"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Made my decision today regarding February.  It was tempting to be looking forward instead of backward, to start something new instead of finishing up something that is already in progress, but in the end, it was obvious to me that I need to really focus in on the project that is already begun before I go ahead and get myself into something new. So it is with a lot of excitement and optimism that I commit to attempting to finish up the EP next month. I'm curious as to whether it will be more of an acoustic production or one that takes a more electric turn. And away I go!

Tonight was okay. I spent a bit of time in the studio, and also a bit of time sitting on the couch with the electric in my hands. Most of that time was spent focused on working my way up and down the fretboard. I'm feeling a bit more confident about things, but I know that I have to spend a lot of time tomorrow focused on learning and increasing my comfort level. The other thing that I have to work on tomorrow during the day is the state of the record, and the plan for next month. I'd like to get some listening in tomorrow as well.

Today was a good day. I spent it focused on the electric for the first time all week, and after working on solos on the acoustic for the last few days, it was a lot of fun to feel like I was ripping through things on the instrument they were intended for. I'm finally getting back to the study of the "Stairway" solo that had come up in the Songs & Solos book that I'm still working my way through (slowly).  Things are starting to sound clearer to me.  The underlying harmonies are really ringing out crisply the last few days, so that has been cool. I'm really looking forward to the weekend.  I think that Saturday has the potential to be a big day in the studio.  Some of the pieces I've been spending time with of late are starting to get closer to locking into place. I worked a bit more on songs tonight, still trying to decide whether it's something old or something new in February, I guess.  I made some progress on the idea that has been my focus

In its own way, today was very much similar to yesterday. I spent the entire time in the studio focused on the acoustic, and went back and forth between working on my own songs and playing electric solos on acoustic.  I'm so much more comfortable with an electric in my hands than I am with an acoustic guitar, and yet, everything I hear in my head of late is acoustic.  I did a little better last year when it came to playing more acoustic, but this year needs to be an improvement over that. As for the songs, I was somewhat blocked tonight.  The real truth of the idea I'm still fighting with likely rests somewhere in between what I have been working with for a time and what I stumbled across last night, I just wasn't able to find that balance between the two in the studio tonight.  As we inch ever closer to the weekend, I'm hoping that there will be time to sort those things out and make sure that February hits the ground running with whichever project has taken the le

As I keep debating whether I want to try and finish something old in February or start something new, I continue to tinker with a few song ideas that have never been fully realized.  Tonight, I stumbled upon an interesting twist on a chord progression I've been batting around for a while.  Not sure if what I stumbled on tonight will fully solve the lingering issues I have with the song idea or not, but it's something anyway.  Something that has me leaning (at the moment) more toward finishing something old next month.  Anyway... Aside from the acoustic-based focus on songs, I finished up my first listen to the new Decemberists record.  I'm fully convinced that everything they do just fits in with the rest of their recorded work.  No record seems out of place, and there is never a drop off in quality. I didn't get a lot of time tonight, but I feel like I used the time I did have to the best of my abilities today.

Today was good. I actually got into the studio twice today.  Once this morning, where I mainly focused on getting everything organized again after taking a lot of stuff along on our trip last weekend, and then again tonight for a session that was more focused on the playing side of things. Tonight's session was entirely focused on the acoustic.  I had come into the night planning to work on songs in an effort to make some sort of decision about next month, but instead, I ended up working on bits and pieces of "Stairway."  I really need to keep strengthening my fingers and get my calluses back a bit, so it will be more acoustic playing for me. I'm listening to the new Guster record as I write this tonight.  Got that imported into iTunes as well, so I can cross that off of my list for the week. An okay start to the week.  Although I could have made better use of some of my time tonight, I still feel all right about what I got done.

