Keep it coming! (I Wouldn't Want to be Like You)

I just wanted to drop a line to say, "Thanks!" for covering some great tunes. I recently re-started my subscription to GuitarTricks, and it was mainly due the new (to me) songs I saw-- many of them taught by you.

In particular, I saw the class on "I Wouldn't Want to be Like You." I have tried for years to nail down the solo and thanks to your breakdown, I'm on my way (I can play it at about 80% speed now and am working my way up). Also, I had never tried to attempt breaking the song down harmonically. I never realized how accessible it was to me and my skill level--with a little work. It is pretty gratifying to be able to look at the song as a whole and see how everything seems to pivot off of the C note which is telegraphed by the opening robotic C pulse.

I'm looking forward to nailing this song and learning another.

Also, thanks for the "Anticipation" lesson. I completed that lesson and after a few weeks, I got with a friend who plays bass, and we recorded a cover. It came out excellent (I blended 6-string and 12-string guitars with the parts you taught and it was sounded great). We also hope to record "...Be Like You" once we get our parts down.

Thanks again.

Awesome and thanks for the props! Glad to hear you re-subscribed to Guitar Tricks too! The solo in "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" is a cool one and very fun and lively to play. I'd love to hear your recorded cover version of "Anticipation."

Originally Posted by: ISirius42

I just wanted to drop a line to say, "Thanks!" for covering some great tunes. I recently re-started my subscription to GuitarTricks, and it was mainly due the new (to me) songs I saw-- many of them taught by you.

In particular, I saw the class on "I Wouldn't Want to be Like You." I have tried for years to nail down the solo and thanks to your breakdown, I'm on my way (I can play it at about 80% speed now and am working my way up). Also, I had never tried to attempt breaking the song down harmonically. I never realized how accessible it was to me and my skill level--with a little work. It is pretty gratifying to be able to look at the song as a whole and see how everything seems to pivot off of the C note which is telegraphed by the opening robotic C pulse.

I'm looking forward to nailing this song and learning another.

Also, thanks for the "Anticipation" lesson. I completed that lesson and after a few weeks, I got with a friend who plays bass, and we recorded a cover. It came out excellent (I blended 6-string and 12-string guitars with the parts you taught and it was sounded great). We also hope to record "...Be Like You" once we get our parts down.

Thanks again.

Thanks for your interest in hearing my version of Anticipation. Here's a link to the YouTube video. We mime our parts for the video. I think the song came out pretty good even though I'm not the best singer. The 6-string and 12-string blended nicely (I played the 12-string in standard tuning). My friend and I also did I Wouldn't Want to be Like You, which was also sparked by one of your lessons. Once again we mimed for the video. I strayed from your lesson arrangement on "Be Like You"--keeping the rhythm playing around the 8th position and simplifying the solo in at least two places because I wasn't up to speed by the time we wanted to record. I'm good at practicing slow and deliberatly--with today's technology, it's easy to slow down a piece to 90, 80, 70% speed. But sometimes I hit a brick wall when trying to play fast parts. In this case, I couldn't get the solo out of the 80% area because of the fast parts, so I made alterations to get me through.

What a thrill to be in the music! Thanks agian for the great lessons including the live FaceBook ones. I'm looking forward to learning more.

Great cover versions of "Anticipation" and "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You"!! They both sound real good and I dig your solo on "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You". You matched the phase shifter tone perfectly on the solo too. Did you use an MXR Phase 90?

Originally Posted by: ISirius42

Thanks for your interest in hearing my version of Anticipation. Here's a link to the YouTube video. We mime our parts for the video. I think the song came out pretty good even though I'm not the best singer. The 6-string and 12-string blended nicely (I played the 12-string in standard tuning). My friend and I also did I Wouldn't Want to be Like You, which was also sparked by one of your lessons. Once again we mimed for the video. I strayed from your lesson arrangement on "Be Like You"--keeping the rhythm playing around the 8th position and simplifying the solo in at least two places because I wasn't up to speed by the time we wanted to record. I'm good at practicing slow and deliberatly--with today's technology, it's easy to slow down a piece to 90, 80, 70% speed. But sometimes I hit a brick wall when trying to play fast parts. In this case, I couldn't get the solo out of the 80% area because of the fast parts, so I made alterations to get me through.

What a thrill to be in the music! Thanks agian for the great lessons including the live FaceBook ones. I'm looking forward to learning more.

Thanks for the positive feedback--it really means a lot to me! I used the Line 6 Helix plugin with it's model of the MXR Phase 90. I was lucky that I found a preset that had the right vibe and required very little tweaking. I do have a TC Electronic Helix Phaser that I like a lot, but for recording, I find the plugin does good job and is convenient since I record the signal direc and raw and I can always change the amps and effects if needed. It is pretty amazing how far the technology has come, but there's still something about having a pedal board and a tube amp, too.