Erik Frandsen, a 10-finger player on my "A-List" of top guitarists! |
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Jul 29 2013, 11:38 PM
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Erik Frandsen is an old friend of mine who lives in Greenwich Village in New York City. He is on my list of top favorites, a composer and lyricist par excellence as well as a talented actor. He has written musicals which were produced off Broadway. How many guitarists do you know who play with all ten fingers with complete ease and write and perform songs with clever lyrics and beautiful melodies? Here is Erik Frandsen playing his song Unique New York in his apartment on a beautiful vintage Epiphone archtop jazz box (which was made in New York City). The title is a tongue twister, I can only say it out loud with difficulty. I can't imagine ever being able to play and sing it! Watch this video and, please, let me know what you think.
This post has been edited by Blue Willy: Jul 29 2013, 11:40 PM -------------------- Mike
"The business ain't nothin' but the blues!" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk Inductee in the Blues Hall of Fame, March 14, 2012. Mike-Wilhelm.com YouTube: Michael Ray Wilhelm, Blusician, guitar & vocal |
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Jul 31 2013, 06:34 PM
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QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Jul 29 2013, 11:05 PM)  Pffff...  For me, this is a totally amazing skill, that I am working on myself at the moment - I need to be able to get up on the stage with a guitar in my hand and sing in the same time. Our songs are complex in what regards rhythm and the riffs and formulas are never that simple when it comes down to singing and playing in the same time. Thanks for sharing this great inspirational video!There is no mystery to accompanying your vocals. I had been playing for several years before I attempted to sing at the same time in front of an audience. Until then I limited my public playing to accompanying others. Once you've practiced your accompaniment to the point where you don't need to think about it, you'll be able to sing along just like karaoke. When I'm singing, I concentrate on my vocal...the guitar is automatic. The whole secret of this is the same as any other skill on guitar (or vocal): Practice, practice, practice! Practice works for everything. I had bad stage fright...I overcame it by (you guessed it) practice and more practice. -------------------- Mike
"The business ain't nothin' but the blues!" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk Inductee in the Blues Hall of Fame, March 14, 2012. Mike-Wilhelm.com YouTube: Michael Ray Wilhelm, Blusician, guitar & vocal |
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Aug 2 2013, 03:10 AM
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QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Jul 31 2013, 11:19 PM) That is my approach as well - practice I have made a big list - about 50-60 songs that I practice with my acoustic guitar and my voice - it's good exercise for both and it is shortening my distance towards performing on stage with both.As an instructor, you have the need to be able to play a variety of songs and genres in order to teach them. Learning songs with vocals for performance takes another method. I think you may be spreading yourself too thin with 50-60 songs at a time. My method is to concentrate on 3 or 4 songs at a time. Strive to perfect just one. The other songs are for relief from fatigued fingers and brain. Once you have the one song together, the others will be half way to pefection. If you can learn the songs one at a time you will start to build repertoire. Warm up by playing the ones you know until you get to the one you're learning and then concentrate on that one. When I really like a song, be it mine or one written by someone else, often I will play nothing else but that song, sometimes for several days. I become obsessed until I have learned it. First the guitar part and hum the melody and once that seems ready I start on singing the lyrics. At first I read them but then I try to sing them from memory. If you keep reading them you will never get them memorized. Sometimes I'll sing the song with no accompaniment a few times just to get the vocal down. Then back to the guitar and vocal. I start from the beginning until I make a mistake. I may run over the part a few times where I made the mistake and then start the song from the beginning again. I continue until there is a mistake such as forgotten lyric. Then back to the top. Eventually I will get all the way through to the finish. I then play it again. Every time I make a mistake I start over from the beginning. Eventually I really know the song. By starting from the beginning, your brain always keeps the song in context rather than separate pieces. Once learned, your subconscious will take over and you won't have to think about the lyrics and your conscious mind can work on improving the details such as phrasing and inflection. Don't be too particular about the guitar part being cleanly executed, as long as there are no mistakes in meter or bad notes it won't be noticed by your audience who will have their attention on the vocal. On the instrumental solo is where you must execute cleanly. Eventually your accompanying guitar will clean itself up as you get more confidence and your subconscious mind takes over that chore completely. My method may not work for everyone but that is what I do. The other thing to bear in mind is that, in performance, you must ignore your mistakes and keep playing, never letting on that you played a bad note or wrong chord.  Keep your cool. When you do this, the audience will ignore small errors as well, since you did nothing to draw attention to the mistake which was, after all, just an instant of time and completely forgotten in the context of the rest of the song being played well. I have received standing ovations for performances which I personally thought were terrible  ...as long as the performer doesn't let his or her feelings show, the audience will not notice. Smile, take you bows and thank that wonderful audience!
-------------------- Mike
"The business ain't nothin' but the blues!" - Rahsaan Roland Kirk Inductee in the Blues Hall of Fame, March 14, 2012. Mike-Wilhelm.com YouTube: Michael Ray Wilhelm, Blusician, guitar & vocal |
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