We got home on the late side tonight, and after a five hour drive across the state, there wasn't a whole lot of energy left over to tackle things in the studio. That said, I spent some time looking through a few lessons online, and thinking about the way I'd like the week to go.  I felt like I didn't get to quite as much as I would have liked last week, and I feel like I really need to remedy that in the next seven days.  Tomorrow is my half day (I don't go in until 12:30), so if I can get myself to sleep soon here, I should be able to get up early and get some work done in the studio before going off to the other work. I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to do with February.  It probably makes sense to work on finishing off the ideas I had started last year before diving into something completely new, and yet the temptation to start in on something fresh and new and poppy in nature is still there, lingering in the back of my mind.  Oh well, I have a f

We went into Sioux City today. It gave me a chance to hit both FYE and B&N in the search for music. I picked up a few things, including the new Guster record, the Echosmith record, and Volume Five of the Dylan Bootlegs. With all of the running around that we did today, there was not a whole lot of time for the guitar  (and I didn't have the time to get to the instrument shop I used to frequent when we were living in this part of the state), which leaves me with a lot of things to do tomorrow when we get home. I'm hoping that will push me to be extra focused in the studio tomorrow, but we shall see. All told, it was a great day with family and a good day for new music.

Well, we made it to Northwest Iowa.  I brought most everything for work on the record along with me, along with the Vai workout and the GW columns. I know that we're heading into Sioux City tomorrow, but I am hoping to find a bit of time to play at some point tomorrow. I'll try to get some work done tonight before I pass out, but I know it's not going to be much more than I've already been able to get to. Today was a long day, but tomorrow will be a better day.

After the success of last night, I wanted, at the very least, to spend a few minutes tonight continuing to look at (and work on) the songs.  I went back through what I had ironed out last night, and found myself still really happy with it, which was awesome because I do sometimes struggle with that.  For whatever reason, I'm feeling incredibly optimistic that the end of January and all of February will be an extremely productive five weeks for my songwriting.  A lot of that, I know, will just be the willpower to work at it every day, but again I'm tired of not having anything finished. I'm importing the new Decemberists record, What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World as I write tonight.  I can't quite believe that it has been four years since their last record.  Especially since I saw them on that tour.  Justin Townes Earle opened for them that night, and I'm still kicking myself for getting there a bit late and missing the first part of his set.  It was a

I was bound and determined tonight that I was going to work on songs, come hell or high water.  And work on songs I did. I never seem to like everything on the first listen when I go back to work on things.  One of the songs I was high on the last time I had worked on the record seemed to sound too much like something I liked a whole lot better, and something else that I had liked less was sticking in my head as better than it sounded when I had recorded it.  Once I got past the initial "scrap the whole lot and start over in February" thoughts, I actually got down to some serious work. First, I compared the two that sounded similar, and discovered that, aside from a minor 7th chord instead of a full minor chord, and a 5th chord in one versus a suspended 4th in the other were the only real "differences" between the two songs (aside from a capo placement).  Evidently there was something about the idea that I liked enough to essentially use it twice.  Either that o

Today was a good day. I kept working on the "100 Riffs" goal for the year. I'm really close to getting the first month down, and getting started on the second month a little bit early. Picking up the electric tonight was great. I started to play around with song ideas for a second night in a row, but got distracted by the whole "100 Riffs" thing. The other thing I did tonight was finally break into some of the listening that has piled up too high. I really feel like that part of my musical life has fallen off lately, and so I started with the latest Damien Rice that came out last year.  I'm only a couple of tracks in, but his brilliance is still intact, almost a decade later. Tomorrow I need to spend some time working on songs, and keep going with the listening.

Time in the studio today was devoted to the electric. I played around for a bit with some of the chord progressions I've been working on since the beginning of the year.  There are two, primarily, and what I played today, I liked.  I didn't make best use of my time today, and therefore, I didn't get as much done today as I would have liked to. That said, I also worked on the whole "100 Riffs" project.  I've almost worked my way through the allotment for January.  If I'm staying on the schedule of learning 8 per month, I've only got one more to go, and I've got almost a week and a half to do it in.  After that, it'll just be working out the kinks, and making sure that it flows together as well as it needs to.  So, I'm happy with that. I did a bit of listening today, but yet again, it was all familiar stuff, and nothing of the newer music I've picked up. More tomorrow, and better. 

