"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

So, today was the last day of the year, and therefore the last day of the binder challenge.  All told, I thought it was a success.  Is it as complete as I had hoped it would be?  No.  However, I did spend the month accumulating all of the resources that I thought should make up a starting point for learning in the new year, which was ultimately the point of the exercise. Other things that happened today: 1) I finally got around to checking out the pictures that my boss took when we had Sonia Leigh in the store for her performance.  Really cool photographs. 2) I checked out a CD that a customer had dropped off for me a while back that I just hadn't gotten around to listening to.  It sounds like it could have come from the 60's, and was pretty enjoyable all around.  A good send-up of classic Brit-Rock sound. Tomorrow starts the new calendar year, and I begin with a binder full of resources to learn from, a few questions to answer about said binder, and a goal of practicin

Left work early today.  Went to the doctor.  Waited around so long to even see anyone that I was wishing I had brought a guitar, because at least that way I could have accomplished something useful. When I finally got home, I dug out the folder I had talked about last night, and I started wading through everything that was there.  I found a lot of stuff, including resources from all 3 teachers I've ever taken lessons from (the other 2, aside from Jay, were Terry Bowe and Chuck Worm).  I learned more from Jay and Chuck than I did from Terry, but a good portion of the basic info was from Terry.  Looking back on it now, I wish there had been some sort of way I could have continued to take lessons from Chuck in 2003.  I learned a lot from him in a relatively short period of time, and one of the reasons for that was his ability to break things down, and successfully explain the theory that ran behind the music. Part of the reason for that, I think, was that he was a jazz guy.  It

I stumbled across a song and a band that I love tonight.  This, on its own, shouldn't come as a surprise to those who follow my musical ramblings.  What came as a bit of a surprise to me is that I already own most of their records, including the one that the song I re-discovered is on. The Clarks are a band out of Pittsburgh that shot to some acclaim in the mid 90's/early 2000's with a bunch of really catchy, well written rock songs.  Most notably among them were "Better Off Without You," and the song I dusted off tonight, "Cigarette." How, you may be wondering, does this fit into my binder goal, especially at this late of a time in the month, when I'm supposed to be focused on it as much as possible?  Easy.  At one point in the years I took lessons, I had a guitar teacher (a fantastic player named Jay Stulo) work up a tab for "Cigarette."  If I recall correctly, it isn't all that tough of a song to master, but remembering this led

Sat down tonight with a guitar and a few of the books that are going to be involved in the binder going forward.  One of those books, The Complete Guitarist by Richard Chapman, is going to be a solid resource that will form a decent chunk of the basic foundation for the binder.  I've had the book for a long time, and I've always known that the "playing" section builds step by step toward a better understanding of the instrument. I didn't spend enough time with the books, but that will happen in the next three days, as I try to put a bow on the month by having something to start the new year with. I ordered something at work today that I maybe shouldn't have, but did it anyway.  It's the Tender Mercies album, featuring Dan and Jim from Counting Crows.  Included on the record are new versions of songs the Crows have covered live, including "Wise Blood" (a song I love), "Four White Stallions" (another song I love), and "Mercy,&quo

I've been kicking around the notion that I'm going to post something on lyrics for more than a week tonight, and it's finally time.  Fair warning going into this, though, there may well be ideas in this post that some will disagree with, perhaps violently.  Nonetheless, I'm not scared.  The impetus for this post goes back almost two weeks.  The last time SL was in town, she was blasting Eminem as we headed out to dinner.  Eminem has always been a bit of a tough sell for me.  He's clever, he's catchy, but at the end of the day, I've never been able to see myself owning anything more than a "best of" when it comes to his music.  And yet, somehow, I feel it in my soul that the world needs him.  How do I know this?  It started when he "retired" for about 5 years.  He lampoons/comments on a part of pop culture in such a way that, when his voice is absent, the space where it ought to be is noticeably empty.  And his turns of phrase are astoun

It feels good to be back in the saddle, blog-wise, after my holiday break.  There's so much that feels within my grasp right now, and so many things to finish off.  The craziness of December at work has passed for another season, and the week-long run up to the first of the year is going to be a good time for me to get things in order, so that I hit the ground running come January 1. The rest of the week needs to be spent focused in on assembling the pieces of the binder, so that I have at least a skeleton to start the year with.  I'm closer to having that than I was on the first of December, but I know that I can be closer still in the next few days. One of the things I know I need to do a better job on in the new year is keeping a record of what I'm working on (and how much I'm playing).  Just picking up the guitar every day hasn't been enough to see the steady progress I'm looking for.  Realistically, I can't expect to get to the 50 hours/week mark th

Okay, so... I've got a bunch of stuff I want to write about, but I've got to dash off to work and do a bit of traveling tonight.  Therefore, it's entirely possible that I'll be taking the rest of today and all of tomorrow off, what with tomorrow being Christmas and all.  If I find a spare moment, however, there will be a post, so stay tuned!

