My Nemesis...

Mannemarak

...is the opening riff from 'Money for Nothing' by Dire Straits. Now I now it takes practise, but alot of other tunes and riffs I see and learn and put my mind to and practise I start getting results and eventually can play them semi decent...but no, not this riff, I just cannot do it. I cannot get the rythem correct no matter how slow the tutorial vid shows it or how simple it is explained...I am as thick as pig poo when it comes to this opening riff...

Does any of you suffer from similar issues? How did you go by to remedy the problem?

Warren

Mannemarak wrote: ...is the opening riff from 'Money for Nothing' by Dire Straits. Now I now it takes practise, but alot of other tunes and riffs I see and learn and put my mind to and practise I start getting results and eventually can play them semi decent...but no, not this riff, I just cannot do it. I cannot get the rythem correct no matter how slow the tutorial vid shows it or how simple it is explained...I am as thick as pig poo when it comes to this opening riff...

Does any of you suffer from similar issues? How did you go by to remedy the problem?

Are you trying to play it with a pick?

IceCreamMan

? gotta laugh cos then i am thicker than pig poo..sometimes things just take longer with me that with other ppl,,, i exhaust my teachers patience on numerous occasions i suspect ?

slowly slowly catch the monkey is my motto

Squonk

Shreddy has a point as Mark uses his fingers.

I am sure I have seen a youtube video with Mark playing it live.

Have a check on youtube, best to see how Mark does it.

evolucian

Mannemarak wrote: ...is the opening riff from 'Money for Nothing' by Dire Straits. Now I now it takes practise, but alot of other tunes and riffs I see and learn and put my mind to and practise I start getting results and eventually can play them semi decent...but no, not this riff, I just cannot do it. I cannot get the rythem correct no matter how slow the tutorial vid shows it or how simple it is explained...I am as thick as pig poo when it comes to this opening riff...

Does any of you suffer from similar issues? How did you go by to remedy the problem?

Stop watching the video... and come back to the song next week. You know what you have to do now, so stop thinking about it. It will happen on its own as you have to let the info sink in. And don't listen to the song for a long time either. You'll eventually get it right as your memory kicks in and you just.... play it. I tried learning that song about 10 or 15 years ago, and I just gave up on it and the tab after an hour. Then one day, about four years later, I was skimming through presets on my fx thing and there was a money for nothing preset. Why the hell not. Ta daaaaa... played it. I was so happy with my accomplishment I went and made myself some coffee, lit a cigarette.... and proceeded to play something else.

Get your fingers right, know how its done... and in a week or so of not trying, you'll get it going. Up until next week or so when you attempt it again, learn double stops across all your strings. Then do double stop hammers and pulls.

Hope this helps. And I hope the vid you're watching is correct. If its a lick library vid, it should be.

Bob-Dubery

Tab it or otherwise write it out in a way that shows the timing, where each note or chord falls in the 4 beat bar. Even if you have to write it out baby style with "ONE and TWO and THREE and FOUR and" written across the top of each bar (my method of choice). Practice it as slowly as necessary to get the timing right. Then keep on practising, maintaining the timing above all else, and the speed will come to you.

Warren

I ask because on some occassions I've seen people trying to play a riff or lick with a pick that was originally played fingerstyle, and depending on the lick it can make it really hard to nail the original's timing and vibe.

For example, I never knew that Billy Gibbons played the La Grange lick with pick and fingers. Someone originally showed me how to play it just by strumming with the pick, and it never sounded right. I then saw a different video with a dude using hybrid picking, and after adopting that approach suddenly the lick sounded much punchier/tighter and was much easier to play.

Same thing with Knopfler stuff: a lot of his famous licks are informed by his fingerstyle technique, and although you can get really close with a pick-based alternative, it can be difficult to really nail it without understanding the original technique. Good examples are the repeating 16th note licks at the end of Sultans of Swing.

VellaJ

Mannemarak, this is one of the first riffs I insisted on learning when I started with guitar. Somewhere I think I still have the music written out. Do you read sheet music or do you only use tabs?

Oh, and I use a pick ?

Squonk

ShreddySmurf wrote: Good examples are the repeating 16th note licks at the end of Sultans of Swing.

I love that part

Warren

Squonk wrote:
I love that part

I think everyone does ?

You can play it with a pick (I've seen Brendan do it) but of course it's not quitep the same, tone wise (which doesn't really matter). But the point is that the technique you need to practice is really different.

singemonkey

I think Evo's advice is best. But you can try really slowing it down and tapping your foot, or clapping along to see exactly where each chord comes in. Some will come in on the beat, and others will come in off the beat - foot down: beat, foot up: off-beat. Play it through at reduced speed without a guitar and just not where each note falls relative to your tapping foot.

Then, put that stuff on the same beats of your foot with your guitar. Slowly, slowly.

evolucian

And if I can add one more thing... it would be to take the wow factor out of it completely. If you keep listening with a wow factor and attempt it, you will fail. I say this because the "wow" factor actually limits you... you have put the lick or riff onto a pedestal and deeply ingrained that "Knopfler is a god - and - how does he get it like that - and - oh my god I suck so much I want to hang myself with the B string. I'd use the high E string but that'll cut too deeply and leave a stain on my carpet."

So once the wow factor is eliminated, everything also falls into place and becomes achievable. Don't believe me? Try it...

Mannemarak

I actually do not use a pick, since Mark plays it basically on two strings and with fingers, but he has this downward strum with the index while the thumb rests at some point, it really feels as if I won't get to play it correctly albeit not sounding right before the world ends in December ?
I have watched the lick library vids but to be honest, it all feels overwhelming no matter what vid I watch...anyhoo

I will keep trying and as Evolucian pointed, and as with other things in life also, I will practise a bit more and then leave it and see if the song sinks in through the pig poo

Miemie

Get yourself a copy of GuitarPro software or maybe Tux guitar(which I think is a free download).Then download some compatible tab.This software actually plays the notes from the tab so you can hear the notes and follow the timing.A useful feature is the ability to loop bits and pieces and slow the tempo to nail the tricky bits.This helps me a lot as I have bad ear and can't transcribe myself.
Note; you will need to get a couple of tabs for a song or a riff,quite a lot of incorrect tabs out there ?

AlanRatcliffe

MK's whole style hinges on his left hand, where he basically plays like a clawhammer banjo player - thumb and first two fingers. There are a lot of muted notes in MFN that most tabs don't bother showing, but are actually essential to nailing the rhythm and feel.

Best video to see him do it IMO is this one:

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