Members Shaster Posted November 24, 2012 Members Share Posted November 24, 2012 After all these years of playing to tourists, you would think I would have learned a few phrases of a few different languages... It really helps break the ice and increase tips. But last night even though I knew I would be playing to many visitors from other countries, and even though I knew Paul McCartney was playing in town this Sunday and thus there would be requests for Beatles music, I spent my time elsewhere. Foolishly, I spent my gig prep time tweaking the sequence tempos to several songs I didn't even play. And then I spent an hour or so on the velocity of some open and closed hihats in a few other songs (that I didn't even play). And of course, come gig time I got a request for Yesterday. Then I found I hadn't transferred the sequence to my laptop and had to play it just on guitar while fumbling for the words. And it was a request from a very nice table of Japanese visitors who applauded loudly and tipped nicely, even though I butchered the song and could only say my one word of Japanese - konichiwa. But lesson learned, concentrate on the big concepts, and think and plan ahead. Does anybody else sometimes sweat the small stuff and forget to address the big stuff besides me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted November 25, 2012 Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 I've had the opportunity of dealing with large groups of Japanese tourists, and they've always been sooooo nice, and so appreciative of even the smallest effort to communicate. Beyond konichiwa and arigato, I get a little lost, but that always seems to bring a smile from these wonderful people. I was jamming with an old school chum, who happened to be married to a beautiful Japanese lady named Iko. Well, at one point, I started playing an old and very beautiful Kyu Sakamoto melody that I remembered from my youth,, called Sukiyaki. My lyrics consisted of humming, but the effort garnered the most wonderful smile and applause. Beautiful song. This song was a huge "hit"here, back in '63http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9OGRKTd9rk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted November 25, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 25, 2012 well, here is your lesson in basic Nihongo: (simi ma sen, mata, jozu jari ma sen*) konichiwa is good afternoon (hello), kon ban wa (good evening), ohio go zay emas (good morning) arigato is thanks. More formal equivalent to 'thank you very much' is domo arigato go-zay-emas familiar version is just domo (among friends) when you or someone else is leaving, you can use matinay or jah-nay (familiar) Admittedly, you can't know every song, and you can't speak every language, but if you live, as you do, [and I do], in a tourist trade locale, then knowing some basic phrases in a number of languages can't hurt. *forgive me, but I am not very good at it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted November 25, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 25, 2012 Originally Posted by Bobby1Note I was jamming with an old school chum, who happened to be married to a beautiful Japanese lady named Iko. Well, at one point, I started playing an old and very beautiful Kyu Sakamoto melody that I remembered from my youth,, called Sukiyaki. My lyrics consisted of humming, but the effort garnered the most wonderful smile and applause. Beautiful song. This song was a huge "hit"here, back in '63http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9OGRKTd9rk This is probably the most famous international hit from Japan (before Pink Lady), and sadly, some marketing idiot here didn't think we could deal with the Japanese title, and called it 'Sukiyaki', probably a spur of the moment brainstorm, trying to think up a Japanese word they knew. The title means, 'As I walk, I look up', IIRC. Sukiyaki is soup. Yeah, it was 1963...were we so incapable of dealing with a foreign title? Sad, really sad...beautiful song about lost love, failing hope and feeling disenfranchised..reduced to people thinking it was a soup commercial. Even the Ventures covered it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cam7m2VBh4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted November 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 25, 2012 B1N, yes I work with a piano player that knows that song. It goes over big time with the Japanese tourists and I should probably learn it. daddymack - thanks for the condensed lesson. I've heard these phrases before but have never learned them. As I said before, it's time I did a little language shedding. Just like a good hotel concierge should know all the good restaurants.... close to the hotel, I guess a good lounge lizard should know his/her market and have a few value added tricks up their sleeves. BTW I did learn the words to Yesterday, and played it Saturday for a table that was going to hear Sir Paul. Learning the words was time well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted November 26, 2012 Members Share Posted November 26, 2012 Originally Posted by daddymack Yeah, it was 1963...were we so incapable of dealing with a foreign title? Sad, really sad...beautiful song about lost love, failing hope and feeling disenfranchised..reduced to people thinking it was a soup commercial. Even the Ventures covered it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cam7m2VBh4 Funny how a song can communicate and stir emotions and passion, even if you don't have a clue what the words mean. That song got a LOT of air-play back in the day when radio, was nowhere near as fragmented as it is today. The baby-boomers were also plugging nickels into the juke-box, and hugging their main squeeze to a "slow" dance.Speaking of "slow-dancin'", do people even do that anymore? Or are they too worried about getting "gored" by their partners' spiked jewelry?That Ventures