Hi Michael. I was thinking yesterday of doing it over and just modulating up a fret or so into another key and just repeating the melody instead of adding that improvised stuff. But when I play pop tunes, they are so repetitive that they seem boring to play for me as an instrumental, in my opinion. They sound good with vocals, but seems to lose its charm as instrumentals. So I wanted to adding a moving bass line to this song when I was arranging it, and wanted to reharmonize it to keep some interest to the piece. But you know, this is such a well known song, I'm thinking now, that people probably just want to hear it as it was originally done. As for theory, I know just enough to struggle with it! I really have to hack out an arrangement. It takes me a long time to work it all out. Thanks for your thoughts!

thank you Rick!

Thank you

Glad you like it. It's one I played a lot when I was doing solo guitar gigs. It also sounds similar to Penny's from Heaven. I had a gig downtown in the winter once, and I played Sunshine of My life, and one of the audience members thought it was Pennys from Heaven. So I thought to myself, did I not play the melody correctly? I always got requests for Freebird or another well known rock tune. Of course, I only play jazz and I would respond with HOW ABOUT MISTY? And they'd always say ok. :)

@ lol!

Genius!

What type of things would you like to see in a video on guitar playing?

@@argyle6674 Similar tips to this for advanced beginner, early intermediate kind of level that really help with progress in actual playing. Also, if you had the time some tutorials on the tunes you're playing on this channel. These standards for fingerstyle guitar are what we're told to learn in order to advance, and there are tab channels around, but not with any guidance or instruction along with them.

@@lucydayLucida Ok, well, maybe I'll do on one my approach and the techniques I use to craft an arrangement. I don't want to teach a song, but the tools one can use to create their own arrangement.

@@argyle6674 That kind of lesson would be gold! I posted on another video about contacting you regarding lessons, if you still do them?

@@lucydayLucida I'm basically retired from teaching, but I do occasional one time lessons for an hour where I can answer your questions and show you what I do, etc. I don't do regular weekly lessons, only every now and then. If you're interested, let me know. It's $60 for an hour via Skype. Payable to me through Paypal. But, give it some thought first if you're interested.

yes, it's a marvelous song! Thanks for watching. :)

Glad you enjoyed it! :)

Many thanks!

Thanks! It is a great tune, no doubt. I also play it in 3/4 time when playing in a group. Which kinda gives it a totally different feel. The guitar is a Robert Conti guitar. First generation of his models. He is also a monster jazz guitarist.

Thank you! The guitar is a Conti model. It is a beauty.

So true. Brazilian music is so full of wonderful life.

Thanks Per! This is one of my favorite tunes to play. It seems that songs from around the 1930's have such great melodies and chord progressions.

Thank you for the kind words. Much appreciated.

Hey, Michael, thanks. Yes, sometimes the sync is off on my vids after I upload to youtube. I don't know why. Maybe I need a new cam. My computer is also low on ram, so when I edit these vids, the computer struggles with processing. I should invest in a new recording system, cam, and computer. Maybe I'll google why the sync is off.

Thank you!

Hey thanks so much. I love the song too. Great melody and chord progression.

@@argyle6674 I have a nice arrangement of the song from a teacher of mine. When I was in elementary school, my teachers would always say my last name was pronounced like Hoagy's.

Hey Lucio, thanks!

Hello. It's working fine. I just checked. Sorry you can' t hear the song. It's a one channel recording, so perhaps check your speaker output? Again, sorry you are unable to hear it.

Hi. The Eastman was a decent guitar, I sold it. It was similar in size and scale as a Gibson ES175. I had a Gibson ES175 years ago, and I think the Eastman is a better instrument as far as the construction goes. The neck on the Eastman was pretty good, but not the best neck I've played on. It had low action but I think the fretboard was not perfectly level. The pickup was a little thin sounding when playing on the High E string. It's not a small size instrument but it was lightweight. Could I play it in my lounge chair or on the couch? Well, I'd have to adjust the way I hold it to accomodate sitting on my couch or arm chair. Any archtop jazz guitar would be a little uncomfortable sitting on those. I have a D'angelico NYSD 9 solid body, that's small and very comfortable to play and you can easily sit on any chair and be comfortable, although it is a heavy instrument like a Les Paul. You might need a 15" archtop....some of the Ibanez Artcore models might be 15". But a solid body, in my opinion are the most comfortable. Especially if you can find one with a 24.75" neck scale. As far as the weight of the instrument...I don't like heavy instruments, yes, they are uncomfortable to hold and play. Another alternative is to have an instrument built for you, though that gets to be very expensive. In all my years of playing, I haven't found an instrument that was totally comfortable to play. Another thought is a Yamaha Silent guitar. I had one in the past. They are small. The action was adjustable. It was lightweight and comfortable to play. Hope that answers your questions. Anyway, good luck in your search. :)

