[Jon S.]

My band will be performing Touch of Grey live for the first time this Sat. night. The other guitarist is singing it and playing the chords straight through. My parts are playing the lead and adding "color."

The lead was tough to figure out until, with some help from y'all in the other threads here, I got that Jerry played off of CAGED patterns for the chords. Once I understood that, the lead became easy. But I still struggled mightily with how to handle my guitar parts in the verses and choruses/refrains. Doubling the other guitarist's chords was useless - what it produced sounded empty. I struggled with this for quite a while.

What I ended up keeping is approaching my guitar playing as a strange cross between Brent's parts and how a guitarist like The Edge might add color to a song like Touch of Grey, working again from the CAGED chord patterns as they fall on the guitar's neck for the lead but simplified and with light overdrive, slapback echo, and a tad extra reverb. It's hard to explain but even though it's not quite what the Dead did, it works.

[oceanbear11]

I'm in a similar situation now. Playin' it live Friday night. No keys. We got a string section playin' keyboard parts, which sounds real good especially with the vocals provided by me and the band's other Deadhead.

By the way, Jon S., I think that's an awesome signature you've got.

-Oceanbear

[playingdead]

Post it up, Jon, let's hear how it sounds.