I know I said I was going to spend some serious time working on the binder tonight, and that was my intention all day long.  And then I wound up staying an hour and a half late at work thanks to the holiday insanity.  After that, what felt more my speed on getting home was to sort through all 34 tracks that the band has been able to record.  Some of these tracks are 30 second snippets of music, mind you, it's not like we've got 34 songs finished and waiting to be sorted through.  To give you some sort of idea, all 34 tracks add up to less than 2 hours of music. Anyway, I listened to everything, or at least enough of everything to make some sort of decision as to whether or not it might fit on the record.  I'm trying to come at this from my own perceptions of whether or not the songs will fit together as a cohesive collection of music.  Trying to listen and see what the songs will need to take them from where they are right now to where they need to be, and trying very har

Insanely busy day at work today!  I got up early this morning, and made it down to Half Price Books to exchange the guitar licks DVD I had gotten the other day.  I simply swapped out the one that skipped for one that (hopefully) won't skip.  Haven't gotten a chance to try it out yet, but hey, there's always tomorrow night for that. Tonight when I got home, I took a few minutes for myself, just to sit and decompress, and then I took a quick look at what I've laid out for the binder thus far.  I'm trying to piece together a series of small steps that (hopefully) won't take too long to complete, but will push the progress forward on the binder.  I stumbled across something else I had started way back when that has only been half finished, so that seems like a logical place to begin.  Aside from locating the notes in each key on fretboard diagrams, I had also started what I recognize now as a theory notebook, where I was jotting down vital info (notes, number of s

Played a bit of electric tonight after work as a way to wind down from an otherwise hectic day.  I'm trying to sort out in my head what the process is for getting everything done that needs to get done with the band.  I'm really feeling right now like the obvious first step is to sit down with everything we have (demos, progressions, bits of lyric, etc) and just see what jumps out at me.  Find the spots where, were it entirely up to me, certain songs would be included and certain songs would be pushed to the side.  I'd even go so far as to break it down verse by verse from a lyrical standpoint.  It just makes sense to me to take stock of what's there, especially considering how little work has gotten done since August. As for the rest of my playing, I need to just dive headlong into some of the main resources for the binder.  I've got 9 days before the end of the month, and I'm really needing to start taking that project seriously again.  It's fallen sligh

So, a couple of days ago, SL sent me a link to a blog post by Jon Acuff.  He wrote a great book called Quitter about how to get from your day job to your dream job.  This blog post of his got its genesis from much the same place as my own blog sprung to life.  He posted on his birthday about how great he was at starting things, and about how not-so-great he was at finishing things.  Then he issued a challenge to the people who follow his blog:  make a "finish list" of things you want to get done in 2012, and follow up/through on it.  After thinking about it for a couple of days, I'm doing this. Here's the link to Acuff's post.  http://www.jonacuff.com/blog/ the-hardest-part-of-a-project- is-also-the-most-important/ And here's what I'm certain is going on my list: 1) The record with B. I'm tired of looking at it not being done.  I'm tired of waiting on other people.  If I've got to refurbish a currently defunct laptop and find ProTools,

I haven't been late with a post in a very long time, but it happened today.  And I don't even have an amazingly spectacular story as to why it happened.  I fell asleep on the couch.  Go me. I had a few interesting things happen musically today.  All of the quirky variety. 1) Had lunch with K., who was in town from Waterloo for a day.  Went to Olive Garden.  Felt like old times.  All she had asked for from me this Christmas was volume two of the "Songs To Frighten Customers" mix that I had made a few years back.  I thought it was going to be tough to find more songs.  It wasn't.  So I got her that, and she got me a book of staff paper from B&N, where she titled all the pages with Gibbs rules from NCIS.  This makes me happy.  Partly because it's Gibbs, but mostly because some of them will make really cool song titles.  Maybe that will be a bit of inspiration when I start writing again. 2) In celebration of the old times, we went to Half Price Books.  I

