Solo Performances

Solo Performances are soon approaching. I have chosen two contrasting pieces to perform, the first being 'It's so Easy' by Buddy Holly and the second being 'Sultans of Swing' by Dire Straits. I chose these pieces as they show great contrast in technicality. 'It's so Easy' is mainly chord based with a fairly simple Fill and Solo. 'Sultans of Swing' is filled with technical fills and instrumentals from the first line. Here is an example of the Fill from 'It's so Easy':
Fill |-pm-|

|----5-8p7p5-0-000----------5--8--5----------------|
|-5-7----------555-777-9--7-5--8--5-76789-7-5-2222-|
|------------------777-9--7---------76789-7-5-2222-|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|

It isn't an incredibly difficult fill, it is different to one I learned a few months ago - which        means I'll   have to work hard to learn this part, due to muscle memory. In comparison to   'Sultans of Swing', it is a fairly easy piece to play. Here is an extract from 'Sultans of Swing',   showing its difficulty:

     Dm                               
e|-------------------------------------5-8-5----------------|
B|-------3--3-3------------------6----6-----6-5h6p5---------|
G|---2-2-2--2-2--5-5-5-7-----7----7--7-------------7--5-7---|
D|-0-0-0-0--0-0--5-5-5-7--5h7---7------------------------7--|
A|-0--------------x-5---------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------|

The piece will be challenging, and will take a longer period of time to learn than 'It's so Easy' due to the complexity of the instrumentals. Buddy Holly's pieces are usually easy to play  due to the fact that they are based around chords, whereas other artists, like Dire Straits,    tend to show off their ability on a guitar. Here is Buddy Holly's 'It's so Easy': 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jeH0ms2_AQ

You can hear the difference in complexity when compared to 'Sultans of Swing': 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0ffIJ7ZO4U .

I chose these two pieces as they are personal favourites of mine. Originally, I wanted to play Buddy  Holly's ballad 'True Love Ways', as it was my grandfather's favourite song. The song was difficult to sing though, and so I chose 'It's so Easy' as it has a nice guitar line and is  easier to sing. 'Sultans of   Swing' has always been a favourite song of mine, I used to play it on Guitar Hero - My dad also loves the piece, and being able to play it for him would be amazing.

I believe I have nailed the intro and Fill to 'It's so Easy', however I need to work on the Solo, it has a  lot of notes and is the most complex part of the piece. An example of this is seen   here:

    D                                           
|/10-----------------------------12-----------|
|---10--12-10--10--12b-12b-12b-10--10-12b-12b-|
|-----11-----11--11---------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
  A
|----------14-12--------14b-14b-14b-14-12--------|
|-10-10-/14-----14-12-14-----------------14-12-10|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|

The last part of the solo is possibly the most challenging. Despite it being a repeat of the beginning, it requires a rather complex picking style, mixed with a number of quite fast pull-offs.

  D                                      B
|/10--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---10--12b--12-10--10-12-10-12b-12-10---------10-----------------------|
|-----11----------11------------------11---8-11--11-9-------------------|
|----------------------------------------9------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------7p0-5p0-4p0-2p0--|
|-----------------------------------------------------0---0---0---0-----|

To work on this, I am going to practice every other day on the solo, following the timetable I made. I already practice the piece for an hour and a half every other evening. Once I have learned the solo  and can play it from memory numerous times over, I can move onto improving my weaknesses. For  example, I need to work on my vocal confidence. To do this, I will first try recording my voice and   listening over it a few times, then will proceed to perform it in front of some people and get feedback.

I have only started working on the intro to 'Sultans of Swing', it isn't an incredibly difficult intro but  requires quite complex picking and strumming patterns. For this piece I don't think I'll sing and play  guitar, as the piece requires all concentration on the fills. I can play the chords to the piece, they are  pretty simple - and sound good, the chord progression is great. I will dedicate an hour and a half to the piece every other night, as I will with the Buddy Holly piece. A good thing about the piece is that quite a few of the riffs are just repeated, as seen in the verses: 

F                               C
A band is blowing Dixie double four time
e|------------------------|
B|--5---5-6-5-6-5--3------|
G|--5---5-5-5-5-5--3------|
D|---x-x--7--------3------|
A|------------------------|
E|------------------------|

F                           C

Competition in other places
e|-----------------------------------|
B|-5-5--6-6-5-3----------------------|
G|-5-5--5-5-5-3----------------------|
D|-5-5--7-7-5-3----------------------|
A|-----------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------|

           Bb   C 

Way on down south
e|-----------------------------------|
B|----x-3-6--3/5---------------------|
G|--5-x-3-3--3/5---------------------|
D|-5--x-3----3/5---------------------|
A|-----------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------|

The above clip is of someone on YouTube covering the solo to 'Sultans of Swing', making it look quite easy.  

This repetition is great for me, as it is easier to remember than it would be if there were a   number of complex licks. To overcome any challenges I may face with the piece, for example, the complex instrumentals or some of the fills, I will first listen to the piece and try to play the instrumental/fill note by note, to get an understanding of what it should sound like. Once I have pieced everything together, I can begin to play it faster and faster until I can accurately play along to the track.

The same goes for 'It's So Easy', to learn the solo, I will break it down into sections (For example, A, B, C  sections). This will help me learn as I can dedicate half an evening to learning, and perfecting the first section,  and then going onto the next section. In these sections, I will use a software on my computer to slow down and loop the section, hearing each note and working out where it is on the TAB.