I kinda of like this one. Di says she likes it, too. But if I sounded like Popeye playing an out-of-tune banjo, she'd say she liked! I had to practice the danged thing forever to get it right! No big story...just playing around on the guitar one day and this is what happened, after a bunch of tweaking. There are a few mistakes but I think i hid them pretty good. But if you listen close, you'll find them. Oh well!!!

File:Al - Hurting Inside - Alt 2 - Ready.MGU
Key=A , Tempo 70, Length (m:s)=3:05
2 bar intro, 16 bar chorus, from bar 3 to bar 18. Repeat x3 choruses
Melody has 465 notes, Melody harmony is < no harmony >(0)
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Song is saved with bar changes for Volume Changes,

RealTracks in style: 1036:Bass, Electric, NorthernRockBallad Ev 065
RealTracks in style: ~367:Guitar, Electric, Background Dreamy Ev 065
RealTracks in style: 1037:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm NorthernRockBallad Ev 065
RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven16^5-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride
*******************


http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11919236

Hi Al
Great Instro. Its Sunday morning here and that blew the cobwebs away nicely.
Loved the OD sound. What axe is that and what did you use to get the OD? You certainly work on the fact that if its got 21 frets on the fingerboard - use 'em ALL!! lol!! (unless its a 22 fretter, like mine )
If there are any mitskaes in it, I didnt notice - I just enjoyed listening to an accomplished guitarist getting on with it and having fun too. I hope you weren't hurting inside too much.
cheers
ian

Hi Ian...

I've been to England twice, both place both times. I was in Burtonwood, a small village not far from Warrington. Loved it there!

I'm playing an Ibanez ARZ 400 through a Peavey Nashville 112 amp. The overdrive is through a cheap, locally bought pedal. I paid $34.00US for..very, very cheap. It's a FAB Danelctro...no model number. but it gives me quite a bit of distortion and overdrive. It also gives me a lot of sustain.

The pickups on the Ibanez are very hot, so I have to be careful when I'm playing something soft and mellow. that's the only complaint I have with it. It's a bit heavy (sort of a Les Paul knock-off) but the action is very good. I set the action extremely low because of the Country chicken pickin' I do. I get no fret buzz. The fifth string (A) becomes slightly flat at the 11th fret. I really like the clean fingerboard...not cluttered with dots or other inlays. When I get rich, I'll buy me another Gibson ES 355!

I use Ernie Ball Slinky strings but make my own set as follows: .09 - .11 - .13 - .24 - .32 - .44
I love the amp...it's virtually indestructable. It's designed for pedal steel, so i don't have to worry about distortion on the low notes when i'm comping in jazz. Also, all the vocals we've posted here...are sung through that amp, rather than a mixing board. That spring reverb is just so warm and full.

There were three mistakes I kind of covered over. Glad they weren't too apparent!

I guess I've rambled on with much more than you asked for,,,sorry! Hope I adequately answered your question. And yes, I had to use every fret. I really don't like playing down there...no room to work. But, I couldn't get the sound I wanted otherwise. Also, in order to get those really high notes, I had to tune my guitar three frets higher:

G-D-Bb-F-C-G

I immediately retuned it down to its natural tuning in order to take the additional stress off the neck. Thanks again for your kind words! Wishing you a great Sunday. Di says Hi!

Alan

Awesome playing. Loved the tone. Some serious feeling in your playing..

Alan,

Beautiful! The backing tracks are just what they need to be. The mix is nice.

Beautiful tone. And a very lyrical, musical lead. Really enjoyed the listen!

floyd

I'm with Di. I liked it. You've got some chops, man.

I PM'd you, Al

Hi Al,

great tune. Reminded me of Brent Mason who is my favourite in BiaB. 0:48 was the only spot that distracted me.
Your guitar sound is fantastic.
I've never heard of tuning a guitar the way you described.
But it was worthwhile.

