Allways with me, allways with you

AustrianJohn

I thought it would be a good exercise to learn this track. I even had thoughts that - if things went really well years in the future - I could do it live with a looper, layering the fingerpicked backing, bass then solo. It was all going well until I got to the first fingerpicked chord. 

TAB
e|---------------
B|-------5-------
G|-----8---8-----
D|---9-------9---
A|---------------
E|-7-----------7-

My fingers just don't go there. Instead I play this.

TAB
e|---------------
B|---------------
G|-----8h9p8-----
D|---9-------9---
A|---------------
E|-7-----------7-

Is there some magic that gets your fingers to stretch to the original version? 

Does it really matter? Indeed - as the replacement is easy, why doesn't everyone play that?

digitalscream

It doesn't sound right played like that - there's some crossover between those notes (they're only partially-muted). He really does play it that way live.

I always played it with an open high-E instead - no silly stretch, and it sounds almost exactly the same if you get the muting right.

Interestingly, that's exactly what his rhythm guitarist does here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsJisD7n8_Q

AustrianJohn

Thanks - high e does sound better (even if it's the same note). RIght - I can move on to the second chord now.
 

Vibetronic

Possible with lots of practice...your fingers will do that stretch! You can also hook your thumb round to get the B on the low E string (like you'd do for a D with an F# in the open position), which is a bit more comfortable. 

Modellista

digitalscream said:

It doesn't sound right played like that - there's some crossover between those notes (they're only partially-muted). He really does play it that way live.

I always played it with an open high-E instead - no silly stretch, and it sounds almost exactly the same if you get the muting right.

Interestingly, that's exactly what his rhythm guitarist does here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsJisD7n8_Q

At 2:02 to 2:04 you can see the rhythm guitarist's pinky moving which suggests he's using the hammer-on method.

AustrianJohn

Modellista said:

At 2:02 to 2:04 you can see the rhythm guitarist's pinky moving which suggests he's using the hammer-on method.

Thanks - I'll give that a try.

DLM

Wis'd @Vibetronic ;
You'll get there if you keep practising, whether you decide to do the "Hendrix frets bass notes with his thumb" or "stretchy four-finger jazz chord" approach. Or both. The trick, if there is one, is the same as used on "Every Breath You Take", where Summers doesn't actually fret the whole chord before starting to play it. In fact, he doesn't fret it all simultaneously at all; he has no need to, because the notes are palm muted, not sustained. Same here. In fact, that riff has to have influenced Satch. So: start by fretting the lowest note and fret the rest as you get to them. Gives you quite a bit more time, as you're not playing the chords as "blocks".  

AustrianJohn

DLM said:

...doesn't actually fret the whole chord before starting to play it.

Cool. I'd noticed that he appeared slow to play the chord, but didn't think that this was a way to make the stretch easier. 

Modellista

Cool thread, I've revisited my original tab and it does indeed specify the "stretch" chord, but when I learned the piece for the first time years ago I couldn't manage it so I used the hammer-on method.  Nobody apart from actual guitar geeks will know which way is the correct way, they do sound very close but the stretch is obviously the proper way.

Interestingly the Trinity Rock & Pop Guitar Grade 8 tabs it using the A shape x2x440, which is perhaps the easiest combination of the lot, but obviously not what Satch does.

Just tried the stretch chord for the first time and my fingers must have loosened up over the last 20 years because it comes easily.  Just keep practising and it'll come, and I second what @DLM says about not needing to fret the whole chord all at once.  There's plenty of time to get the awkward top E note down, the B bass is the only "urgent" note.

I can think of one way to  make this 4-fret stretch easier.  Try learning the intro to Mr Sandman by Chet Atkins, which makes Always With Me look like child's play.  Some unholy 5-fret stretches there on the A6 xx7652 and Bm6 xx9774.  And I think in Cavatina there's something like 479xxx.  Ouch!

fastonebaz

I play it with the B major type barre shape at 2nd get 5th string rather than 7th fret 6th string.  Easy no stretching.

Modellista

fastonebaz said:

I play it with the B major type barre shape at 2nd get 5th string rather than 7th fret 6th string.  Easy no stretching.

Trinity Rock & Pop agrees with you!

(although you'd think by Grade 8 they'd expect candidates to be able to manage a 4-fret stretch.)