@@argyle6674 Thank you so much for the thoughtful reply and advice. There's a few artcore models for sale very nearby. I'll be taking a look this morning. Cheers.

Thank you so much!

Hi. Glad you like it. Yes, this is my own arrangement. I do it differently every time I play it. I always like to add some type of intro and outro on any song I play. And the intro's I like to play rubato (out of time) and then go into time playing the melody. And if there is some space between the phrases of a melody, I'll improvise something. Maybe I'll add an arpeggio, or a lick or scale run of some type to fill up the song and keep it moving along. I'll also change the chords (chord substitutions) sometimes for harmonic surprise. Normally, I would improvise a chorus or two after playing the head (melody). But I kept this version short. The important thing for me is to play melodically so the listener recognizes the song. Although, I remember at one gig I played, some guy walked up to me and said "Was that a song you were playing? It didn't sound like it!". That stuck in my mind, so I try to keep things melodic. Although, I'm a jazz musician, and we tend to improvise a lot, so a song may end up sounding a lot different than the original version. And many listeners might not like that. Still, I think, in my opinion, that melody is king. :)

@@argyle6674 There's a lot of great tips in your response there. Thank you. I hope you gave that guy an appropriately disdainful 'look' when he said that!

So glad you liked it!

It's actually one of my favorite piece to play. Great chord changes and the melody is fantastic. Jobim was a great composer. :)

So glad you like it.

Hey, I'm pleased you like it! It's an interesting tune to improvise on.

Wow, thanks. He is one of my favorite players.

I love to do upright and guitar duets. Do you have sound samples of your playing?

@@argyle6674 I have an original song with me on all instruments including upright bass. How would I get it to you? Limited computer skills!

@@michaelmcdonald3057 You'd have to post it to your KZbin channel if it's a video. If it's a sound file, you could email it to me if its not too large of a file. What I was thinking, was to do a upright bass and guitar duo. I did that with a drummer and bassist on another one of my videos. I recorded myself on video and then they recorded video of themselves playing the bass and drum parts. Then I pieced it together, synced it up, and made of video of all 3 of us playing the tune. It was Solar by Miles Davis. Just a thought. You'd have to be able to record yourself on video. Need a cam for that.

@@argyle6674 I use a very old and shaky lap top, I also have very limited computer skills. I'm going to just enjoy your playing for now, maybe when I upgrade my equipment we could do something as a duo. Besides, I haven't picked up the upright in a while. I will work on a couple of your posts. Thanks!

@@michaelmcdonald3057 Ok, sounds good. I really enjoy the upright and guitar duo. :)

So glad you enjoyed it! It's really a fun tune to play and improvise on.

Thank you!

Glad you liked it. I like to have a rubato intro of some type and then go into the head in tempo and then I'll improvise a chorus or two or three back into the head and then out. And I like to throw in some kind of ending when I play solo.

Thanks. Much appreciated!

thanks again. I'll give Take Five a shot in the future. Need to learn it for fingerstyle.

Thank you so much! Any tunes you want to hear me play?

@@argyle6674 Blue in Green would be brilliant by Miles! Also I play too and I'm starting to get into jazz guitar. I'm sort of transitioning from a lot of blues stuff to jazz and I can already see that a lot of blues is already in jazz. Do you have any tips for learning? Like certain scales or any theory stuff?

