I'm impressed, razzlemacher! Congratulations on learning Man of Constant Sorrow. I'm just getting started on it.
I've been playing for years but never really challenging myself. It's time to change that, so I'm working on this song, measure by measure. So far, there's nothing that is too difficult for me, technically, which comes as a surprise/relief. Obviously, I'll have to memorize everything because there's no way to print the entire notation, and the lesson notation on the righthand part of the split screen only shows a couple measures at a time. But that's OK. Memorization is a necessary skill.
Mike, thanks for offering this lesson. I completed the "made easy" version and used more interesting strumming throughout, but even that didn't make it as satisfying as this advanced version. Playing in drop D is such a pleasure, and again it makes my brain work a little bit, which is good. The slides, hammer ons and bends make it sound like I know what I'm doing! What a great song and series of lessons.
Your calm, positive teaching style gives me the confidence and determination to reach beyond my current level so that playing the guitar becomes interesting again. It was getting pretty dull, just practicing fluid chord changes. (And yes, I'm still working on my Chris Smither song, Place in Line, trying to decide how to strum while I'm singing.)
You suggestion to throw in ghost strums is really helpful in Man of..... It helps me keep moving up and down correctly, and it adds more nuance to the sound. My ghost strums are very quiet but fill a void.
It's helpful and very generous that razzlemacher was candid and detailed about how long it took to learn/master Man of Constant Sorrow. Now I have some realistic expectations, and won't fret if I only learn/memorize a few measures every week. It's still progress, and it's still fun.
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