I've been making good on my goal and working on "Falling Slowly." It's a little maddening as it is a simple song that continues to elude me. I'm having trouble with the chord changes and have to think too much about where my fingers should land. I'm not yet able to make a smooth transition between the chords and keep time. But it's coming along.
I did find a youtuber (my Junior High English teacher just rolled over in her grave)who posted a lesson in how to play the song. He claims that it is exactly how Glen Hansard plays it. It's the closest thing I've been able to find, but I think Glen wraps his thumb around on the first fret to get an F on the 6th string and ring out that low bass during the finger picking part. The poster also talks about a Fsus2 chord. And the librarian in me just can't let it go without correcting it. The chord he describes-- xx3213 is Fadd9, not Fsus2. I know it's a bit of nit picking because both chords are created by adding a G. A true Fsus2 would have you suspend the third (A) and play the second (G) instead. Fadd9 is adding the 9th pitch above the root, but you leave all the other components of the triad alone. So, while the second and the ninth are both G, it's not quite the same thing. At least, that's how I understand it.
Nevertheless, the youtuber breaks the song down very well and teaches the mechanics simple enough for my 38 year old brain to understand it. Thanks tallie7487, whoever you are!
OK, theory lesson over. Now on to the vid:
Labels: guitar, guitar lesson, music, theory