Guenter

Al, it's all been said. Simply fabulous guitar work. Thanks for sharing.

Jeepers Creepers that is some guitar playing Al. Good job.

Scott,

Thank you very much. Due to some family history over recent years, this song evokes a lot of emotion for me. Poets write poetry...I write music when life is on the downside. Not to worry...I'm fine. I just have moments of reflection that are melancholy. Thank you again!

Alan

Hi Floyd!

Thank you so much for those very kind words. I worked on this for months before I recorded it and still ended up with three noticeable goofs! Di and I believe you are one of the most talented people here, among several others, and we truly appreciate your comments and feedback. Thank you very much!

Al

Hey oleman...

I'll let Do know you agree with her. She says I never do and she has to correct me! Ha!!!!!

Thank you so much for your kind words! they make an old hreart feel good! best to you,

Al (and Di)

Ian...

Got the PM and replied. Thanks so much! You brought back a lot of great memories of my limited time in the UK!

Guenter..

Guten Abend! I hope all is well with you in your gorgeous city of Karlsruhe. I have spent many days in Karslruhe and Germersheim.

Thank you for the compliments. Any time my name is mentioned with Brent mason...without a frown...I am wonderfully happy! I wish I were only half as good as he is. He's a very nice gentleman, too. We have several friends in common...Mike Baker, Mike Dunbar and John Heinrich. However, those associations don't make me a better guitar player...dang! But you flatter me with that compliment!

Al

Don...

Hope my favorite Okie is doing okay. And thank you for your very nice words! Di and i appreciate all the very nice things you have had to say about us in our short time here. Wishing you the very best. Next time we go to Oklahoma, I'll let you know maybe we can get together. That would be great!

Al

Hi Josie...

Thank you very much! It actually sounds much more difficult than it is. Five years ago, I would have been able to get this finished in one or two cuts. But this one took me dozens of attempts. I have Focal Dystonia and it is eroding my playing skills. Soon, I'll be totally dependent on BIAB for all my lead guitar work. I've been playing professionally since July of 1963. Along the way, I picked up 2 or 3 decent licks! Thanks again!

I've been to Africa twice but never South Africa. I've been to Kenya (Nairobi) and Morocco (Rabat, Fez and Casablanca). Perhaps someday I will get to the southern portion of the continent...that would be nice!

Thank you again!

Al

Wow, you really would visit a badly bent old Irishman in a nursing home? In Okie lingo: "I be fer keepin' the lawt own fer y'all, heah?!"

WARNING!

It gets so beastly hot here in Summer that the Rattlesnakes and Gila Monsters will crawl into the campfire just to get in the shade of the frying pan!

Don,

Yep, we'd do that in heartbeat! I lived in Tulsa from 1999 - 20002. Been there, done that! I also lived in Bakersfield, CA and San Antonio, TX where it gets even hotter than it does in Oklahoma! And we know what the stroke did t you. That wouldn't stop us! friends are who and what they are. We count you among our good friends.

So, we may meet face to face in the foreseeable future! Ya never know! best to you...

Al & Di

hi al nice chops love it very tasty enjoyed nice guitar sound I didn,t here any mistakes at this end great mix thanks for sharing eric

Hey Al, I'm down with what everybody's been saying. Great chops, tone and mix. If I could play like that you'd have to pry me outa our music room!

Hi Eric...

So nice to hear from you! And thank you very much for the nice compliments! I appreciate the time to listen and comment. Wishing you well,

Al

Janice and Bud...

Not that i'm that great of a picker, but Di has to pry me out of the studio all the time. I'm always working on a new song, as far the music and arrangement. Di and I write the lyric together most often. In addition to music, I also write novels. Five written so far and three under way!

