"Long Gone" is one of my favourites, maybe my favourite song these days from SIA. Favourites do change from time to time. I really enjoy these occasional "tutorials." Keep doing them. Where did the inspiration for the song come from?
Oh that’s great to hear! Thanks Douglas! So the song pretty much dropped out of the ether. I was noodling between guitar lessons in a local school when I fell on the chord sequence and liked it. The melody came to me pretty much simultaneously and I had the bones within 20 minutes. So then it was just the hard bit… the lyrics. I’d been reading about the amazing journey of Atlantic salmon which helped 😁 Always takes me ages to write lyrics.
Your inspiration is amazing. Incidentally, I used to teach my students about the Pacific salmon lifecycle: hatched upstream in British Columbia fresh water rivers, make their was down to the Pacific only to finally return upstream (one tough battle!) to spawn and die to complete their round-trip life cycle...The beauty of nature. We need to manage ourselves better, in a hurry, when it comes to the natural world of which we are only a part. @@solsticeuk
@@douglasstruthers8307 So true. It’s extraordinary how many wonderful humans there are, yet as a species we are so destructive both to each other and this beautiful planet.
I get the impression you come to a lot of the chords by noodling: “Huh - that sounds cool…now if I just move my middle finger _there_, and hammer _that_…oh yeah, that’s in!” Would I be miles away?
You pretty much nailed it Jon. I’d say songs come pretty much equally as a result of that or from hearing something inspirational… might just be a snippet of something that really hits me, by the time I get to a guitar or a computer is already morphed in my head. Once I have a start point recorded it’s unrecognisable but ‘that feeling it gave me is still there somewhere. Occasionally I have no idea where the music comes from and just follow where it leads 😁
@@solsticeuk Thanks! Thought as much. Such a familiar process. That moment when you eventually work out your cool starting chord was Db aug(sus2), and wonder what kind of weirdo would begin with that, if they were doing it by music theory instead!
@@JonGreen_UK Ha! You’ve been there 😁 As an ‘unschooled’ musician, I only get to think about the theory when I’m trying to explain myself. I see pros and cons. If I’d studied I’d probably be a better player/muso and wouldn’t have felt so out of depth when I dabbled with session work. On the other hand I’ve noticed the ‘rules’ can restrict those unwilling to break them. Who knows 😁
Ha! Funny you should say that. A lot of people think the same but, no, I was brought up in Wales by parents from Enfield, London so I can only think it’s some weird mash up😁
"Long Gone" is one of my favourites, maybe my favourite song these days from SIA. Favourites do change from time to time. I really enjoy these occasional "tutorials." Keep doing them. Where did the inspiration for the song come from?
Oh that’s great to hear! Thanks Douglas! So the song pretty much dropped out of the ether. I was noodling between guitar lessons in a local school when I fell on the chord sequence and liked it. The melody came to me pretty much simultaneously and I had the bones within 20 minutes. So then it was just the hard bit… the lyrics. I’d been reading about the amazing journey of Atlantic salmon which helped 😁 Always takes me ages to write lyrics.
Your inspiration is amazing. Incidentally, I used to teach my students about the Pacific salmon lifecycle: hatched upstream in British Columbia fresh water rivers, make their was down to the Pacific only to finally return upstream (one tough battle!) to spawn and die to complete their round-trip life cycle...The beauty of nature. We need to manage ourselves better, in a hurry, when it comes to the natural world of which we are only a part. @@solsticeuk
@@douglasstruthers8307 So true. It’s extraordinary how many wonderful humans there are, yet as a species we are so destructive both to each other and this beautiful planet.
Thanks Andy I'll give it a go, cheers.
Good luck and thanks!
I get the impression you come to a lot of the chords by noodling: “Huh - that sounds cool…now if I just move my middle finger _there_, and hammer _that_…oh yeah, that’s in!” Would I be miles away?
You pretty much nailed it Jon. I’d say songs come pretty much equally as a result of that or from hearing something inspirational… might just be a snippet of something that really hits me, by the time I get to a guitar or a computer is already morphed in my head. Once I have a start point recorded it’s unrecognisable but ‘that feeling it gave me is still there somewhere. Occasionally I have no idea where the music comes from and just follow where it leads 😁
@@solsticeuk Thanks! Thought as much. Such a familiar process. That moment when you eventually work out your cool starting chord was Db aug(sus2), and wonder what kind of weirdo would begin with that, if they were doing it by music theory instead!
@@JonGreen_UK Ha! You’ve been there 😁 As an ‘unschooled’ musician, I only get to think about the theory when I’m trying to explain myself. I see pros and cons. If I’d studied I’d probably be a better player/muso and wouldn’t have felt so out of depth when I dabbled with session work. On the other hand I’ve noticed the ‘rules’ can restrict those unwilling to break them. Who knows 😁
Australian Andy?
Ha! Funny you should say that. A lot of people think the same but, no, I was brought up in Wales by parents from Enfield, London so I can only think it’s some weird mash up😁