@@notoriouscookie7066 Blue in Green, ok, give me some time to learn it. As far as learning jazz guitar, IMO the most important things are chords, chords, chords. Followed by arpeggios, arpeggios, arpeggios. Triads, triads, triads. Because those things outline the chord harmony and are the basic building blocks of lines. Also, for instance, if you play a chord, you should know the scale that belongs to that chord right where your fingers are on the fretboard for that chord. Then you will be able to play all over the fretboard. And of course the secret shortcut is to learn jazz licks. Then weave them together for a solo. Hope that helps.

@ brilliant thank you so much! I await your rendition sir 🫡

I like learn licks from other musicians that I like. I think that's the fastest way to learn a style. And it sounds good too.

Hey, thanks for subscribing. I understand the issue with your pinky. I'm 73 too. And I have to really concentrate and focus on where I place my hands. I have a mild case of Essential Tremors. Which makes mostly my left shake mildly. And now my middle finger of my left hand has started to do some crazy things at times. As far as controlling your pinky: what I do with my left hand as it it shakes a bit is to focus and look at where the next note/fret the finger is going to move to before it's time to move to that note. Also, I look for ways to support my left hand by maybe gripping the neck tighter or gripping the neck closer to my palm. And also, just trying to change the fingering. So perhaps, instead of using the pinky use another finger. Which means you might have to change the fingering of the chord giving you trouble. Delete or drop a note or two from the chord. It's not necessary to play all the notes in the chord. In fact, quite often "thinner" chords sound much better. Maybe use the bass/root, 3rd and 7th of the chord. Sometimes just the 3rd and 7th will be perfect and still give the flavor of the chord. Check out the famous Django Reinhardt, the gypsy jazz guitarist (now passed on years ago) and other gypsy jazz players. They quite often don't use the pinky. Django used two fingers as his hand was hurt in a fire. As far as my amp, I use a TOMKAT amp made by JAZZKAT AMPS. I think the company is out of business now. But its a powerful small amp with I think 240 watts of output power, not sure. Lightweight, weighs only 19lbs I think. As far as our age is concerned, I think it is entirely possible to always be getting better at playing and improving endlessly. It just might take a bit longer because of our physical abilities have perhaps declined. But I took up piano at age 70 and I'm making progress at it slowly, but steadily. So all we have to do is keep at it day by day, little by little. I like to learn something everyday on the guitar or piano. I usually just pickup a small new lick or chord voicing. Just a small chunk of something that I can learn quickly and apply to a tune. PS. I try to avoid barre chords as it makes my left hand shake and takes a lot of hand strength of which I don't have to much of anymore, so I have had to just come up with my own voicings that I am able to physically play. Electric guitars are easier to play than acoustic guitars. You know, electrics have much lower action and you can use lighter gauge strings. IMO. Hope this helps.

@@argyle6674 Thank you so much for your response. I have been playing bass and guitar, both upright bass and electric for over 50 years. I concentrated on acoustic guitar about 6 years ago and play for fun with a harmonica player as a duo. I also learn from watching other players and by ear. I have recently attempted to learn several blue grass tunes and stripped down arrangements of classical and jazz. I notice as I get older the speed of both hands is slowing down and my accuracy in switching chord positions diminishes slightly. Old Guy Syndrome I'm sure. The pinky issue is compounded I think by the fact I play different guitars often( I have a small collection) The differences in neck width confuses my muscle memory. I also play a little mandolin and banjo. I guess I just need to continue playing within my limits and avoid over stressing my hands and my head. Thanks again and keep on picking!

@@michaelmcdonald3057 Age... thats a good point, we are slowing down as we get older. I've noticed that in my playing too. I've slowed down and it's harder to coordinate both hands. Something I'm dealing with.

Thanks, hope you like them. Let me know your thoughts. :)

Wes was a true master of jazz. My first jazz guitar hero. Thanks.

Thanks so much! Joe was the best. I met him many years ago. He was my model for solo playing. He was a giant on the instrument.

@argyle6674 oh surprise you are very lucky cordial greetings good morning.🙋🎸❤️🖐️

Thank you! That made my day!

Hey, I'm glad you like it. I enjoy playing that tune. It's got some nice chord changes and a great melody. Thanks!

3 chords and 3000 people in the audience. 1000 chords and 3 people in the audience! LOL