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V8 Welllll....let's not be too harsh on either of ourselves. Stud's entry on first listening was "wtf, that can't only be four notes" - there's so much going on! But on second listening, there's the same issue (no "B" section) as you and I have. But he's got different patterns and rhythms going on with his entry, fine example of getting as much out of them four notes as he could - grrrreat work!

Sorry man, I wasn't trying to be harsh, but I think we agree, studmissiles entry has more variation in it than ours (said without trying to be harsh)

V8 I'm happy that I had the bassline moving around while keeping the treble strings going - one glaring boo-boo when a nail got caught in the strings (about halfway through). Was a mission to keep the open strings ringing with the odd voicings - that was a brain strain. ?

Yeah, I thought you did really well there, I think of the three entries yours was probably the most difficult to play, those fingerstyle things are always much tougher than they sound.

V8 I loved this challenge - I'd do it again!

I agree, I spent a good couple of hours on the couch with the acoustic fiddling with 4 notes until I found a riff I liked enough to try and record, and a lot of that was spent trying to figure out which notes I was playing!

That brings me to another point --- I find these competitions pretty much require a "couchcoustic", i.e. a beater that you can fiddle with while watching TV or when you have 5 minutes waiting for something/someone. Almost like my brain is more creative when I'm not really paying attention to the guitar.

        klaasvakie Sorry man, I wasn't trying to be harsh, but I think we agree

        Ahhh, I do agree with your sentiment! I don't take any comments personally - learnt that putting one's creations out there is a essential part of one's development. I mean to point out that, while critical listening is -err, umm- critical...? We can balance that out with objectivity?

        We all ran into the same issue for the same reason - The studly one managed to keep us guessing throughout his track, which I loved!

        klaasvakie I think of the three entries yours was probably the most difficult to play, those fingerstyle things are always much tougher than they sound

        Yeah, thanks - I'm not much of fingerstyle guy on guitar. The poor brain strained remembering "Keep fingers arched, so strings ring out", "dig your nails in to get tone", "Move between E, A & D strings for bass line", "Careful grabbing that E/G chord on the 8th fret - it's a (&*%" ?

        klaasvakie I find these competitions pretty much require a "couchcoustic", i.e. a beater that you can fiddle with while watching TV or when you have 5 minutes waiting for something/someone.

        Absolutely! My R300 nylon beater was used for recording and on the couch. I'm really fond of it. Tonally it's a bit of a dog, but...damn is it fun to play!

              Definitely no B section in mine. The overlay harmony midway is just an attempt to create an imaginary one. I thought V8's stood out, Those 4 notes are working overtime! Also thought the gaming tone of Klaasvakie was a very clever approach to the challenge. I was wondering if anyone would be able to get passed that hurdle of a B section. I was stumped.
              Well done guys.

              studmissile The overlay harmony midway is just an attempt to create an imaginary one.

              It worked really well imho - the two harmonies combined for some ear-trickery I really dug. I was impressed, if I hadn't known that we were only using 4 notes - I'd have sworn this was a 'normal' track.

              studmissile I was wondering if anyone would be able to get passed that hurdle of a B section. I was stumped.

              Me too - I tried a few things, but every time I came up with something there was a D note in it. And I really wanted to keep the voicings I had. Was tempted to go for a 8/12 bar progression, but I was digging the fingerpicking thing, so composition was trumped by working on the fingerpicking pattern ?

                  5 days later

                  Well done @studmissile!!! He's our deserved winner this challenge ?

                  Though @klaasvakie and I will take a bow for entering - this was a fun 'un ?

                  We did say last month that the next challenge was going to be an acoustic one - y'all still keen on that? Or is there another idea out there gestating?

                  Thanks Guys. Acoustic sounds great? But what with Acoustic ?

                  • V8 likes this.
                  • V8 replied to this.

                    studmissile I think because the last one was fairly specific, we thought about the next one being fairly wide open? "Dust off the Acoustic Challenge - anything goes"? Or acoustic on a cell phone? Or acoustic cover of your favourite song?

                    I'm easy!

                      studmissile When did that happen? How does it play?

                      He had an 'NGD' tease on the Whatsapp group - we're holding our breath for the official thread...

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