I picked up the Rich Robinson record today at work.  Got it essentially free.  Gift cards are cool.  I got through the first track on the way home, brought it inside to finish listening to, and then life took over for a bit.  I'm listening to his first solo effort as I type this.  I'm sure I'll get around to listening to/importing the new one in the next couple of days.  I'm off both tomorrow and Tuesday, and I'm excited for the break, both for musical and sanity purposes.  The holiday stress at work is starting to bubble up a bit.  What I need right now is exactly what I have time for: some serious time with a guitar. That said, it feels really quiet here tonight.  Some part of me wants to fill up that quiet with listening (Black Keys, JD McPherson, the aforementioned Rich Robinson), but I'm feeling like a little bit of playing and maybe some examination of where I sit on the binder with 13ish days before the end of the month would be a good thing.  I know I&

One of the things I love about my job in the far corner of the music business is the fact that, periodically, I stumble upon a new (or sometimes older) record that I'm completely unaware of.  Such an event happened today at work, and it made me immediately put the record I discovered on hold.  It's a new disc by Rich Robinson.  For those who don't know, Rich is one half of the brother combo that makes up the brain-trust of the Black Crowes.  I bought his first solo album, Paper , after the Crowes broke up/went on hiatus/whatever they did back in the early 2000's.  It was obvious to me then, immediately on listening to that record, who wrote the lion's share of the music for that band.  Lyrically, it may not have been pure genius, but that album was teeming with interesting musical decisions.  That alone makes me excited to hear his new album. Also of note.  I had an interesting discussion with SL tonight about lyrics that spurred the kernel of a blog post.  Haven&

Relatively slow day today.  Got up late, but still had enough time to play a bit of guitar.  Ran through the blues stuff from yesterday again, just to get the notes feeling better underneath my fingers.  Like learning anything new, the licks will take some time to seep in.  Learning the right fingerings and the right picking patterns seem to be the toughest parts right now, though.  The notes themselves aren't all that tough. I'm also noticing that my tab reading abilities are improving.  All those numbers aren't quite as intimidating as they used to be, and it's getting easier to translate them into music that sounds like it's supposed to sound, so this is good news. Improvement is supposed to be wide-spread.  One of my downfalls in the last year and a half is that I've gotten too focused in on specific things.  Working on the binder is forcing me to consider all areas of my playing which, in the long run, will do me a lot of good.  Still need to work my sc

I didn't get as much done today as I had hoped I would, I'll admit that right off the top tonight.  That being said, I still accomplished a few things worth noting, and in the process I found a couple more resources for the binder. I found a couple of small books that had gotten themselves stuck in the middle of a bunch of random music resources on a low shelf.  They're part of the "100 Killer Licks & Chops" series.  I found the Blues one and the Rock Guitar one.  Half Price Books purchases both. Coolest part of that?  The books come with CDs that have audio examples of each lick and/or chop in the book.  I went through some of the blues ones today, because they felt like they fit in with the Clapton stuff from the last few days. Also, broke down and bought something off of itunes tonight.  It's a record by a guy named JD McPherson, and it's the closest, freshest thing to 50's rock & roll that I've heard since Stop, Drop, & Roll b

I had every intention of coming home from work tonight and practicing.  When I got home, however, there was an email waiting for me from B. with 4 songs/parts of songs in it that she had recorded and wanted to send to me.  It's exciting to have band stuff to listen to/work on again.  I listened to all 4 ideas, and the one I feel the strongest about is the one she likes the least.  The idea that the song she thinks is just something short to throw at the end of the record is something that I can see as being longer and more involved than that strikes me as funny.  I'm looking at these demo as ideas, not things that are set in stone.  Either way, it'll give me a non-binder portion of my day tomorrow.  A songwriting portion, which is really cool. There will also be a Clapton portion, as working through "I'm Tore Down" has been fun, and is something that needs to be seen through to the end now. From there, I'd like to work through some of the Vai, and try

I tried to practice deliberately today.  I was successful, at least for a while, by going back to something I had started to work on last year sometime.  I revisited another one of my abandoned projects, if you will.  The project of note was Clapton's version of "I'm Tore Down."  I had started learning that sometime early on in the life of the blog, and then gotten away from it around the time of the "Stairway" experiment.  In going back tonight, I made sure that I was focused in during the bit of time that I had, so that, even if it wasn't enough for me, I would still get something that felt like progress out of it. I started with the scale that all of the riffs & licks are based on (C minor pentatonic).  I played through it slowly at first, and then with increasing speed.  I discovered that, having done a little bit of work last year, both the scale and the backing guitar parts felt familiar underneath my fingers more quickly than I had expected

