New Disaster - Elliott Smith cover

I love this song... okay, I would say that about almost every Elliott Smith song, but that doesn't make it not true :)
This is really fun to play on guitar. I'm tuned down a whole step, and the high E string is tuned down an additional whole step.

[@dylanvillainy]

I can’t remember the last time I’d listened to this one, and your version is chilling. Fingers crossed for a tutorial.

[@ethandaum]

Thanks! It may be a while before I get back to tutorials still, but I hope to eventually :)

[@Kaw226]

Goddam i cant wait, learning your tutorials was like playing Dark Souls on guitar. So freakin frustrating but oh so satisfying once the song was conquered

[@ethandaum]

@@Kaw226 haha, I hear you. I'm so glad you conquered them and felt that satisfaction! It makes me want to give you a challenge... I bet you can learn this one even without a tutorial from me :) Read the description in this video for the notes on the tuning, then use that ear and watch my hands! It's really just the thumb hitting certain notes, and the pointer doing a little up-strum on every off-beat. I have faith that you can figure it out! And if you (or anyone else) take me up on this challenge, please let me know when you succeed so that I can be proud of you :)

[@Thomas-rr8vk]

@@Kaw226This is so funny and true

[@ElowTheProducer]

This is amazing, I'm a huge Elliot Smith fan and you played this so beautifully as usual. I'm so happy to see you uploading again, I Love your stuff.

[@ethandaum]

Thank you - I greatly appreciate that!

[@binaryagenda]

One of my favourite Elliott songs, beautifully played

[@ethandaum]

Thanks! I'm glad this one's in someone else's favorites list. It's really been speaking to me recently... probably my favorite off of New Moon though there are other serious gems on that album

[@rjos033]

@@ethandaum "High Times" off of New Moon is a serious gem too.

[@hitismeduh]

I was so excited to see you had uploaded again! Fantastic cover!

[@lexremillard2549]

Perfect! You nailed it! Such a good rendition. The playing was spot on and singing was great. You captured it. Rare.

[@blankyblanky12]

Always love your covers and tutorials. If you had the time to upload a tutorial of this I'd be grateful as ever! Keep well!

[@JulianQuinn]

WOW DUDE POST NOTIFICATIONS ARE ON... Elliott would be so proud of your covers dude

[@mateuspereira1339]

I just pressed the like bottom so hard that Elliott felt it from the grave.

[@manonrichard3261]

This is just beautiful, moving and inspiring! Thank you very much! I have just discovered your covers and tutorials and I love it!

[@ethandaum]

Thanks, I really appreciate it!

[@julegue1382]

Ethan, your covers of Elliotts songs are the best I've ever heard. Thank you so much for also making tutorials for these songs, because otherwise I would be completely lost if I tried to learn them. You do them so accurately, it's amazing. I would love to hear your version of Independence Day (and of course a tutorial would be very much appreciated ;) ). Keep up the great work! It's always a pleasure listening to you.

[@ethandaum]

That's very kind of you, I appreciate it! Independence Day is coming up! I'd guess I'll have the cover up in the next month or two

[@julegue1382]

@@ethandaum that makes me so happy!! Thanks!

[@hov74]

Hey thanks for the new video posted. You tiched me my favourite Elliott Smith song with one of your video back in the old day. It's always a pleasure to see you performing. Cheers from France, Sorry for the bad English 😄

[@ethandaum]

no apology necessary :) I appreciate it, cheers!

[@WayTruthLife2100]

You're the man Ethan, you sing well as well. I've always struggled playing the guitar and I've been playing for awhile and allot if that tells you something . I have a knack for never relaxing and over thinking everything even songs I've already learned . im still trying to get a handle on your tomorrow, tomorrow but if you can figure out "almost over" ide be so grateful and maybe "I don't think I'm ever gonna figure it out" witch I'm sure I won't but you might so please learn me something thanks allot, your a good soul Ethan I can see it in you, I bet we would be friends if you lived in Oregon city, not far from where Elliott started .

[@ethandaum]

wow, sounds like you are drawn to learning the hard ones! Those songs are so good! I have spent a little time in the past with "I don't think I'm ever gonna figure it out" but I haven't been hugely successful yet - but someday I'll return to it. "Almost Over" kicks so much butt... I haven't attempted it yet, and it sounds super hard - but I'd sure like to try it one day. Anyway, can't make any promises on those two, but I hope to be able to play and share them at some point. And I appreciate your kind words :)

[@JulienDestange]

Always accurate and flawless, like in the old youtube days! Congrats :)

[@sarahbdougherty]

Wow. Terrific sound.

[@abigail5274]

I am so happy that you are back! Amazing covers and beautiful voice

[@icouch]

Love Elliott's softer music. Keep up the good work!

