Mike: Hands down........you've got to be the most prolific song deconstructor and reconstructionist out there!! I've told you this before and I mean it in the most complimentary way imaginable. Incidently, Ian Hunter (giving away my age hear although this was my first rock concerts as a youth) and 'Mott the Hoople' I'd seen three times in concert!! Love them......before "Once Bitten, Twice shy" perhaps but phenomenal musicians and great original tunes!! I could ask you to do more "Mott" which would be cool but instead.....a course on how you break down some of these classic tunes and splice them back together? If G.T. already has this..........I apologize but the closest I've seen are courses on songwriting......which of course is cool but it would be even cooler if we learned how to identify the proper chords or riffs or solos or even keys and syyles.....of our own favorite tunes!! In other words.......put you out of a job!! Kidding here of course........but it would be cool to be armed with a sophisticated edge on figuring out favorite classics......down to effects or even type of guitars used.......actually fun as well!! Jim C.
Crazy Song Library!!
Hey Jim - as always, thanks for the compliments and of course your great ideas!
Re: Ian Hunter/Mott The Hoople -- yes please!! If you can help me out - go ahead and pick a few of his classic tunes to leave on the Song Request Forum - hopefully GT HQ can get enough interest to clear them for teaching!
As for a course aimed at deconstructing songs - yes that would put me out of a job - haha!!
All kidding aside, the skills I use most when learning and deconstructing these classic tunes are the years of experience under my belt and the ear training that comes with it!! It comes from having learned hundreds and hundreds of songs on my own and connecting what I've extracted with a basic understanding of music theory. I use every available resource I can to learn as much about the song as possible - official (and unofficial) transcriptions, youtube videos - either live performances or instructional videos, computer audio programs that help to isolate instruments in a mix, and, in the end, my ear. All of these combine to allow me to ideally give an accurate breakdown of everything going on guitar-wise.
That said - you've piqued my interest and I think GT could benefit from a tutorial that gives some direction and tips for students to learn songs on their own. Let me pitch it to the powers at be and see what they say. I'll keep you posted!
Mike
Keep rockin!
Mike Olekshy
GT Guitar Coach
Right out of the box, Mike.........."All the way from Memphis" comes immediately to mind!! This is jus a classic rocker that Mick Ralphs handles ever so deftly and I'm actually surprised nobody has done an updated cover smash hit.............and actually...........there's yet another great G.T. original concept for you and G.T. to do............show how one can alter a tune (ala Van Halen for instance) and tweak a cover into a new original arrangement without giving up the original integrity of the classic song!! But then..........as my wife would say..........if I could somehow get a quarter for each of my ideas I'd be rich!!
Perhaps a bit electric piano heavy ......but ......"All the Young Dudes"???!! Jim C.