I got an email today from SL with a link to an interesting blog post.  The post details a study of practice habits.  It dates from the early '90s, and discusses two groups of violinists in West Berlin.  The scientists involved wanted to study the differences between violinists who were on the way to professional performers, and those who were on a path to teach the instrument, but not play professionally.  They were curious about practice habits, amounts of time put in on the instrument per week, and the like. Here's what they discovered.  Each group spent roughly the same amount of time (50 hours) per week practicing their instrument.  The differences, they discovered, were in other spots.  The professional players consolidated their work into two distinct sessions per day (one in the morning, one in the afternoon).  They also devoted about 3x more of their time to deliberate practice.  This, as defined by psychology professor Anders Ericsson is: "[A]ctivities designe

I've been kicking something around for the last couple of days.  I'm not sure whether there's a place for it in the binder, but I feel like some part of learning to play ought to involve reading about the artists that inspire us to do what we do.  Whether it's about their songwriting, their playing, or just their lives, I feel like the musicians that have come before me have something to say about my journey.  Admittedly, it shouldn't be a large component, because the true focus is in the playing and the attention to practicing well, but still. I'm off tomorrow, and I can't wait to dive in and just play for a while.  I'm sure there will be a bit of work done with the Vai workout, I'd like to focus in on either the "rock guitar" DVD from Guitar World, or the "lead guitar" one.  The other big thing I'd like to get accomplished tomorrow is to do some reading in the studio manuals that I have.  If I'm smart, I'll also tr

Not a whole lot to report today.  I worked in the middle of the day, and my Dad was in town unexpectedly for the weekend, so that took care of my evening, but it did so in a good way.  So, I didn't get much done in the way of music today, but I swear that tomorrow I'll get back on the horse and kick some serious musical butt!

Rocking the rest of the new Black Keys record as I type this.  This band just keeps getting better and better with each record.  Picked up the new Guitar World tonight.  Cool little article with Jeff Tweedy and Nels Cline on the new Wilco record.  Wasn't quite long enough for me, but then again, I could read about that band for days on end. Sat with the acoustic for a few minutes tonight.  I'm really wanting/needing to start writing songs again.  I don't care whether it's for the band or for some solo project that I don't quite know I'm working on yet, I just need to start again.  I'm finding cool sounds on the instrument, and that inspires me to write songs. At the same time, I'm feeling the need to crank up the electric too.  I suppose that I'm just wanting to play more than I have.  I know I talked about putting together the binder being a more academic process thus far than a musical one.  I'm starting to feel like at least a few of the

Skyped with B. for a bit tonight.  I wanted to banter back and forth a bit about the conversation I had with R. last night.  We decided, collectively, that the issue lies more with all three of us and our level of commitment to getting things finished off in a timely manner.  I think that she and I need to figure out exactly what it is we want out of these songs, how we want them to sound, and stand firm on some things while letting him offer suggestions as he sees fit.  Basically, we need to be in control of our own band. I've been so focused on the paper side of putting together the binder that I've forgotten to play for the last few days.  Picked up the electric for a little bit today, however, and it was good.  Instead of feeling like I was knocking the rust off of my fingers, I could feel them reaching for notes, exploring more than being hesitant, so that was cool. About the only thing of consequence I got done in relation to the binder today was copying off that shee

I got halfway through the new Black Keys record this morning.  Absolutely loving it thus far. Had an interesting discussion with R. tonight over pizza and beer.  She asked how things were going with the band, and I told her that things had hit a wall because J.'s studio was down.  We talked about how it felt like not too long ago that I had been home, and songs were being worked on and everything was moving along at a really quick pace.  Then we figured out that those things all happened in August .  She proceeded to ask me what it was that J. brought to the table that I couldn't do myself, if I so desired.  What were the answers?  1) ProTools 2) Education Then I admitted that, given an entire day locked in with only music stuff to focus on, I could probably figure out tempos on everything, throw together some rudimentary drum tracks, and plow ahead on my own.  I told her that I'd feel better about the whole project if we were partially done with all 10 or 12 or howe