Today felt like a good day, music-wise. I got into the studio twice today.  The first session was shorter, and was spent with the electric in my hands, working on riffs and fretboard comfort.  It went okay, but wasn't as amazing as I had hoped it would be. The second session, on the other hand, was more focused on organization and songwriting.  I spent it with the acoustic in my hands, and I uncovered a few small ideas that I'm going to spend further time with tomorrow. As for the organization half of things, I made sense of the resource closet (finally), and have that at a point where it is not only accessible but also provides a bit more available space should I need it.  The biggest thing right now on that front is finding spots for some of the CD piles, because that will only serve to make things better. I'm ending today on a pretty big high, and can't wait until tomorrow, when I will have arguably the biggest chunk of time out of the whole weekend that I ca

I've been saying ever since I stumbled across a heavy reference to the "Stairway" solo in my reading of Songs & Solos that I wanted to go back and work my way through that solo again, being better informed now than I was when I took a few cracks at it in years past.  Tonight (after a long day filled with housework), I finally sat down and started that process.  It feels like the first serious work I've started since the new year, and I've got to say, it feels really good to be digging into it. I did some listening tonight, too, again using it more as a way to wind down from a busy day than anything else. Honestly, I had really hoped to have more time to spend in the studio today, but it just didn't work out that way.  The three day weekend will help to alleviate some of the feeling that I didn't get enough done today, so that's helpful at least, but I'm still heading into tomorrow with a decent sized list of things I'd like to get acco

So, I had remarked last night about there being a few small things that I still needed to get cleaned up in the studio, and how doing that was a part of getting myself ready to take on the challenges and adventures that the year will bring.  Aside from a few piles of CDs (and realistically, there are always going to be piles of CDs on the floor in my studio), I got the rest of the things in the main part of the room taken care of tonight.  I even managed to stumble across a few resources I had been looking for that had ended up out of place. After that, considering the lateness of the hour, I was pretty wiped out, but I did pick up the electric for a few minutes at least, and run through a couple of the riffs from "A Brief History Of Rock & Roll in 100 Riffs." All told, it was definitely a productive night, albeit one with a little bit less playing in it than I had been expecting.

So, I'll admit that I'm still having a bit of trouble getting the musical year that is ahead of me squared away in my mind.  The first half of January has seemed somewhat scattershot, and that's a bit of a downer for me.  After tomorrow at work, I've got a three day weekend (thanks to the holiday on Monday), and I'm really looking at the weekend as a way to get things kickstarted a bit. That said, I spent a lot of my time in the studio tonight doing a bit of cleaning up and a bit of reorganizing.  Nothing major on the reorganization front, just moving a couple of things around to make them easier to get at.  It was good.  More than anything, it felt like a necessary step.  There's still a little bit more I'd like to do in that regard, but those final few things can be a tomorrow project. I did some listening tonight as well, mostly for fun, all focused on music I've had in my collection for a while.  I just needed some familiar music to go along with

Today was far from the day I had been expecting when I went to bed last night, but I still managed to get a few things done tonight, enough that I am at least somewhat satisfied with the progress I made.  Although, to look ahead somewhat, it does put a bit more pressure on the upcoming three day weekend, but that's getting a bit ahead of myself. I sat down tonight and took a more detailed, if not complete, look at the "Little Wing" lesson that I had glanced at last night.  It's something I will need to devote more time to than I have the last couple of days, but I feel better about it tonight than I did last night.  My ultimate goal with that song is to learn SRV's epic 6 minute version of it, but I'll start here and work my way up to that. I taught today as well.  It was somewhat last minute and rather hastily thrown together, but it went well considering, and set things up nicely for the next few lessons.  There was some discussion of Dylan right at the

Tonight was a night that had more setting up successes for tomorrow's day off than it did official work on much. That said, I did take a quick look at a lesson on "Little Wing," as well as a really fast glance at what I believe is the final column in the series of GW columns that I have been focusing on of late.  I really need to get all the way through that series this year. That was really all that got done tonight, but tomorrow will be a better day.

