Learning Stevie Ray Vaughan - Scuttle Buttin'

NorioDS · 2018-05-14T09:07:23+00:00

So thanks to this here challenge, @V8 and I now have to learn Scuttle Buttin' — my first SRV song. Love the guy's music but never bothered learning any of...

Learning Stevie Ray Vaughan - Scuttle Buttin'

V8

NorioDS I might try those Elixirs!

I can't say the tone will be upgraded, they do sound bright - almost artificially so. From feel, I can usually tell if a guitar is strung up with elixir's. They feel a bit stiffer than the same gauge D'addario/Ernie Ball. Not necessarily a good thing, but I've gotten used to it - plus they'll last waayyyyy longer than anything else I've tried.

If you are put off by elixir's (price/feel) - I've heard a lot of peeps say good things about D'addario NYXL's. I've tried a few sets of bass strings and was not impressed, they cost more than elixir's and lasted about as long as a set of standard D'addario Prosteels.

To be fair though, I should give them a try on electric guitar to make any conclusion.

NorioDS

V8 Nice video you shared. Helped me a bit.

Gotta admit, I struggle with Rocksmith. It's been great for learning bass but for fast guitar parts... I'm just not used to it. I find myself trying to remember what string "orange" is ?

wern101

You are both insane. I'm loving every second of it! Cannot contain my excitement. Would be awesome if you could somehow get together (in the same room) for the final showdown. ?
Boldly go Gents.

V8

wern101 You are both insane.

I have to agree. Great idea on getting together in the same room and duking it out. But I'll lose. My headstock is far too friendly of a shape ?

So will this lead to @wern101 calling out @domhatch....I can envisage a acoustic singer/songwriter battle being a whole lot of entertainment (for us anyways ? )

wern101

V8 .I can envisage a acoustic singer/songwriter battle being a whole lot of entertainment

Come to think about it... may not be such a bad idea. I've wondered about @domhatch guitar sounds for a while now and, he is a writer by trade so, this may be very interesting.
When I mentioned this to my wife last night she said she'll help me write.... ? ❕

domhatch

Wait. Whaaaaaaat?

Clearly I missed something here...

wern101

domhatch Whaaaaaaat

Said me too. ??

domhatch

wern101 Well, I guess I'm game. I just need to get a pickup installed. At the moment domhatch's guitar sounds a little, well, unplugged. Proper-like. Time to get advice on a decent pickup... Gear thread, here I come...

But be warned, I actually went through a whole bunch of my unused lyrics last night.

Man. Do they suck!

V8

@domhatch @wern101 : Why not? It's all in fun and you an make up the 'rules' however you like (even as you go along ?)

Plus I've got lots of ? in anticipation of all the banter...

V8

So I've started wading through the deep waters of playing speedy SRV...

Day 1 : 3x10min practice sessions. Watched a video & stared at some tab. Managed to get the notes of the rhythm lick & chords into my head, but they have zero feel. I just can't hear the feel of the lick at full speed. Even 1/2 speed isn't helping. Getting nervous...

Day 2 : 2x30m slogs. Literally chained myself to a chair and grinded out some practice. First I sat and watched/listened to the live SRV clip at 1/2 speed - reallly checking out his fretting hand and trying to get the lick into my head. A struggle! But SRV is a BOSS - watching him live at 1/2 speed shows so much of his stagecraft and how ludicrously tight drums and bass are behind him. Everyone is there on the one, perfectly, everytime!

Frustrated, I did 5mins of note division practice - as if I was back on bass. Reminded me of the feel the 1/4, 1/8, triplet and 16th's. Was almost fun. @NorioDS is gonna get stomped a real bad in the pointy side of the challenge... ?

Then I grabbed my old friend "slowmp3.jar" loaded up a mp3 of Scuttle Buttin, slowed it ALLLLL the way down (33%?) and used the handy transpose feature to bump the tuning from Eb to E standard. And then I sat and tried to jam along. Operative word being tried.

But, eventually - and it took at least 10mins - I started to get the feel of the lick at 1/3 speed. Can't jam it to drums yet though, dropping into the chordy bits ain't happening yet. I think that the lick starts on a 'and' leading into the 'one' - which I'm finding fiendishly tricky.

