Last night I was burning a bit of time while we were assembling various groups of kids, so I put on the chicken dance song and we did the chicken dance. When I got home I still had the silly tune going through my head, and when I picked up a guitar I started picking out the melody (in G, which seems to be my default key on guitar). I started on the 3rd fret b string D (3 3 5 5 0 0 3 …). I found it surprisingly difficult to play well.
Two problems I had:
- Playing it smooth and even while all the notes were on the b string required some attention. It was easier to play parts on a single string smooth when going pretty fast.
- When it goes to D the melody crosses strings with an up stroke on the b string followed by a down stroke on the g. Getting that in time at any reasonable speed was giving me fits. There are many other string crossings and they all give me fits.
In short, I found this very simple song remarkably difficult to play well. I think it might be a good song to practice. Anyone else want to give it a shot?
For those not familiar with the tune here it is with a slightly creepy video (it’s in C so if you want to play along in G shape capo five):
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWjeITmDmmo[/video]