So, between the music and the books, I think Di considers herself a pseudo-widow! I'm almost 67 years old and still practice 1 - 3 hours every day, except when life calls me away for other requirements. I don't do scales or anything of the sort...just practice new licks, chords and arrangements. Just last week I learned three new chords and, for the most part, how to effectively use them. I learn at least 1 or 2 new chords every week or two. But, all of that will be for naught in the near future as the Focal Dystonia is progressing at a fairly rapid rate. I expect to be using BIAB for most my lead guitar work within a 15 - 18 months. Even typing is a real challenge because of the stiffness and inward bent (curling) of my fingers. But, dang it, I'll be learning until it simply isn't possible any more. I'm planning on doing a video of a song or two (instrumentals) sometime this spring.

Anyway, thank you so much for your kindness!!!

Di says "Hi!" to everyone...

Al

Al, I have a couple of years on you and have tremendous sympathy for your physical issue. Way, way beyond music Janice and I love hiking, mountain biking and kayaking - activities that serious issues with my neck and back are threatening......we just have to keep forging ahead.
As I suspect with you and yours all I have to do is look at Janice and realize that I won life's lotto with her and that trumps everything.

Janice & Bud...

Thanks for the comeback. Actually, I deal with it pretty good. Disappointing/ yeah, but, as you said, there's a big old world out there that doesn't involve music. Our physical activities are limited as Di is significantly disabled. She's had more surgeries than you could count with a good calculator.

For years, she was severely diabetic. She has advanced arthritis and Fibromyalgia. Also, many years ago, her former husband stomped on her and broke several vertebrae and damaged one hip socket. She is in constant pain and has to be very careful how she bends, stoops, etc. She had bariatric surgery about 15 months ago and she is no longer diabetic...woohoo! She was slightly overweight but not much. The surgery was more for the diabetes than the few extra pounds.

A normal blood sugar range is 80 - 120. After 7 insulin shots and eating a stringent diet, her blood sugar, every evening, used to constantly read 400 - 600. Those are coma levels. We almost lost her two years when she went into a diabetic coma. Fortunately, she survived. She also had a stroke in 2008...a brain bleed. She had regained about 80% of her function.

I am very lucky and blessed. At nearly 67, I don't have a chronic pain anywhere, have never taken a chronic medication in my life. The only time I've been in the hospital, other than to run tests, was when I got shot up pretty good in Vietnam. My family doctor told me last year after a physical I was nearly as healthy as a 45 year-old man. I thank God for that.

Di and I have both lost children at an early age. Her son was killed in a car accident in 2001. He was 33 years old. My oldest son was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1985. He was 18. So, we appreciate every year we get. We don't complain about getting old!

Wishing both of you the very best...

Al & Di

Al, Wow that is outstanding guitar work. Way to go. Mix sounds excellent. I really liked the melody line. The tone fits the song. This started off my week on the right foot. BTW The doctor says I have the body of a 20 yr old-----woman that is. Tom

Guitar work is outstanding, and the perfect tone for the song, fits perfect. Thanks for sharing!

Very nice playing.

I would have turned up the guitar a few db since it is a "guitar song" after all..... stand up in that spotlight. Yeah, that's my main nit on this one. The guitar was not loud enough.

A few issues here and there where the backing tracks are not totally in the groove with what you're doing on the guitar but other then that...excellent job...

Kudo's on practicing a few hours each day..... something that I need to do actually..... but finding the time.....

And learning 3 new chords this week.... very sweet. I used to have a book that sported over 5000 chords for guitar. I tried to learn new ones from that book..... it was so cool, because often there were several pages of the same chord played in dozens of different finger positions and neck positions..... wow.... but seriously, what guitarist actually NEEDS to know 24 different ways to play a Gmaj7 chord..... (don't answer that.... it's rhetorical)

Hearing this tune makes me chomp at the bit to simply play a guitar song again..... it's therapeutic. It's been a while since I played guitar just to stretch out a bit. Most of what I have been doing in recent years has been tightly controlled playing.