[@amargado445]

What a charming voice and guitar... Awesome cover dude :')

[@thesecorridorsoftime]

Dude...that was perfect 🖤

[@trpackz2848]

So good to see you are back covering Elliott Smith again! Ps could we get a tutorial for this one. I really enjoyed learning Al the other Elliott Smith tutorials. Your tutorials are truly a blessing :)

[@ganchinho]

glad you still putting out ES covers!!

[@reademccardell5208]

So, so beautiful.

[@ethandaum]

Thanks Reade :)

[@richfuell8141]

You nailed this beautifully....my favourite Elliott Smith song....😁

[@kevinkim951]

Not that it matters or anything but this is beautiful and there should be more views on this video tbh. Thanks for the song!

[@jennpretty109]

One of my favorite songs, and best cover I've ever heard 💜

[@ethandaum]

Thanks that’s quite the complement ❤️

[@ezradevore8727]

This is so fucking gorgeous. I love it so so so much. Thank you for creating again, it means so much to me in my life.

[@ethandaum]

That means a lot Ezra, and I hear you. I'm wishing you the best from over here

[@nunyab8972]

An amazing cover of a beautiful song. Thank you for sharing this.

[@alejandrosandoval5207]

Oh Ethan! Didnt know you were back. You nailed it as always

[@kevinlin4778]

Amazing. Thank you so much for your videos! They're very inspiring as well as really helpful as I try to learn these songs myself.

[@rjos033]

Thank you so much for your tutorials and covers, thus far. They’ve helped me tremendously. You’re a phenomenally patient teacher and it makes me so happy that Elliott’s music is still alive and strong. Any chance we can hope to see some tutorials or covers of “LA”, “A Question Mark” or “Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands”?

[@ethandaum]

Thanks Rohan, so glad to hear that some of my videos have helped you. "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" is near the top of my list, so I hope to get to it before too long! "LA" and "A Question Mark" are just so band-driven, which makes it hard to know how to cover it on just acoustic guitar...maybe someday I'll figure something out

[@rjos033]

@@ethandaum No problem. Can't wait to see what you come out with next (originals and/or covers)!

[@BoatsnHelicopters]

Beautiful cover.

[@sk8bob677]

WOW tis was absolutely incredible

[@Thomas-rr8vk]

This is really beautiful

[@bertongtutong7207]

greatest ESmith cover on the internet

[@Jackson-ms8zs]

Astounding!

[@joshgehman232]

making one of the hardest songs to play look easy. I've never attempted this on guitar. I love playing it on piano though

[@Carrandas]

Another lovely cover, thanks for sharing!

[@nnamsamoht]

Wow. Love it man. Nicely done. 👍

[@KizCat]

It breaks my heart.

[@emandmarty9333]

Absolutely nailed it. You legend.

[@amargado445]

HE'S BACK!!

[@stop5907]

Stay well dude. Great cover

[@AmonTokin]

Top notch stuff. Super clean

[@JohnMainz]

Beautiful

[@samuelquimby5048]

Keep putting out videos they are so good!

[@scotthackney4747]

Love your stuff, keep it up :)

[@NATS-rs3mw]

Great cover, I can’t seem to find the tuning on this. Does anyone have any idea?

[@northabstract1176]

please can we get a tutorial for this? i can't seem to figure out what notes you're playing in the verse and bridge. thanks :)

[@javieremiliomartinez5416]

Dude you're awesome. I hope you upload new music on spotify someday.

[@ethandaum]

hey that implies that you've seen my music on spotify - that's fun! I'll get more up eventually :)

[@hardfolk]

thank you my friend

[@Bolthazard101]

Hey Ethan, so glad to see you upload another video! Was wondering a bit about your process of transcribing. Do you just listen to the record and how long does it take you to do? Once youve got the notes does it then take you much longer to learn to play? I think I'm going to have a go at transcribing this one off you :)

[@ethandaum]

Nice, you should! I do lots of listening, but it's most helpful when I can find a video of Elliott playing live. Even if the video is crappy quality, I can usually at least determine roughly where his hand is on the neck, and often which finger he is using for the bass note of each chord... which then gives clues about what the rest of his fingers are doing. A lot of his songs are driven by a melodic bass line that brings the chord changes together, so I tend to focus on the bass line (picking hand thumb) first. In terms of how long it takes, it totally depends on the song. This one happened to only take me a couple days because I had learned Easy Way Out at some point which uses almost exactly the same technique as this song. Whereas Tomorrow Tomorrow and Angeles were more like a matter of months because I had never played songs anything like them. So the time/effort kind of depends on the repertoire you start building, and the more you learn the more you have to pull from. I've also been playing for almost 20 years now, so that definitely helps :) Mostly just a matter of practice time!

[@AmonTokin]

@@ethandaum Very helpful, thanks !

[@Huefyfvtd]

brilliant

[@thebordenasylum7726]

Can you do a How to play of this song? I've been trying to figure it out for years

[@mvbasilios]

You're awesome!

