "Gimme Shelter" The Rolling Stones

Here's my attempt at "Gimme Shelter." 


One thing that sucks is playing along as the song is being piped out of laptop speakers in an apartment.  It essentially makes it near impossible to get good tone AND a good mix.  But, you can hear the parts pretty well.  I'm still working on the rhythm during the verses.  There are a couple things going on...and it was hard to choose what to focus on.  There are little leads throughout and then there is the feel of the rhythm.  So, there's still room for improvement there.

Also, I made a couple little mistakes in the lead at the beginning...in part because I'm still fishing out exactly how it goes.  I have most of it...but a little section in the middle, I haven't quite grasped exactly what Keith plays.

Lastly, I tried to stay true to the solo and the fills.  But I couldn't help but go off a little bit on my own at the end.  This style is my favorite style to solo over and I just had to take a shot at a little fun.  I think it sounds pretty good at the end.

Anyway, I will continue to work on the parts mentioned above but I think I'm ready to move on to a new song too.  AND Wes Montgomery's "Four on Six" is an ongoing project.       

The Artistry of Keith Richards

Currently, I'm working on two pieces from my list of 50.  The first is the Wes Montgomery song "Four on Six."  Like me, Montgomery is a native of Indiana and he is a mean cat on the six string.  The tempo is breakneck and mastery to my satisfaction is going to take a bit.

In order to keep things moving - I'm working on "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones as well.  This is one of my favorite songs of all time...in part because of the lazy way Keith Richards plays those licks at the beginning.  His bends feel like a 3 am drive through LA - when the streets feel haunted and nothing good is gonna happen and something bad probably just did.

Recorded in Feb/Mar of 1969, the song's dark urgency is a perfect reflection of the violence and social unrest of those times...and its lyrics, a cry for shelter from that storm, remain sadly relevant.  And Merry Clayton...your a stone cold heart if her vocals don't induce a chill or two. 

Keith, 1969

I think the most difficult part in learning this song has been nailing the timing and feel of the intro chords and the verses.  The solo bends haven't been too difficult for me...my bluesy lead style lends itself pretty well to a decent replication of Keith's style.  In general, Keith is about feel more than technique and his sense of rhythm is really the thing that can be difficult to perfect.           

RELEVANT NOTES

I am using standard tuning, 11 gauge strings on a Fender Esquire to learn this.  Still working on the amp/pedal combination to best mimic the tone.  And I may switch to a Telecaster as the Esquire has a replacement humbucker which makes its tone a little too dirty for the song.  More specifics on this when I commit.  I should have it up later this week.

The Rolling Stones Performing Gimme Shelter, 1969

Step 1 - Learn to Play a Classical Piece of Music - J.S. Bach's "Bouree"

As a first assignment in my quest to become a better guitar player, I decided to learn this classical piece by  Bach.  Sadly, I don't know the full title - but it's from a Bouree.  While it's not a piece by a specific guitarist, it is a great workout on guitar.  So, behold - Step 1.  I feel like it could be played with a little more musicality than it is here.  I'm continuing to work on that aspect of this piece.  But I think this good enough to post and move on to Step 2 - learning one of my favorite songs of all time "Gimme Shelter" by the Rolling Stones.  Oh to add a little Keith Richards soul to the guitar lexicon from which I draw.

Until then here is Bach's Bouree