Hi Al,

Yeh, I heard the little train wreck at 0:46 - 0:49 and the bass does something fairly weird at 0:07 - 0:08. RealTracks will put out some strange stuff sometimes.

But, those blazing licks at 1:21 - 1:29 - whoa! They are the highlight of a most impressive solo. You can really preach on that thang, brother.

Dean

Hey Hacker...

Thanks for the nice comments...sure do appreciate them. And yeah, I had one of those books back in the late 60's. I try to learn 2 - 4 positions for each chord. Some chords, though...one position is enough of a challenge. The 13thb9 is a good example of that. If I can't work it in the only position I know for it, I go to a 7thb9 instead. I lose the 6 note there but I can live with it. The main reason I try to learn new chords is because I play a lot of Jazz and comping a jazz piece requires it.

I doubt it's the backing tracks being off...more likely me! The fingers aren't what they used to be.

I still enjoy composing music and doing vocals for non-sing, non-performing lyricists. I do quite a bit of that. It makes me work harder as well as sometimes send me in a direction I've not been before.

Thanks again! Best to ya...

Al

Good Evening, Dean...

Thank ya, kind sir, for those kind remarks! And yeah, that bass there seems to have it's own mind. but I liked the rest of the track so much I didn't want to change any of it, so I live with those couple of seconds!

Those licks at 1:21 - 1:29 are little more than shredding at a slower tempo...not nearly as hard as it sounds. One thing I do that I don't hear a lot of other lead guitarists do is pluck two, sometimes, three strings rather than one note. That's particularly effective when doing hammer-downs and pull-offs. That fills out the part and makes it sound like I'm doing a lot more than I really am. It's paid me very well over the years!

Thanks again, my friend. You and Hacker ain't no slouches, either! Some sweet stuff come from both of you.

Have a great night...

Al

Al

Really liked the mood you set there. Smooth, nice tempo, and great guitar work. An enjoyable listen.

Cheers
Trevor

Hi Trevor...

Thank you so much. I'm delighted you enjoyed your listen. thanks for letting me know!

Al

Al,

Excellent guitar work,you made me get my old Les outa the case and practice a bit more than I usually do.

And reading your medical history made me feel ashamed for my moaning

keep them coming
Alyn

Hi F.M.M.

Thanks for the listen and the nice comments. Sure am glad you enjoyed your listen! Woishing you a great night...

Al

Man! you sure show the hurt on that tune and at the same time it transmitted (to me anyway)like a feeling of a soft protest for something. Well done.

Mike B.

Mike B.

Hi! And thanks for the listen. I truly appreciate the kind things you had to say about this one.. Not really a protest, just an attempt to portray, musically, the hurt and pain of losing at love. Been there...done that! But I am very happily married at this point in my life...not hurt or pain!

Thanks again...

Al

Al,

Love the soul in those licks. You made me feel it.

Great job.


Josie

Hey Alyn,

I see I missed replying to you a little earlier. Sorry! That damned old age will get ya every time! Thanks for you kindness. I don't dwell too much on the physical stuff. It is what it is. I've had nearly 50 years of making a living on those 6 strings...can't complain about it at this point! What one hand takes away from you, you replace with something else in the other hand. As I mentioned earlier to someone, I also write novels. When the music playing is no longer possible, I always have my novels to write. Also, I have BIAB it sit in for me. I can live with all that! best to you,

Alan

Hi Josie!

Thank you for the wonderful comments. No greater compliment to a musician that telling him/her their music moved you and made you feel it. Thank you so much! Enjoy the rest of your weekend...

Al

Hi Al,

Absolutely stunning!

You have a real gift for melody and for arrangement. The musical sensitivity with which you drove us along the highway of your song is outstanding. I agree with Sundance, "soul" is definitely the right word.

I was just sitting here, eyes closed, listening, and I couldn't believe that 3 minutes had passed when it stopped.

I'm going back for seconds now.

All the best,
Noel

P.S. Di was correct