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Joy To the World | acoustic
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Here's my take on "Joy To the World". Inspired by the version Bruce Cockburn played on his 1993 "Christmas" album.
I changed it around a little, extended it and came up with an ending, but the core of the playing is fashioned after Bruce's version. He is an amazing finger picker. He's one of those guys that makes it look so easy and natural, but the thing is, even though his version is only 27 seconds long, it'll take most players a lot longer to work it out and master it. Even then, nobody is going to sound like Bruce, because he has such a special touch in his playing. I've been a big fan of his acoustic playing for many years and he has a number of these types of uplifting travis picking songs. A lot of what makes them so joyful sounding is just the fact that he's playing them so fast! It's always kind of a shock to see just how fast he goes! This one is at 177BPM. I recently did a Motley Crue tune, "Kickstart My Heart" and that's at 180BPM, so you get the idea. Playing fast is kind of like driving fast, everything is whizzing by pretty damn quick and you have to think ahead! So it's a good idea to play this one at maybe half speed for a while until you really "feel" the picking under your fingers, and then slowly speed up. I had a lot of fun learning and playing this tune as Bruce is such a great player to learn from. I hope you enjoy the video and Merry Christmas to all. Cheers Andy |
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