Jason Paul
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I debated posting this, but figured - what the heck? I'm just fishing for opinions.
I plan to work on solo stuff - instrumentals. In this, I think I would be better off focusing on a particular style. I just think that working on one thing would help me focus, so I could improve faster.
So, the two styles I'm considering are jazz and bluegrass/folk. I'm just trying to weight the positives and negatives of both. Here are a couple of samples:
Jazz Sample
Bluegrass Sample
It seems that each of these two styles is relatively simple for one hand, and more challenging for the other.
Jazz seems a bit simpler for the right (strumming) hand. Many of the pieces I see on YouTube are simply down strums. Some have more complicated patterns of course, but a lot of the Lyle Ritz arrangements use controlled strums on the right hand. However, Jazz uses much more complicated chords, which makes it much harder for the left hand. Simply making some chords is difficult, not to mention making chord changes in time.
Bluegrass seems to be the opposite. The chords and runs are generally pretty simple, so easier on the left hand. But, the right hand has to learn fingerpicking, which will take some practice to learn.
So, now a bit of rambling...
I just like the sound of jazz chords. There's just a coolness there, and it sounds impressive. But, I've got a couple of Lyle Ritz books (the orange one, and "Lyle Lite"), and I've had a hard time making some of the chord changes.
Bluegrass sounds much simpler, but there's a folksy charm about it that is attractive. Also, learning fingerpicking for bluegrass seems like it would carry over to other styles, like Celtic, for one, obviously.
Any thoughts, opinions, or advice is appreciated. Anyone play both styles?
Which do you like better?
Is one really easier than the other?
Does your audience seems to like one over the other?
Feel free to wax poetic.
Thanks,
Jason
I plan to work on solo stuff - instrumentals. In this, I think I would be better off focusing on a particular style. I just think that working on one thing would help me focus, so I could improve faster.
So, the two styles I'm considering are jazz and bluegrass/folk. I'm just trying to weight the positives and negatives of both. Here are a couple of samples:
Jazz Sample
Bluegrass Sample
It seems that each of these two styles is relatively simple for one hand, and more challenging for the other.
Jazz seems a bit simpler for the right (strumming) hand. Many of the pieces I see on YouTube are simply down strums. Some have more complicated patterns of course, but a lot of the Lyle Ritz arrangements use controlled strums on the right hand. However, Jazz uses much more complicated chords, which makes it much harder for the left hand. Simply making some chords is difficult, not to mention making chord changes in time.
Bluegrass seems to be the opposite. The chords and runs are generally pretty simple, so easier on the left hand. But, the right hand has to learn fingerpicking, which will take some practice to learn.
So, now a bit of rambling...
I just like the sound of jazz chords. There's just a coolness there, and it sounds impressive. But, I've got a couple of Lyle Ritz books (the orange one, and "Lyle Lite"), and I've had a hard time making some of the chord changes.
Bluegrass sounds much simpler, but there's a folksy charm about it that is attractive. Also, learning fingerpicking for bluegrass seems like it would carry over to other styles, like Celtic, for one, obviously.
Any thoughts, opinions, or advice is appreciated. Anyone play both styles?
Which do you like better?
Is one really easier than the other?
Does your audience seems to like one over the other?
Feel free to wax poetic.
Thanks,
Jason