version is Gawd-Awful,,, OMG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted November 26, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 26, 2012 Originally Posted by Bobby1Note That Ventures version is Gawd-Awful,,, OMG. No argument from me on that, but not really any worse than, say, the Beatles version of 'Til There Was You'...but yeah, sadly, the Ventures did a lot of covers of pop tunes they probably shouldn't have; blame the label... Because of this thread, I have decided to learn Ue O Muite, Aruku in the original Japanes (phonetically), and I will try it out on my son-in-law (who is not a musician, but is Japanese ). The changes are pretty straight forward, the melody is easy to follow, but the lyrics ...maybe I'll stick to the whistling parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted November 26, 2012 Members Share Posted November 26, 2012 daddymack, that sounds like a very cool project. I wish I had the ear for dialects, but I have a hard enough time mastering English, let alone mastering the subtleties of a vowel-intensive language like Japanese. I'm tempted to try though. Also, the chords in that song, are a little more complex than first meets the eye, especially in a solo arrangement. They're not that difficult to "play", but may be a bit more difficult to "find". There's a "harmonic tension" (my uneducated terminoligy) that exists between various instruments in the orchestrated version. I get a kick out of finding those subtle nuances.Regarding ""til There Was You", The Beatles version is the only one I know. Is there another version that's better in your opinion? That's another song where "cowboy chords" just don't do the job properly. I love playing that song, and had a great time figuring it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted November 26, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 26, 2012 Originally Posted by Bobby1Note daddymack, that sounds like a very cool project. I wish I had the ear for dialects, but I have a hard enough time mastering English, let alone mastering the subtleties of a vowel-intensive language like Japanese. I'm tempted to try though. Also, the chords in that song, are a little more complex than first meets the eye, especially in a solo arrangement. They're not that difficult to "play", but may be a bit more difficult to "find". There's a "harmonic tension" (my uneducated terminoligy) that exists between various instruments in the orchestrated version. I get a kick out of finding those subtle nuances.Regarding ""til There Was You", The Beatles version is the only one I know. Is there another version that's better in your opinion? That's another song where "cowboy chords" just don't do the job properly. I love playing that song, and had a great time figuring it out. 'Til there was you' is from "The Music Man" (in the 1962 film, Shirley Jones and Robert Preston)... I'll bet there were a ton of covers done back in the day. Here's a more 'recent' one I like: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Thanks for those links Daddymack. Leave it to Ray Charles to put his own original twist to such a great song. I found a few other versions by Peggy Lee and Rod Stewart, but I gotta admit I still like The Beatles version best. Great song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted November 28, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 28, 2012 Originally Posted by Bobby1Note daddymack, that sounds like a very cool project. I wish I had the ear for dialects, but I have a hard enough time mastering English, let alone mastering the subtleties of a vowel-intensive language like Japanese. I'm tempted to try though. Also, the chords in that song, are a little more complex than first meets the eye, especially in a solo arrangement. They're not that difficult to "play", but may be a bit more difficult to "find". There's a "harmonic tension" (my uneducated terminoligy) that exists between various instruments in the orchestrated version. I get a kick out of finding those subtle nuances.. I don't think you need all of the nuances of the orchestration, some of them might sound funny anyway.For instance in this version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9OGRKTd9rk the intro chords are basically (written in 4/4 not 2/2) // G / Em / Bm / Am D9 // but the orchestration is implying / G G6 / Em7 Em / and so on. that's not really necessary or desirable for a stripped down version.Or in the first verse // G / Em / G / Em / G / Bm / Esus4 Em / Dsus D / but for those last two bars you could just play / Em / D / It will still sound good IMHO.More than one way to approach a song, and sometimes less is more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted November 28, 2012 Members Share Posted November 28, 2012 Originally Posted by Shaster I don't think you need all of the nuances of the orchestration, some of them might sound funny anyway.For instance in this version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9OGRKTd9rk the intro chords are basically (written in 4/4 not 2/2) // G / Em / Bm / Am D9 // but the orchestration is implying / G G6 / Em7 Em / and so on. that's not really necessary or desirable for a stripped down version.Or in the first verse // G / Em / G / Em / G / Bm / Esus4 Em / Dsus D / but for those last two bars you could just play / Em / D / It will still sound good IMHO.More than one way to approach a song, and sometimes less is more. Yeah, that sounds ok for back-up rhythm guitar. I'm finger-picking the melody and strumming the chords and/or partial chords at the same time, so there are "key" notes that need to happen as I progress from one chord to the next.I'm not good at chord names, because I play by ear, but according to a guitar chord-name finder I just looked at, something doesn't sound right with that 1st verse you posted. (Highlighted in red)"Or in the first verse // G / Em / G / Em / G / Bm / Esus4 Em / Dsus D / but for those last two bars you could just play / Em / D / It will still sound good IMHO."After the Bm, I go Cno5/E (like an Am, with the 3rd string open), then a C(1 note) with a hammer on the 3rd fret 2nd string, then a 4 note progression in D (D5/F#mno5). Sorry if that's not clear. I had a heckuva time finding a chord-name finder that worked well, and in some of the chords I'm playing, I'm plucking only one, two, or three notes at a time. It's a heckuva lot simpler when you actually see it being played. