Travis Style Arrangements for Weissenborn

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Weissenborn Players

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This group is dedicated to the Weissenborn players around the world.

179 Members, Created 2/15/2011 -

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From RobA on 1/8/2013 4:00:01 PM

There's been a bit of discussion about incorporating Travis style picking into arrangements for the Weissenborn so I got to looking through my archives and thought I'd post a link to my rendition of She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain.

When I put this together I was recording sound clips for the Gold Tone company for their website and I wanted to include something from the public domain. So i sketched out the melody pretty quickly and started adding a syncopated bass line alternating between the 6th and 4th strings and it all came together very quickly.

I once heard a guitar teacher describing his approach to teaching Travis style guitar as a two step process - first he would teach the class the melody line (on the higher strings) and once they got that part down he would get them all playing the alternating bass lines as a class and then put the two parts together! It sounds perfectly logical, and it is...but it can be a little tricky at first.

I find it easier to establish the underlying alternating bass lines first and then start adding the melody lines. If you are new to this technique it's helpful to make your melody lines as simple as possible. No need to get super fancy, just establish the bass pattern and try a simple phrase or two with the goal of keeping that pulsating rhythm going strong. As you progress you will find that it's not necessary to play those bass notes on each and every phrase - you can drop out here and there - especially if the melody lines you are playing are compelling enough to fill that space.

If any of you are up for it I'd love to hear or see what you come up with! It's been a number of years since I've tried to come up with any Travis style tunes on the Weisseborn so I'll see if I can work up something new as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syDDgolYq6s

Thanks,

Rob

10 Comments
	Liz Williams says: 1/8/2013 6:09:01 PM This is fantastic, Rob. Bob Blair and I were talking about this recently and he got me practicing the alternating bass. I'll take a run at this.
RobA says: 1/9/2013 9:24:24 AM Tonu: Thanks for posting this! You sound great and its really great to hear you play! I love the way you've incorporate the motif with the pull-offs and kept the Travis style bass line going underneath it all. Very cool! Any chance you could shoot a video of this so we can see how you keep it altogether? thanks, Rob
	Bob Blair says: 1/9/2013 12:14:13 PM Here's something by Mary Flower I just stumbled across that incorporates some of that among other things: nme.com/nme-video/youtube/id/I...I/search/
	jmb3450 says: 1/9/2013 12:18:09 PM Open D is great for Travis styles stuff. Rob, I've been a fan of your playing since I got into playing dobro and weiss, your playing was/is part of my motivation. The video you posted above is cool, sounds to me like Travis style with a little 'chicken pikin' thrown in. :) Tono: I'd also like to see a video of what you're doing if that's possible. Very nice job, the weiss and mando are a good blend. I haven't had much opportunity to work on music in a while, hoping to get back to it very soon. I've been playing in church and at gigs a little, but very little time to practice or work an anything new. But I have found a few spare moments to play my weiss in the past couple weeks and find myself gravitating to alternating bass kind of stuff. Some old hyms, country songs, and a Doc Watson song that I think is called Solid Gone or something like that. Lots of fun to play. If I get more time and work anything out well enough to be worth listening to I'll try to record something.
RobA says: 1/9/2013 3:33:13 PM Jim - thanks for your kind words. I always enjoy your posts! I hope you can find the time to post a video, that'd be great!
	jmb3450 says: 1/14/2013 5:23:05 AM I uploaded a short mp3 of a song, The Unclouded Day, the link should be on the left top of this page. Played in open D, partially muted strings 4 thru 6 for the alternating bass. It's just some quick ideas on the song I came up with last night as I was testing a new mic, nothing finished, but is at least a good example of a steady bass rhythm behind the melody. I want to work it into a gospel medley of songs.
RobA says: 1/14/2013 5:31:22 AM Now that's what I'm talking about! Really nice work Jim! Solid arrangement and great technique. Great recording quality too. Thanks so much for sharing!
	jacknj says: 1/14/2013 5:49:56 AM Great job Jim!
	Liz Williams says: 1/14/2013 7:59:46 AM Love it, Jim. It's got me reaching for my guitar. Congrats on the mic mod too.
	jmb3450 says: 1/14/2013 9:05:18 AM Thanks for the kinds words. Alternating bass stuff is fun to play. I'm very happy with the mic, it's definitely the best one I've got now. Good bang for the buck too. We're going to try it live on Sunday for a vocal quartet.
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