[@sodykiss2209]

I just was learning abused and then u uploaded this

[@ethandaum]

Nice timing :) I love abused too. I haven't learned that one yet though

[@sodykiss2209]

@@ethandaum it's a really easy one compared to new disaster really theres a great instrumental cover on youtube from "betweenthecolorbars" should check it out

[@feltsouglybefore]

What is the tuning for this? This is almost brought a tear to my eye listening to it, it is so spot on to the original, nice work Ethan, I wish I was 1/10th the guitarist you are. I’ll have to stick to building them

[@Gabes47]

Could u please do a tutorial for this one

[@mirenestruch3617]

you are amazing

[@peterpengproductions920]

Nice Ethan!

[@batcatrecordslabel7821]

Very cool 😉

[@giacomofiorello8386]

The best!

[@sjhdfbasndf986]

nice job

[@ShoshanaSki0]

Flawless!! You sure you're not Elliott Smith? :)

[@ethandaum]

Haha, pretty sure :)

[@Kaw226]

YES

[@dragonballzkai9283]

Do you think you'd ever play or make a tutorial of You Make It Seem Like Nothing?

[@ethandaum]

What, I've never even heard that one! Super pretty. Can't make any promises, but add it to my list - it's just getting to be a pretty long list so don't hold your breathe :) Thanks for introducing me to a new one!

[@dragonballzkai9283]

@@ethandaum You're welcome! I'm glad I was able to show you something new! 😁

[@jennysimmonds6540]

is there anyone in London UK who is as big a fan of Elliott Smith than me?

[@andysparks8103]

Great my man. Where did u get the tab?

[@ethandaum]

This one is just from my ear :)

[@rishitpandey4470]

Please man, teach me how to play this

[@tannertalbot6044]

you should do a lesson on it i loved it !!!

[@austinbeattie8898]

are you just using your index finger two hit the two high strings or are you using you middle finger a swell? also are you hitting both the strings at once ?

[@ethandaum]

Good questions - I just use my index finger and I hit both strings in the same stroke, like a mini up-strum with the index finger. Happy playing!

[@rishitpandey4470]

Broooo tutorial please

[@Daniel-wj7nb]

Niiice

[@sodykiss2209]

Nah u serious wtf yes

[@alucardsuica544]

teach me

[@allyson--]

:~) slay

[@LobotomyMeat]

Very clean playing, but I feel like this is missing something. I don’t mean to be rude in saying that, because you’re a talented guitarist, but it needs some additional ingredients. If I had to put a finger on it, I’d say it’s the combination of two things. First, the timbre of the guitar and strings you use, don’t really mesh with the tone of an Elliott Smith song. You have a nice guitar, but it sounds too clean. Almost like something you’d hear on a modern pop country hit. It might work well in a different genre, but it doesn’t fit the mold here. The second thing your cover suffers from is a lack of dynamics. All the notes are performed so evenly, that it comes off as robotic. Certain notes deserve more emphasis than others. That doesn’t mean you have to play it exactly like Elliott, but you should put more feeling into it. Give it your own twist. If you do that, you’ll have something special.

[@caketits2723]

What I've noticed: The sound probably has less to do with the guitar, and more to do with the audio equipment he's recording with. Elliott recorded his earlier tracks on tape, which results in the wide and warm tone we hear on New Moon. Also, Elliott likely had mics placed close to/aimed at his guitar when he was recording, while Ethan doesn't. I believe this is the primary discrepancy of the tone. Not sure the strings would matter too much, either. They look like phosphor-bronze, which is what Elliott used. They sound like Mediums as well. The only thing that might affect the tone guitar-wise is that Ethan's guitar has a cutaway, which can make the higher strings sound a bit brighter than the lower strings. But Ethan's playing has the lower strings pronounced and clear, so I'm not sure the guitar shape has changed much. As for the dynamics, Ethan's matches the recording on New Moon pretty faithfully; soft and low in the beginning, a bit louder in the second verse, with the peak coming at the chorus and back down to the volume of the second verse. I'd say this is also a recording discrepancy as well, since Elliott probably recorded the guitar and vocals separately. You should look up the Grand Mal version of New Disaster, the guitar in that version is more even in volume throughout than what Ethan is playing here. Maybe the fact that he's using his nails to strum is what's got you? Elliott pretty much never used his nails to strum, it was either the flesh of his fingers or a pick (rarely). I don't mind at all, but I can see the use of nails being grating in the context of an ES song. Also, Ethan is playing behind the sound hole and towards the bridge as well, which can make the notes have a bit more bite to them. Elliott played over the sound hole, which contributed to his softer sound. Of course, it's never really gonna sound the same. But idk, I think he's successfully given it his own twist. ;)

[@mghumphrey]

Beautiful