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Carl Perkins style fingerpicking


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Posted

Ive always wanted to play like Carl Perkins

 

Ive been working my balls off on the vamp style fingerpicking and im just not getting it yet

 

HELP!!!.............PLEASE!

 

I mean i can impress my non musician friends with this type of riff, but i know im still off on keeping the bass notes in correct time.

ive never had anyone sit down and show me how to play like this, ive just tried to figure it out myself, and from the very few tabs ive seen online that teach this style.

 

Whats the secret?

I know that sometimes when tabs are written out, the tabs make the lick more complicated than it really is and it ends up confusing me.

 

Any tips from anyone out here who has mastered this picking technique? I would really appreciate it.

 

here is a link to what im talking about, tab and sound bite.

This is some hard {censored}!

Anyone who can play like this is a bad mother fu*ker in my book.

 

http://tinpan.fortunecity.com/melody/73/rockabillyrhythm10.html

 

 

Thanks

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Posted

The tab makes it look more confusing and doesn't show you the rhythm, which is most important. The sound file should help you get the rhythm. The left hand fingerings are basically just open chords you know so that shouldn't be a problem. everything there is around common chord forms that I am sure you know.

 

What is key is that it is actually two separate parts. The bass part is just quarter notes. The first thing to do before anything is just get that alternating bass part down while holding the chord form. Since the rhythm is not really shown on the tab you will have to listen to the example. But remember you are listening to each part separately. Once you have the bass line down just listen just listen to the top line. For the most part you will find the notes placed an eigth note before the next bass note or right on the bass note.

 

The most important thing is to be able to sing that top melody line before you attempt to play the part. If you don't have that line ingrained in your head there is no way your going to be able to play the entire syncopated riff. Once you know the melody line in your head then play it by itself. You will be holding the corresponding chord form and picking the top melody line with your fingers.

 

Once you have got this down now it is thime to put the two together. Remember you can't think of it as one entity in a linear sequence: ie. bass note, melody, bass note + melody, melody, bass note. You must lock in that alternating bass line independent of the fingers playing the melody. I have found when you have problems it is usually due to not haveing the meoldy part in your head as second nature.

 

For me it is physically easier to play bass line with the thumb and fingers on the melody. But I have found the only way to get that rockabilly snap is using a pick on the bass line and second and third fingers do the melody. For me using the pick is harder but worth the effort., it really seprates the tone of the bass line.

 

BTW I don't think of it as Asus+9 and A7 as is indicated.

To me it is an open A7 chord and you are playing some notes form the scale on top of it.

Sometimes you need to remove a note from the chord grip to catch a melody note, this is no problem as the bass line is really the harmony.

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Posted

Thanks Sputnik, your advice was very helpful.

Im working on it and its starting to come to me. Hopefully in another week or 2 i'll have it down.

I guess the key is to think of the bass line and the melody as two seprate things. When i get the bassline down by memory then i can just throw in the melody, but there is alot coordination going on here, lots of doing two completely seperate things at the same time, this is definately not iron man or smoke on the water when playing this kind of stuff.

 

thanks again!

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