The Band – The Weight

[Moose408]

Tony hasn’t done in the 18 months I’ve been here.

Here is the version I play. The struggle as a beginner is the Bm chord

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/the-band/the-weight-chords-61597

[TerriG]

Thanks…I was trying the beginner version with the Bminor and it is tough with the transition and getting the right sound. The others were no problem. Just need practice…I was hoping Tony did a lesson on this great song.

[Moose408]

Here is an easier Bm that should work.

[TerriG]

Thanks! It helps and I can make the transition a little bit easier. I’ll still practice the Barre chord, but now I have an alternate method that doesn’t “thud” when playing.

[Loraine]

Hi Terri. I’ve been with TAC over 4 years and don’t recall Tony doing the Weight. It’s a great song. The B can be difficult, and there is the work around mentioned by Moose. I was always taught by my guitar teacher to never shy away from the main chords. Often times, they’re not as difficult as one initially thought. The B isn’t a difficult chord if you can play barre chords.

Practice transitioning between the chord in front of hit in the song. Start at a slow beat of say 45 on your metronome at a 4:4 beat. Strum on the first beat, and during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats transition t,o the B. Strum it on the 1st beat. Then take the next 3 beats again to transition back to the chord above it. When you can easily do it correctly 10x withoujt mistake, increase the metronome by 10 beats and do the same again. Keep increasing until you reach the right speed and can transition.

Then, switch to the chord after the B and start the process again.

[TerriG]

Thanks for the tip…I’ll definitely give the metronome a try in transitioning. I’m surprise Tony never did this song. This would make for a great Benchmark song considering all the elements in it – simple and yet when you dive into it, it has so many elements. Plus, it sounds fantastic …one of my favorites from The Band.

Also, how is your hand coming along? Hopefully you are improving nicely. Have you tried “Red Light Therapy”? That might be the ticket to get you to pick up the guitar sooner than expected. Again, thanks for replying and I’ll definitely try your & Moose’s advice.

[Loraine]

Hi Terri. I appreciate you asking about the arm. I’ve never tried or even heard of red light therapy, but I’ll definitely look into it. Someone else mentioned acupuncture , which I’ve tried in the past. The issue is the copays that are $75 a visit. I’m scheduled the 25th for my 2nd surgery to take out the fixator plate that runs from the top of my hand to about 1/2 way to my elbow. It has held my wrist completely straight while all the bones and incisions healed. It hurts, and I have a perpetual bruise and swelling of the hand and fingers from it I’m probably looking at the end of December to mid January before I can play again. I’ve been practicing finger style patterns with my right hand. It’s hit or miss on how that progresses, because I have tremors in my hands, and my hands and fingers jump and make it difficult to fingerpick. Even when I’m strumming, my right had goes rogue on me and jerks away from the strings. The left hand doesn’t like to bend fingers sometimes. I bought a slide to try, but ai can’t fret, so I’m just pushing 1 string with the tip of it, but it sounds horrible.

[TerriG]

Good luck with your upcoming surgery. And definitely look into Red Light Therapy. How I found out about it was from an episode on Danny Jones (Youtube) when he interviewed Dr. Jack Kruse (Episode: Exiled Brain Surgeon). The surgeon had a story on how the Red Light Therapy helped one of his patients avoid multiple surgeries when he fell off a ladder/roof. The guy was pretty messed up, but yet he was able to heal quickly after he gave the light therapy a try. Hunt for the story since the interview was around 4 hours long, but definitely listen to that segment. I’m going to try it myself since I have a bad knee that I have been nursing it and I don’t want surgery. I’ll report back to let you know my findings.

[ChuckS]

I like the way Angela Petrilli teaches it (in the original key of A – sounds better, especially the cool walk down part), so you have a C#m vice a Bm – a tad easier to play.

Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwrxwtWQ0RY&t=1355s

[TerriG]

Thanks so much for sharing…I just checked it out and she does a fantastic job in breaking it down especially with and without the Capo. I appreciate it a lot!