NorioDS

V8 Sounds like you're making good progress!

I got the lick under my fingers but nowhere near full speed. Rocksmith has been helpful in slowing down the song and I ended up just tuning down to Eb. (Rocksmith won't have it any other way so ? )

Every now and again, I accidentally get "most" of the lick at some decent speed. But there were some errors in how I played it at a slower tempo that don't translate well to the higher tempos.

It's a fun lick to play at like 25% speed ? Then I play back the song at 100% and just think, "What the hell have I signed up for?!" ?

V8

Day 4 : 1x15mins, more listening than playing.

Where the lick starts was bugging me...

V8 I think that the lick starts on a 'and' leading into the 'one' - which I'm finding fiendishly tricky.

I was wrong, it's the and after the one. To me, the lick just sounds 'out'/wooden when you start it on one. And he moves it around -ever so slightly, like he's playing it in 16ths and start it on the e or a. (Counting in 16th's = one-e-and-a-two-e-and-a-three-e-and-a-four-e-and-a)

Still havn't upped the tempo, but happier that I can start the lick on the and and get it to feel groovy while looping the progression - it just didn't feel right starting on the one.

V8

NorioDS Then I play back the song at 100%

Whenever I went back to 100%...I just thought so that's what "cocaine" must be like. ?

NorioDS

V8 Whenever I went back to 100%...I just thought so that's what "cocaine" must be like. ?

BRILLIANT! There's no other explanation, is there? It's just not natural ?

Well, on the plus side, if either one of us gets this right, we'll have some serious "showing off" chops to annoy everyone with ?

V8

NorioDS Well, on the plus side, if either one of us gets this right, we'll have some serious "showing off" chops to annoy everyone with

I hope I can get it flowing seamlessly in 2 weeks - not at 160bpm though! Eventually....maybe. I do hang onto licks I like and keep running them until they feel natural. That tired ol' 10000 hours 'rule'.

V8

domhatch But be warned, I actually went through a whole bunch of my unused lyrics last night.

You can do itttttt!

? ? ?

wern101

domhatch I don't have a pickup in my acoustic either so, we seem to be on level terrain. As for lyrics, mine also suck, but, once someone else listens you get another opinion and it aint so bad after all. We seem to be very critical of ourselves.

A new song on radio currently has the lyrics: "we've not thrown up in so long, how we have grown"

If those lyrics can get radio play, then you and I are fine...I'm sure.

ChrisDanger

← Don't forget to practice the SRV face. Getting the face down is a prerequisite for nailing those licks at full speed.

V8

ChrisDanger ? ? ?

I think it happens of it's own accord - it's much like riding a scary rollercoaster, which was the feeling I was getting from most of the tutorials, guys just managing to hang on at ludicrous speed.

SRV on the other hand... is a BOSS munching on a pipe rocking a even faster live version.

V8

wern101 If those lyrics can get radio play, then you and I are fine...I'm sure.

Couldn't agree more ?

wern101

@NorioDS @V8 I enjoy reading about your different approaches to this whole thing. Two completely different ways to practice and the realism of struggling. We tend to think that some people just grab the guitar and start shredding. The reality being 10 000 hours...
Thanks for sharing the journey. Quite inspiring and motivating.

NorioDS

wern101 I enjoy reading about your different approaches to this whole thing. Two completely different ways to practice and the realism of struggling. We tend to think that some people just grab the guitar and start shredding. The reality being 10 000 hours...
Thanks for sharing the journey. Quite inspiring and motivating.

Glad you're enjoying! Yeah it's lots of fun seeing the different approaches. Sometimes you find a lesson for a song and it just doesn't "suit" your style of learning or playing.

Maybe we should keep this challenges thing going beyond "pointy vs paddle" as a way of collectively learning a song using different methods.

For me, Rocksmith definitely is helping me pick out some of the "hidden" notes of the song. Some notes are just completely missing from the lessons out there. That being said, I doubt I'll fit all the notes in myself ? The song's just too damn fast!

One issue I'm having with Rocksmith is that I really couldn't care for their fingering of the chords. For this song, in particular, I find myself barring across the 2nd fret for the Ab7 instead of their overly convoluted fingering. (It's totally fine when you're going slow but not when you're trying to add speed to it!)