Stevie Ray Vaughan - Mary Had a Little Lamb

[hexed prism]

Hello,
I’m learning the main riff and here’s my current result — do you have any advice?

Some time I could do it faster and cleaner

[hexed prism]

I've learned to palm mute so I will try with that effect to see the difference

[orchid sundial]

practice with a way to keep time at a slow tempo and periodically increase the BPM by 5 when you can play it comfortably at that tempo

be mindful of https://discord.com/channels/178184607169118208/1413143885579812955

[hexed prism]

I'm not sure I understand everything, but regarding the metronome, I don't know how to use a metronome on a song

I will try to learn that

[hexed prism]

I play this song in EADGBE instead of

[violet ivy]

You’ve got the notes but sounds like you need some time spent syncing up your hands and working on metronome and scales. Metronome is just a steady pulse you can play to and easily adjust the speed so you start slow and then work up the speed with time.

[violet ivy]

heres a playthrough if that helps

[hexed prism]

Oh wow, you're talented! Congratulations, well done!
Yes, I do have some gaps in my rhythm. I thought I'd learn the first bar, and after learning the first one, I thought I'd continue with the second, but in the end, I wasn't playing in rhythm at all.
I don't know how to improve my rythm on this song or how to improve my rhythm in general. I've tried various things:
Playing a note to a metronome (1 note per beat)
Playing a chord to a metronome (1 chord per beat)
Playing several chords to a metronome (1 chord every 2 beats)
Counting in my head, tapping my foot, counting out loud, clapping my hands...
But after all these hours invested in rhythm, unfortunately there's been no change... This is one of the main reasons why I didn't want to learn any more songs before trying again with this one. I did other things instead, but nothing very constructive

I can explain if necessary what I did instead of learning songs

[hexed prism]

And about that (in addition to my other questions :D)
Synchronize my hands? Do you think I'm not synchronized? If so, how can I work on that?
And about scales, which one(s) should I learn? I know one scale, but I can't remember the name. It's
e 5-8
B 5-8
G 5-7
D 5-7
A 5-7
E 5-8

[violet ivy]

Hey thanks! And I’ve been playing a long time and learned this one a long time ago haha so no worries. By synchronized I mean timing the picking and pressing down and releasing with left hand. But that will come with time. I would start with a simpler scale than that pentatonic one you provided like just a c major scale on open strings.

0 1 3

0 1 3

0 2

0 2 3

0 2 3

0 1 3

C to begin on would be the A string 3rd fret but this is it on all open position strings

play to a metronome with 2 notes per beat at a tempo you can manage and focus on the rhythm being tight before you move up

[hexed prism]

Oh, okay, and you didn't forget, or did my screen/audio recordings help you remember?
I prefer to have the image of the shape. Can you give me the name? It's Pentatonic, but major or minor? What position, please?

[violet ivy]

so this one is A minor pentatonic

[hexed prism]

And ok for the metronome I will do that, I'm a bit silly and disciplined, but I'm asking just in case: am I supposed to do this every day? 10 minutes? 1 hour? 2 hours? To see progress?

[violet ivy]

this one is Cmajor scale open position (zero position)

[hexed prism]

Well, you're teaching me something new. I only knew there were minor and major scales in pentatonic (so only two)

[violet ivy]

So a major scale has 7 notes

as well as minor

Pentatonic (penta=5) five note scale

skips 2 of the normal notes

[violet ivy]

20 mins a day would help even, but depends how much time you have and how motivated

[hexed prism]

I don't really have set hours, let's just say my days are flexible, and okay, thanks for the info. I still can't picture what you're talking about. I must have misunderstood something

Sometimes I play for 10 minutes when I'm tired and unmotivated, but then as I play, I regain my energy and motivation and end up playing for an hour

I learned palm muting by learning SRV's song, it motivated me again

Because "I feel the progress"

[violet ivy]

heres a good diagram of the c maj scale position

[violet ivy]

good! That's what you gotta keep going, to keep it rewarding not reaching too far all at once

[hexed prism]

the first one ??

0 1 3
0 1 3
0 2
0 2 3
0 2 3
0 1 3

[violet ivy]

yep

[hexed prism]

I understand this kind of image better. The one you sent me is making my brain go mushy xD

[violet ivy]

lol yea too much going on

[hexed prism]

In any case, thank you for your valuable advice. It's very nice to be helped by experienced people. You gave me your time, and I am very grateful for that. Thank you🙏

I will post recordings from time to time

on your exercise especially

[violet ivy]

very welcome! I had a big SRV phase as a player so I felt like I had something to contribute haha

[hexed prism]

Oh really? I want to say “Why?” but as fellow SRV fans, we understand each other—this guy is a legend, but these songs aren't exactly easy, are they? I tried Pride and Joy, which seemed easier to me, but in terms of rhythm, it's a nightmare

[violet ivy]

his playing is decievingly simple sounding sometimes but he's an absolute monster in reality

I started playing rock and metal and his style was so foreign when I first discovered I loved it and wanted to try it

[hexed prism]

It's true, it seems really brutal and at the same time very simple, but in fact it's extremely nuanced. His playing is expressive; this gentleman really knows how to make the strings sing, haha

Have you stopped since then? What do you listen to and play?

[violet ivy]

I actually play blues more than anything still

but Ive had other phases like acoustic and still play metal too

I taught guitar for 2 years a while back so I dabbled in a lot

[hexed prism]

Which guitarist inspires you the most in your guitar playing?

Oh wow very nice

[violet ivy]

there are many but besides SRV, Jimi hendrix of course, Tony Iommi, Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth, Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains are some of my favs

[hexed prism]

I listen to a little metal, but not ultra hardcore stuff like Iron Maiden/Black Sabbath/Zakk Wylde, just a little Motorhead, and that's my maximum

For me :
Rory Gallagher
Roy Buchanan
Peter Green
Eric Clapton
Stevie Ray Vaughan
John Frusciante
Ritchie Blackmore
David Gilmour
Jimi Hendrix
Jeff Beck

[violet ivy]

yea those are all great players

I wouldn't recommend some of opeth stuff if you dont like heavy lol, but they have one album thats all acoustic or clean

[hexed prism]

I can try yeah sure

I will add into my playlist

[violet ivy]

https://open.spotify.com/album/4FmI0F5GvvR1M9RURWnJV9?si=pUmq6HMZRm6G08PIdWmOhg

[hexed prism]

ty

[violet ivy]

the lead guitar in "ending credits" is a great example of beautiful vibrato for lead guitar

[hexed prism]

I'll listen to it, I promise, but right now I have a guitar to play, strings to strum, and a metronome to beat xD

It's time to sweat, my friend

[violet ivy]

Godspeed!

🫡

[hexed prism]

The first position isn’t easy, at the start of the guitar neck it’s physical and a bit unsettling ahah

[violet ivy]

The one I suggested?

[hexed prism]

yup this one I need more training on it because im slow/a bit lost on it at the moment

Im playing it without metronome to learn it, after I will use metronome to practice on it

[violet ivy]

Yup gotta learn it before metronome