Tonight was somewhat low key, but still productive. I sat on the couch with a guitar in my hands, and worked on a few things tonight: 1) The Clapton.  I had ignored "I'm Tore Down" for the first two weeks of the new year, but it has never left my list, or my thoughts.  I got back to it tonight in a small way, running some of the riffs underneath my fingers, just getting back into the groove of the song.  It felt good to be back at it, and I feel like picking that up again either tomorrow night or Wednesday will be a success. 2) I also spent some time with scales and fretboard knowledge tonight.  That particular aspect of my playing still isn't where I'd like it to be, but I'm getting closer. It may not have been a lot today, but it was something, and I'll take the progress and sleep and wake up tomorrow and go at it again.

I didn't get to the things I had hoped to get to today, but I still got a bit of quality studio time in. When I got in there tonight, I initially made use of the time to de-stress, and do a bit of listening.  By that point in the day, I needed to start there for a bit before I could move on to other things.  After winding down with a bit of music, I strapped on the electric and spent some more time working on some of the 100 Riffs.  Most of it was with Riff #7 ("Pipeline"), just making sure that I had the fingerings down right.  I'm not quite at the point where I'm ready to start stringing everything together yet, but I'm feeling pretty confident right now that the first 8 will be learned by the end of the month. I'm already setting up the coming week in my head, but I'll wait to comment on that until tomorrow (at the earliest).  Today was all right.  I could have done better, but I will be happy with the time I did get, and know that I put it to

I got into the studio on the early side today, and that gave me time to get a number of things accomplished.  Today was a good day because I: 1) Finally started in on some of the listening that has piled up, especially where the Dylan bootlegs are concerned.  It really is going to be a treasure trove of awesome music, and while I'm happy to have started that journey, I'm even more excited to hear everything else that is out there. 2) Got back to reading Songs & Solos , and trying to assimilate all of the information that book has to offer. 3) I spent a bit of time with the GW columns.  I can already tell that the increased attention to detail is helping my playing. Tomorrow it would be cool to spend a bit of time with the Vai workouts, and fit in a bit of time to work on the record that I had hoped would be finished by the time February rolls around.  That might be a bit aggressive right now, but maybe I will use this February to finish up the loose ends and lyrics

Okay, first real weekend of the new year is here.  I started off the weekend by picking up (and starting to dive into) the latest issue of Acoustic Guitar .  There's a ton of inspiration in this issue, just waiting to be put to use, so there will definitely be some focus on that over the next couple of days. I also got back to learning everything in '100 Riffs."  If I stick to the 8 riffs/month system, I'm feeling good about where I sit right now. I didn't do anything with the GW columns tonight, or find time to fit in any listening, but the next two days will offer plenty of time to get around to those things.  I think it's going to be a pretty great weekend.

I got into the studio for a little while tonight.  Not as long as I had hoped, but talking to my brother after his car accident this evening was more important. Still, I felt like the time I spent in there tonight was productive.  I kept working on the GW columns, and am pleased with my progress on that front. I had intended to get back to 100 Riffs, but as I said, other things took precedence, so that part will have to wait until tomorrow and the weekend. I had hoped to do some listening tonight as well, but that got pushed back also. So, all told, not as productive of a day as I would have hoped, but considering the circumstances, and the fact that my brother is okay, today was really great.

Another good night in the studio.  I don't want to jinx myself here, but I feel like I'm getting into a pretty good rhythm and have been pretty well focused the last couple nights. I worked on the GW columns again.  I'm taking that whole process slower than I did last year, but only because I want to make absolutely certain that I'm getting as much out of it as I possibly can.  It went well again tonight, though, so I'm feeling confident that I'm progressing in the manner I'm supposed to.  I'm off at 2 tomorrow (Doctor's Appointment), so I'm hoping that once that is over with, I might have a little bit of extra time to focus in on music. The other thing I did tonight was work on a bit of Dylan.  With all of the focus on picking up the Bootleg Series recordings lately (The Complete Basement Tapes came yesterday), it seemed appropriate.  Tonight I took a look at some songs he did on Unplugged .  "Like A Rolling Stone," "Tombstone

