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Thread: Looking for good songs to play acoustically

  1. #26
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    Interesting. I've actually been taking occasional voice lessons and it has already helped my range and projection.

    Another I used to do which I think is a very nice solo acoustic choice: Nick Drake's Place to Be.

  2. #27
    And, of course, there's all Greg Lake's acoustic ballads. I used to sing "Hallowed Be Thy Name" a lot.
    Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.

  3. #28
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    ^^^
    ... and I did the obligatory "Lucky Man".

  4. #29
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    Lucky man and a Small cigar have been added... much lower hanging fruit than I expected.

  5. #30
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    Update... I have enlarged my playlist and my "vision" of what I can play and get away with. I've added three Pink Floyd songs.... Wish you were here, If (from Atom Heart Mother) and Money... I play Money two different ways. I do the full version with all the backing tracks, sans the solos, which I totally butcher on acoustic. I also do a guitar/vox/scat ska version of Money without the tracks, that kind of varies between the 5/4 and wanders a bit into occasional 7/4 and even 9/4 - It seems to work OK for a solo act. Anyway I wound up playing both versions last Saturday night. The Full backing version killed... The ska... kind of wilted. Not sure anyone got it. Earlier My wife heard me practicing it and said "that's really catchy". Since she hates almost everything I do, I have to think that it will still work in the right environment.

    All in all, It's kind of a brave new world out there - seems like people allow you to get away with almost anything as long as it entertains and sounds OK. Nothing wrong with that. I was just not expecting that. People are just glad that there's live music. I have had nothing bout positive experiences lately - I was thinking I might just play once a month or so, but after a week, I was ready to go again. Its been fun. I rather expected it to become burdensome, but only playing songs I personally like ( no need to play crap songs just to get hired ) has made it much more positive. People are also surprised by the "deep tracks" I tend to play.

    I'm pulling in enough in tips alone to make playing out worth it, though that is not my motivation, I can also play all the originals I want. Whoa. I just didn't see this coming.

  6. #31
    Member Koreabruce's Avatar
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    Yodelgoat is reborn!

    That's really encouraging to hear. It goes to show that people DO appreciate live music. I think many in this particular time just do not expect to hear someone playing live like you do. Keep it going!

  7. #32
    If you don’t mind whipping out the mandolin for a song, there’s “Titus” by Split Enz.

    If you don’t mind a challenge, “El testamen de n’Amelia” is a favorite from the classical repertoire (actually a Catalan folk tune).

    If you just want it easy, there’s always “Lady in Black,” which has two triad chords. If fact, I don’t know if Uriah Heep ever used more than three chords, or any upper extensions, in one of their songs. Remind me why people consider them “prog” again.
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

  8. #33
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    Hey! I should do some Uriah Heep! - cool suggestion! I'll look into Lady in Black, Maybe July Morning? Maybe Stealin'? One thing I have learned is you don't know how something will work out until you try it. Really Sometimes something that seems ridiculous works out really well, Like the pure Acoustic version of "Money".

    Yes, I need to do more mandolin. When I do the battle of Evermore most people see me strumming the guitar and figure it is all coming from my playing.

    Ive also just worked up "Skating away on the thin Ice of a new day" - Much simpler than I thought it would be, but using a capo kind of puts the guitar up into that magic mandolin range. The fact that I play all my songs on a mini-Martin kind of gives people the impression its a bit of a hybrid.

    That little guitar (Martin LX1E) has a huge sound - not even just for its size, I get lots of guitarists asking what it is, and then commenting how it sounds better than their guitar. I should become a Martin Salesman, but I doubt many people are going to shell out $500 for a small acoustic guitar. It just seems to work perfect for my stubby little stupid fat-hobbit-hands.

  9. #34
    Member hFx's Avatar
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    ELP: In the Beginning (easy to integrate the synth solo in the guitar playing)
    Rush: Closer to the Heart, Tears
    Yes: Changes, Into the lens (some challenges there )
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  10. #35
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    Yeppers, Skating Away is absolutely fabulous and one of my few flat-pickin' tunes. It is an inspiration to play and you can really pound-away with a combination of strumming and picking that appears impressive to the punters.

    Any thoughts on Genesis or Gentle Giant? I do instumentals Horizons and the lead-in to Blood on the Rooftops but not sure about songs yet. GG is a real tough one - maybe Apirations or Isn't it Quiet and Cold but for most of their stuff I guess you're stuck with having to transcribe and par-down complex contrapuntal arrangements into one coherent line it seems to me, but it might be a fun thing to try. On the Genesis front I was thining Time Table from Foxtrot, Seven Stones from Nursery Cryme or maybe Dancing with the Moonlit Knight - I think that one could actually translate nicely into solo acoustic with it's fantastic lyrics and beautiful melodic lines (for a good singer).

  11. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buddhabreath View Post
    Yeppers, Skating Away is absolutely fabulous and one of my few flat-pickin' tunes. It is an inspiration to play and you can really pound-away with a combination of strumming and picking that appears impressive to the punters.

    Any thoughts on Genesis or Gentle Giant? .
    Many here are going to hate me for it, but I am currently also working up Mama, Home by the Sea and That's all - I really was a bit of a ringer for Phil, both his voice and his ugly mug. I'm keeping my eye out for other Genesis songs as well, I tried ABACAB but it doesn't lend itself very well to acoustic - at least to my ears.. These three songs are as low hanging fruit as you can get. I could play them all decently in 1 or 2 tries. By the way, I don't think of Genesis as a total sell out, because they still had many songs on their later albums that were still progressive...ie.. driving the last spike. To my ears, As good as any song they ever did. Home by the sea(part 1 and 2) together make a nice progressive track. I am combining both, without the lengthy synth part, which has its own prog twists and turns, I would add.

