Have to learn Cliffs of Dover in 4 weeks

[Japheth]

So I have to play Cliffs of Dover for an Art festival in 4 weeks. How should I tackle this?

[Dissonant_Timbres]

How much do you know?

If you know the riffs I’d start with the intro and cadenza.

[shawnmichael2790]

i would learn the key parts and improv the rest lol

[Acecrusher]

There are several ways you could approach it and you need to choose the way that best suits you. In general I would say start memorizing sections of it, practicing them at maybe two thirds of the regular speed at first, or even half speed if necessary. After you’ve spent maybe half an hour on one section move to the next section. I don’t remember exactly how the song goes so it’s hard for me to tell you how many sections to divide the song into.

Hypothetically, if you have 6 sections in total and you spend 30 minutes on each, then you can practice the whole thing in 3 hours. Is that reasonable?

If so, gradually start combining the sections. You can play sections 1 and 2 from memory for a couple days. Then 1,2 and 3 for a couple days and so on When you get to where you can play the whole thing from memory, then gradually increase the speed until you’re playing the whole thing at full speed from memory.

[tommo]

If I were you I would slow the £$%& down out of this excellent cover by our @Peter_C:

Cliffs of Dover - Full Cover by Peter C

Hi all! I’m sure you’ve all seen many covers of CoD online, so perhaps this might not make any meaningful dent in the dover-verse, but let this be a tribute to EJ whose music has healed me in so many ways, and Troy who has given me the tools to pay it forward (and the courage to post it here :P). Best set of “tools” I’ve ever bought. Also, apologies in advance if this is not the correct place Troy. In any case- Thanks so much for watching!

If I were me, I would fake an illness and skip the festival

[PickingApprentice]

Not to be rude, but im assuming that you have the chops already in place to tackle the piece? (I don’t!)

This is a pretty tall order!

I would get the ‘verse’ and ‘chorus’ themes down asap as without those there is no tune. Then the middle section (before the main solo). Anything other than that will take a massive amount of time to perfect. Unless you are a Johnson Jr, I would create your own version and play it well.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[Peter_C]

Thank you for the kind words Means a lot. What a nice thing to read first thing in the morning from email.

To OP, good luck! I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes haha Have fun

[Montreal543]

Maybe the festival meant the “White Cliffs of Dover” by Walter Kent?!

[ChrisX]

Get a video, play it at half speed. Learn all the parts.

I would get the ‘verse’ and ‘chorus’ themes down asap as without those there is no tune. Then the middle section (before the main solo).

I agree. If his fingers know the technique to play these parts, covering the whole song shouldn’t take too long. OTH, if he doesn’t yet have the EJ chops, one month may be unrealistic.