I got some good time in the studio today.  Six days into January, it finally feels as though my musical year has started.  I only worked on a few things today during my studio time, but I feel like the progress I made on each one was really strong. I spent about half an hour working on the GW columns that I had started working with last year.  It's January now, and the columns (although from last year) started in January, so the timing seems perfect right now.  I went back to the start, initially because it had been a while since I had looked at them, but I intend to be more deliberate and more focused in my studies this year.  I'm finally addressing my tendency to rush through things. I also started in on my practice journal today.  I have vowed in the past that I'm going to keep better track of the work I put in, and this year is going to be the year I finally stick to it. I also went back and focused in on a bit of the 100 Riffs project.  That went well, too, I t

Today was less strange, but still somewhat quiet.  Work was a zoo, and what I needed out of the studio tonight was exactly what I got: a bit of peace, and a bit of progress. I wasn't in there all that long today.  That's what tomorrow is for (day off), but in the time that I was in studio, I knew I wanted to work on learning the 100 Riffs from the Chicago Music Exchange.  There will definitely be more work on this tomorrow, but for tonight I kind of wanted to see where I stand in terms of progress on the whole list.  I've got the first 6 down pretty well, and I feel okay about 10-12, but 7-9 definitely need some work.  If I can learn about 8 each month, I'll have the whole 100 down by the end of the year.  Tomorrow I need to slow things down and get deliberate, making sure the notes are right and that I'm being efficient with my playing. Also for tomorrow: 1) Vai workouts 2) GW colummns 3) Listening Those for sure, and then maybe some work on the record. 

Today was quiet.  And strange. My brother left around noon, and it was sad to see him go.  At the same time, it now feels like the normal start of the year can happen.  No matter how wonderful it is to have family around, it's always a change in routine.  The year is 4 days old, and it feels like I'm already behind where I ought to be, but it was so very worth it.  Catching up will be a quick process, I think. The real work feels like it begins tomorrow.  I picked up a practice journal today.  Nothing huge and awkward, just a smallish Moleskine that I will use every day (starting tomorrow) as a way to track what gets done this year. So, while today wasn't a big day for productivity in the studio, it was a day where small things got done that, by the end of the week will be the steps that led to bigger and better things.

Today was pretty great.  My brother is still here, and that inspired an adventure that turned out pretty great.  We stopped off at what I expected to be "just another used CD store."  I've driven past it almost every day for a year and a half, but never quite found the time to stop in and see what they had.  On some level, that makes me feel like I'm losing my touch a bit, but no matter.  Today was the day I finally stopped in.  It's the usual rows of unorganized CDs around the outer edge of the store, but the  middle of it is jam packed with vinyl.  It was a great little place that I'll definitely be stopping at again, and they got me to take three things home with me. Born To Quit and Get Fired by The Smoking Popes (on CD) and Girlfriend by Matthew Sweet (on VINYL!). The Sweet record was the 2014 reissue, and it's not like I don't have both the original CD release and the Deluxe Edition of it already, but when I saw it there, I knew it had to

Quiet night tonight after an absolute zoo of a day. When I finally got into the studio (late), I had about enough energy for a bit of work on the 100 Riffs thing.  That's another something I want to work my way through from start to finish this year.  I haven't lost anything from where I was at when I was working on it last year, but there has been no forward progress on it in a while either.  If I break it down throughout the course of the year, it ends up being a bit more than 8 riffs per month.  That seems entirely manageable. Tomorrow I'd like to work on the record a bit, and then get back to the Vai workouts and the GW columns. I know it's not a lot, but that's really all I've got for today.

Today was okay, for a start to the year. I got into the studio twice today, once early in the day, and once at the end of the day. I figured I'd start the year off with a bit of work on some songs, and so I worked on a few different things.  There was a bit of focus on the Clapton I've been working on.  I'm trying to make sure that I really get the feeling of the phrases underneath my fingers.  2015 needs to be a more deliberate year when it comes to  my playing.  More focused on improving, and more focused on the little things that I need to do to make my playing feel more well rounded. After the Clapton, I grabbed a magazine off of the shelf, and picked a song at random to work on for a bit.  It ended up being "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day from 21st Century Breakdown .  It was a fun and easy place to start the year. There was also a small bit of focus on "Stairway."  My brother was playing a bit of it earlier in the night, and it brought back