    As far as Gentle Giant ...I would love to work up Knots... but I may be dreaming.

    Ive tried From the beginning, and its OK, Lucky man, once again without the really thick vocal parts is OK but not really a standout. I am doing Closer to the Heart and its a big winner so far. I also do All good People/Your Move, and that's a show stopper. I need to take some Video and youtube it. I would probably be able to play more, if people saw what the show is. I really mix it up, but no popular country. The most important thing to me is to only play songs that I like. I waisted too many years collecting a small check and playing stuff I wouldn't let my dog listen to.
    Last edited by Yodelgoat; 07-09-2019 at 11:33 PM.

  12. #37
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    ^^^

    Well, if you're a ringer for Phil that's pretty damn great in my book, he's a fine singer and performer. Knots? I love it! However I cannot imagine right now how one would transcribe/translate/arrange all those contrapuntal parts into a solo acoustic performance, but perhap you're thinking about some backing track magic?

  13. #38
    Member Yodelgoat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Buddhabreath View Post
    ^^^

    Well, if you're a ringer for Phil that's pretty damn great in my book, he's a fine singer and performer. Knots? I love it! However I cannot imagine right now how one would transcribe/translate/arrange all those contrapuntal parts into a solo acoustic performance, but perhap you're thinking about some backing track magic?
    Oh yeah. There would be Lots of backing tracks for that one. One of the unique things about how I do the backing tracks and I always explain to the audience that I play and sing all the parts in the backing tracks. I do the Third Hurrah using backing tracks, and the acoustic part is just kind of filler on that song, so that's all I play - oh, except for the start where I play the Flute part. People are taken aback by that, but they seem to get it. I keep the backing tracks fairly raw, so it kind of sounds like a live player. Not a Lot of spit and polish on the drums, for example. My guess is, I would have to fudge a lot of parts to do "knots" there may be simpler songs, but it is my favorite GG song.


    After reading the Bobby Kimball thread here, I decided to add Africa to my song list. Another one that will take a bit of work - both on the guitar part and the backing tracks. I'm pretty sure people will like that song. You have to know these songs really well, so its second nature to play. Lots of bar chords in Africa. Those Toto dudes are badass musicians. They make it sound easy.

  14. #39
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    Wonderous Stories
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    (trying to come up with suggestions that suits your versatile vocal power and timbre)
    My Progressive Workshop at http://soundcloud.com/hfxx

  15. #40
    Why not try doing a couple of Mike Nesmith Monkee songs on acoustic? I was at the coffee shop in a Barnes and Noble bookstore once and they had a guy playing the usual standard acoustic fare but I jumped out of my seat when he went into "Papa Gene's Blues". I had to supply the Nez comments during the solo ' "pick it, Lester", "play, magic fingers! yee ha!"... haha, my lady friend thought I was nuts. He also did "You Just May Be the One" and a few others I don't recall but it was great.
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  16. #41
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    I've tried, but can't find any song in my mind to add to what's already been suggested.
    I think it's great you're getting out there and performing live in a casual setting. Life is too short to not pursue things in your life you wish to do. To continue to challenge yourself and overcome those seeds of doubt that can try to squash ideas outside of the box that we may have.

    It takes a lot of guts to perform solo, so kudos and respect to you for that.

    If you ever get a chance to get a performance on video, please post it here for us. We'll be nice, I promise.
    Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457

  17. #42
    I wonder if House with no door (Van der Graaf Generator) would work. It always have been a favorite of mine.

  18. #43
    Quote Originally Posted by Sturgeon's Lawyer View Post
    And, of course, there's all Greg Lake's acoustic ballads. I used to sing "Hallowed Be Thy Name" a lot.
    I love that song! Fantastic lyrics and word play.

  19. #44
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rarebird View Post
    I wonder if House with no door (Van der Graaf Generator) would work. It always have been a favorite of mine.
    That's a good idea, but I probably wouldn't be comfortable singing it although with YG's range he should have no issues. What works for me solo acoustic VDG-wise so far are My Room and Siren's Song. My Room I've done a very modest arragnement on classical. Perhaps I'll post my version in the artists forums so you guys can take a whack at me...

    One day I'd like to get thrown out of the pub while doing a rousing version of Childlike Faith in Childhood's End.

  20. #45
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  21. #46
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    A nice list made by Mr. Beato:
    https://youtu.be/9UNuqYFP-pM

    Best!.

  22. #47
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  23. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mythos View Post
    Anything by the Chameleons is an excellent suggestion!

  24. #49
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    At the fervid behest of HFx - I have worked up wonderous stories. What a beautiful treat! Jon Anderson at his finest. I have to admit I have a bit more gravel in my voice than he did, but it seems to be a really good pick. it works great with just acoustic guitar.

    What a fantastic song! I never really gave it much attention before. I typically just blew by it. I usually only listen to Going for the one off that album. but after a listen or two I really love the whole thing. WS has a great melody, and the chord changes are really fantastic in that song.

    Thank you for a great song and a re-discovery of a YES album I had only a small relationship with!

  25. #50
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    Nice to hear!

    I bet you can do it justice very well! GFTO has long been one of my fav Yes albums, especially side 2 with Wonderous Stories and the epic Awaken! Strong performances from all members on that album IMHO!
    My Progressive Workshop at http://soundcloud.com/hfxx

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