Grateful Dead Music Forum

Anyone else struggle with this intro lick? I have a real hard time playing it smoothly by myself. I can usually play it for the intro, but then putting in between the verses always throws off my timing.

Anyone have any tips to make it more play-able (maybe play it in a different position, or maybe play a little variation on it), or is it just a case of practice, practice, practice, to get the timing down?

it is hard, play it in the first position, cowboy chord Am, keep your foot tapping...seriously, and just practise it, you'll get it. Play with your vocal phrasing.

I would suggest making sure you alternate pick it, or flat pick it if you will. Fast 2/4 feeling songs like this demand articulation. Go through it really slowly at first making sure your picking is up down up down up down. Once you get the picking part of it down, then increase your speed, but make sure you don't sacrifice the clarity of the notes.

When I was getting into studying the guitar really seriously I was studying jazz with this teacher who noticed some technical issues with my picking. He suggested we spend a month on bluegrass and flatpicking to solve the problem. It worked. I would recommend getting some tabs for Salt Creek, or Blackberry Blossom (a couple of traditional bluegrass tunes) and work through them. As far as becoming a better guitar player overall, this stuff is pure gold.

One of my favorites to play, my suggestion is to work on your up and down picking and just practice the hell out of it. It took me some time to nail it but once you get it down it's a fun riff to play. Good luck

Crazy 9.5 Fingers wrote:I would recommend getting some tabs for Salt Creek, or Blackberry Blossom (a couple of traditional bluegrass tunes) and work through them. As far as becoming a better guitar player overall, this stuff is pure gold.

It just so happens that jdarks has a tab for Blackberry Blossom. And I think he even has a video for it too on his youtube page. Anyways, here is the tab.

http://www.jdarks.com/files/Blackberry_Blossom.mht

and might I add that its a hell of a fun tune to play.

that jdarks version is like a personal arrangement with some stuff added to the actual melody its beter to learnt the base melody and add the decorations yourself...but anyway i would recomend...

Steve Kaufmans 4 hour bluegrass workout...

its a book with 4 cds
it has like 40 or 50 fiddle tunes in it, including blackberry blossom salt creek whiskey before breakfast soldiers joy black mountain rag etc...the cd's have a half and full speed for each track/..

just work on your right hand its more important than your fretting hand anyway build up speed and accuracy jack a roe has all very simple licks its easy just take your time

Thanks for all the tips. I should have stated from the beginning that I never use a pick. Perhaps that's what's slowing me down.

I'd like to take some bluegrass lessons, but i don't find to many people into bluegrass here in Turkey. Not many bluegrass books avialable, either. Guess I'll have to wait 'til I get back stateside for that.

outta curiousity, do you guys play that quick bit as it is posted on this site, like this?

E|-------------
B|-------------
G|-------------
D|-2-0---------
A|-----3-2-0---
E|-------------


I tried playing it a bit differently last night (i should note that I was playing an unplugged electric guitar, so i wasn't getting the real sound), but it sounded right and was easier to play. Anyone else play it like this?

E|-------------
B|-------------
G|-------------
D|-2-1-0-------
A|-------3-0---
E|-------------

OR

E|-------------
B|-------------
G|-------------
D|-------------
A|-7-6-5-------
E|-------8-5---

This is how I hear it from 4/10/82

I suppose you can hit the 2 on th D any number of times before going into the full intro


g----------------------2--
d-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-1-2-2-1-0---
a----------------------------3-0

dvs I play it the second way also (the way you came up with).

I don't play with a pick either on my acoustic, I play the lick this way.

E|-------------
B|-------------
G|-------------
D|-1h2p1p0-------
A|---------h3-0---
E|-------------

I only pluck a string with my right hand on the first and last note. Much easier to get the speed and timing of it that way, at least for me. You will have to plug in your electric or use a decent acoustic to get any sound out of the hammers and pulls.

ronster wrote: I only pluck a string with my right hand on the first and last note. Much easier to get the speed and timing of it that way, at least for me. You will have to plug in your electric or use a decent acoustic to get any sound out of the hammers and pulls.

Or hammer it hard lol You forgot that method.

IamDocWatson wrote:that jdarks version is like a personal arrangement with some stuff added to the actual melody its beter to learnt the base melody and add the decorations yourself...but anyway i would recomend...

Steve Kaufmans 4 hour bluegrass workout...

its a book with 4 cds
it has like 40 or 50 fiddle tunes in it, including blackberry blossom salt creek whiskey before breakfast soldiers joy black mountain rag etc...the cd's have a half and full speed for each track/..

just work on your right hand its more important than your fretting hand anyway build up speed and accuracy jack a roe has all very simple licks its easy just take your time

doc

Thanks for the recommendation. I ordered this last week and received it last night. I'm headed to Merlefest in April, so hopefully this will help out quite a bit in the parking lots.

jck_strw wrote:

IamDocWatson wrote:that jdarks version is like a personal arrangement with some stuff added to the actual melody its beter to learnt the base melody and add the decorations yourself...but anyway i would recomend...

Steve Kaufmans 4 hour bluegrass workout...

its a book with 4 cds
it has like 40 or 50 fiddle tunes in it, including blackberry blossom salt creek whiskey before breakfast soldiers joy black mountain rag etc...the cd's have a half and full speed for each track/..

just work on your right hand its more important than your fretting hand anyway build up speed and accuracy jack a roe has all very simple licks its easy just take your time

doc

Thanks for the recommendation. I ordered this last week and received it last night. I'm headed to Merlefest in April, so hopefully this will help out quite a bit in the parking lots.

awesome man....maybe one day if we ever cross paths we will have a handful of tunes we both know....
that book has all the major fiddle tunes you "need" to know...specially going to merlefest, have fun...maybe ill be joining ya down there...if i can afford it this year

Check out the version from the Phil Zone, totally different from how they normally played it...

I was listening to some shows earlier with this song in it. They really changed the tempo and feel from the late 70's to the late 80's-90's. I think its one of the few songs i like better in the later years.