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted November 28, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 28, 2012 Originally Posted by Bobby1Note Yeah, that sounds ok for back-up rhythm guitar. I'm finger-picking the melody and strumming the chords and/or partial chords at the same time, so there are "key" notes that need to happen as I progress from one chord to the next.I'm not good at chord names, because I play by ear, but according to a guitar chord-name finder I just looked at, something doesn't sound right with that 1st verse you posted. (Highlighted in red)"Or in the first verse // G / Em / G / Em / G / Bm / Esus4 Em / Dsus D / but for those last two bars you could just play / Em / D / It will still sound good IMHO."After the Bm, I go Cno5/E (like an Am, with the 3rd string open), then a C(1 note) with a hammer on the 3rd fret 2nd string, then a 4 note progression in D (D5/F#mno5). Sorry if that's not clear. I had a heckuva time finding a chord-name finder that worked well, and in some of the chords I'm playing, I'm plucking only one, two, or three notes at a time. It's a heckuva lot simpler when you actually see it being played. If you're doiing a guitar arrangement then whatever sounds good is good IMO. Personally I like the Esus to Em (or Em11 to Em7) rather than the Am/E (I think that's what you mean by Cno5/E) to C but it's all good if you're doing a solo piece. And in reality I would just play Em and D - or actually for a guitar arrangement I would probably put the tune in "C" because the melody seems more suitable there. Yea, I just tried it there, works well with the open strings....Funny that the second position Am chord over E (or Am/E chord if voiced E,C,E,A) is like the Classical Gas chord that occurs right near the end of that piece (okay it's voiced as an Am7/E in whatever key the piece is in). Billy Joel also uses that type of chord in the intro to Just the Way You Are. And it's also used in Takin' It To the Streets (Doobie Bros.) with a different root.So it's // Fm/G / C/G / D7/G / G7sus4 / Lots of reoccurring patterns in music. Anyway have fun with Sukiyaki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted November 28, 2012 Members Share Posted November 28, 2012 Ahhhh The Doobie Bros. Probably the "tightest" band I've ever heard. I gotta get into summa that tonight,,, Thks Shaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted November 29, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 29, 2012 Originally Posted by Bobby1Note YI'm not good at chord names, because I play by ear, interesting, I just use my hands..but I'll try anything once....OWWWW, now my ear hurts After the Bm, I go Cno5/E (like an Am, with the 3rd string open), .... we generally just call that chord an A minor 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted November 29, 2012 Members Share Posted November 29, 2012 Originally Posted by daddymack we generally just call that chord an A minor 7 How could I be so frikken stuuuupid. Of course it's an Am7. I was trying to figure out the notes in the progression, by using this awful "on-line chord name finder", where you insert the notes on a diagram of a guitar-neck, and that "Cno5/E" was the name they gave to the chord. I was too brain-dead to even think of what I was looking at, Good catch Daddymack. Actually, I'm only playing that Am7 for one note, and I'm only playing the 1,2,3rd strings (or, plucking the 1st and 3rd), then drop my ring-finger down on the 5th string 3rd-fret, to complete a C chord for one note, then blah,blah,blah.Here's the chord-name finder I was using. The spacing between the frets is awful, so the perspective is a little skewed. I probably didn't remove the "x" from some of the strings that are played "open"http://www.chorderator.com/cgi-bin/d...&tuning=EADGBE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Miko Man Posted November 29, 2012 Members Share Posted November 29, 2012 B1N, just have a drink of di-hydrogen oxide (think about it a moment) and don't beat yourself up too much. . Mark C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bobby1Note Posted November 29, 2012 Members Share Posted November 29, 2012 Originally Posted by Miko Man B1N, just have a drink of di-hydrogen oxide (think about it a moment) and don't beat yourself up too much. . Mark C. Can I make that a double? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted November 29, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 29, 2012 Well actually, what was described and what was named are two differnt chords. Cno5/E would be just that. Unless you played C6no5/E in which case it's an Am/E. But what was described sounds more like an Am7, although if there's an E as the root, and no A present then it's really a C/E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted November 30, 2012 Moderators Share Posted November 30, 2012 Well, I don't get how it could be a 'Cno5' if the G string is being played open? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Shaster Posted November 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 30, 2012 Well, I don't get how it could be a 'Cno5' if the G string is being played open? Yep, that's where the clear as mud starts. I guess when machines take over from humans, funny things happen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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