I got something crossed off the list of bare-bones binder stuff done tonight: I finished off the last half of the note sheets for all of the keys.  That had been the last piece of the things that I had started last year sometime.  I know it's a small step, but it really feels like crossing off one of the small things that will let me move on to bigger and better challenges ahead.  I'm glad that's finished, and I think it will be really helpful, because when you're trying to get to where you know you need to be, it's one thing to know the steps you need to take, but it's entirely another to see them all laid out in front of you. R. sent me a text message today, practically begging for me to set aside the new Black Keys record for her when I got to work.  I did.  And I set aside one for myself as well.  I picked them both up at the end of my shift.  We're having dinner/drinks after I get done with work tomorrow, so she'll get her copy then.  I, on the ot

I undertook the tough part of the binder prep. today: I sorted through the guitar magazines that had accumulated in my hall closet, searching for anything that might hold a key to further learning.  Also, I was searching for all of Richard Lloyd's Alchemical Guitarist columns, as I want to include them in the binder.  Apparently, Guitar World has produced a couple of DVDs chronicling Lloyd's columns, so it might be beneficial for me to hunt those down as well. Side note: I'd really like to find some Brian Setzer stuff to include.  I've got a book on his technique, but his rockabilly/swing style fascinates me.  Maybe video would come in handy there too. Lloyd's columns ran from August of 2007 to sometime in 2009.  If anyone can pinpoint and end-date on those (or, technically, a going-on-hiatus date), they would be doing better than I.  I'm pretty sure I'm missing an issue in there somewhere, but if worst comes to worst, I can always contact GW and order a

I spent the entire day thinking about having tomorrow off so I can spend the day working on the binder.  It makes me happy to think that the very basics are covered, but I'm starting to uncover sections that will need to be added in.   Here's what I've discovered in my thinking today. 1) There needs to be a Beatles section.  Or something to that effect, anyway.  I've got the complete scores for everything they've ever done.  I've got every studio album they ever recorded.  I've got a few cool new magazines on them actually in the studio.  I refuse to believe that I can't learn about a bazillion useful things from making them an extended point of study. 2) There needs to be a songwriting section.  For a few reasons, actually.  The biggest of which is that I haven't done (or even tried to do) nearly enough of that in the last 4 months or so.  That makes me sad, so it's going in the binder.  Somewhere in there, I'm certain that the songwriti

I got my brother's Christmas presents picked up today.  Cross that off the list of musical things to do before what, in all reality, will be the first week of January. The coolest thing happened tonight.  I got all of the piles of magazines and other musical resources off of my living room floor!  Granted, some/most of that is now being sorted out on my kitchen table, but hey, sometimes the starting of a project involves shifting resources from one point to another, right? I discovered something tonight, as well, the process I had started way back last year, which at least partly involved finding all of the notes in each key, and the subsequent spots to play them on the fretboard, had been started, but never finished off.  I had gotten about halfway through the circle of keys before giving up, though, so at least some of the work has been started.  That, to me, seems like the place to begin.  Finishing that small bit of the project is almost like finding closure from an earlier f

Day two of the binder project was productive, but before I get to that, I should mention the other cool things that happened today at work. 1) I had a regular customer come in and drop off his copy of the new Pearl Jam documentary "just in case I wanted to watch it."  Seriously, how awesome is that?  I'll still buy it eventually, but it's pretty cool that I get to check it out.  It's only the first disc, so I won't get to check out whatever the special features are, but hey, I can't complain when I get to borrow it, now can I? 2) I talked to G. at work about my brother's classical music addiction as it relates to Christmas presents.  Got some pretty sweet ideas from her, too.  That takes a bit of the pressure off for that one, and has the added bonus of kicking off my holiday shopping. The cool part about the second day of the binder thing is this:  I've got the absolute bare-bones, this is what I have, part out of the way. And so today I s

A couple of quick hits tonight before I get to the biggest musical thing in my day: 1) Had a customer drop off a random CD today.  The cover looks like a 60's mod sort of thing.  Haven't cracked it open yet, but I'm very curious to see exactly what's hidden on that CD. 2) My manager brought in a CD with a bunch of pictures (11, if I remember correctly) that he took at the Sonia Leigh in-store performance.  Again, haven't yet checked them out, but knowing the stuff he gave me after the Corey Taylor gig, they ought to be some good shots. Started to wade into the binder tonight.  I started by going back and looking at what little I had done initially.  Here's what I'm starting from: - Fretboard Diagrams, labeled by key, with all of the notes in said key circled.  Those are done for every single key. - A notebook where I started a half-page for each key that has      1) All the notes in the scale written out.      2) A list of the sharps or flats in