"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Today involved a bit of playing and a bit of listening. Both to bands with immense critical acclaim. The playing was Wilco ("I Must Be High"), and the listening was Spoon. I had always heard good things about Spoon, but never actually heard anything by them. I made the mistake of mentioning this to a co-worker the other day, and then watched while she practically had a heart attack. I wound up buying "Gimmie Fiction" at her suggestion, and finally put it into the CD player tonight. I love how their music is so heavily groove oriented and acoustic at the same time. In spots it almost feels dancy in nature. Can't wait to hear more of their stuff. Not as much actual playing as I probably should've done today, but still a good day.

Worked a little bit on both sides tonight. For the electric half of things, I ran through a bit of "Every Thug Needs A Lady" by Alkaline Trio. There's not a ton of electric on the recording. In fact, the song feels more bass driven than anything else, but in my head it screams for more electric. As for the acoustic side of things, I played around with another song that I'm pretty sure I've mentioned on here before, "Dynamite" by Son Volt. I've always been more of a Tweedy (Wilco) guy than a Farrar (Son Volt) guy, but this one speaks to me. Also, put them together in Uncle Tupelo, and I'm always going to be a fan.

Picked up the electric tonight as a way to decompress from my work day, and got myself so lost in playing that I forgot to do laundry, and almost forgot to post on time. It feels so great to just lose yourself in the music. I didn't really work on anything constructive tonight, I just sort of let it happen. (It's a short post, I know)

So, what I printed out last night, I sifted through tonight. As for my conclusions, they go something like this: considering that I'm a bit over a month in, and that in the year before I started I hadn't played all that much, I feel good with what I've accomplished so far. Not fabulous, for I realize that there was more that could have been done in the last 36 days, but good. If there's anything I need to do a better job of, it remains seeing the things I've begun through to some sort of end. I've started working through "Fine" and "I'm Tore Down," but haven't gotten them to performance levels yet, I've started going all the way through the circle of fifths, but haven't finished the keys with flats yet, I've started to work more on acoustic stuff, but haven't found the balance between that and my electric playing. And I've hardly done any work on my original music. J is probably thinking I've given up on h...

A bit of housecleaning seemed like fun today. In the past thirty-five days, I've started in on a lot of different projects in regards to the overall goal of improving my playing this year. It dawned on me today that it would be beneficial to print everything out, and catch up with everything I've started. That being said, I've just printed out the first 34 days as a way to check up on myself at roughly the one month point. Also, in getting back on the "Top 5" every five days, thing... here are 5 Covers Most People Didn't Know Were Covers. The artist on the more famous version is in parentheses. 1) California Sun - Joe Jones (The Rivieras) 2) Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood - Nina Simone (The Animals) 3) Kansas City - Little Willie Littlefield (Wilbert Harrison) 4) Hey Joe - The Leaves (Jimi Hendrix) 5) Ruby Baby - The Drifters (Dion) and if you really need a bonus, here's another one that's a bit more common. 6) Hard To Handle - Otis Redding (The...

Today was kind of a lost day. I sorted some CDs in the morning, then stepped out for a bit and lost the next 6 hours. My car was involved in a hit & run while I was inside a store, and whoever it was left no insurance information. So between talking to the people at the store where I was to see about security cameras, filling out reports, calling the police and the insurance agent, and then having the police show up at my door to check on the car, my entire afternoon was essentially shot. I DID, however, sit with the acoustic for a bit to try and forget the day, and will likely do so again before I pass out for the night. Hopefully tomorrow will involve less crunching of cars, and more rocking out.

First day in a week that I didn't have to work. I did two things today to further the quest. 1) I sat for awhile this afternoon, and played some acoustic for the fun of it. I've spent so much time in the last few days dissecting songs that it felt good to just play. 2) Having the day off, I decided it was time to start going through all of the burned CDs that have now been down here for three weeks or so. Thus far, I've found some old band demos (from both projects), a pretty decent sounding collection of solo tunes, and a LOT of CDs I burned when I was driving back and forth to college every day. Throw in a few things my CD player won't read, and some discs with nothing but data, and you have the whole picture. Probably won't finish going through everything tonight, but that'll at least give me something to finish tomorrow. It's been fun so far... we'll see what other treasures I turn up.

Slow start to month #2. No complaints there, though. I just got done with a six day stretch at work, and have the next two days off! Much playing will ensue. Worked on some more acoustic stuff tonight. "Superman's Song" by Crash Test Dummies. It's a fairly simple progression, with a few interesting changes thrown in for good measure. It provided a slight challenge in terms of what key to play it in, but nothing I couldn't overcome with a capo. The vocals were fun on it though, as Brad Roberts sings in such a deep register. It almost hurts to try and emulate that tone. "Superman never made any money saving the world from Solomon Grundy/And sometimes I despair the world will never see another man like him."

So, multiple people commented today on the fact that there was no "Top 5" yesterday. You know who you are, and you ROCK! Truth be told, I got so into the playing last night, that the list completely slipped my mind. I had a conversation with a co-worker late last week about cover songs, so I think tonight's topic will be "Top 5 Cover Songs." As always, in no particular order, here's 5 that I really dig... original artist in parentheses. 1) "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Tori Amos (Nirvana) 2) "You Belong With Me" - Butch Walker (Taylor Swift) 3) "Billie Jean" - Chris Cornell (Michael Jackson) 4) "Two Of Us" - Aimee Mann & Michael Penn (The Beatles) 5) "I Kissed A Girl" - Travis (Katy Perry) and for a bonus... one where I like the ORIGINAL better than the more famous cover version 6) "For You" - Bruce Springsteen (Manfred Mann made it Famous) Next time, 5 covers that you never knew were covers.....

More acoustic stuff tonight. I can't even begin to explain how good it feels to sit with the acoustic and play, but do so with a bit of drive behind me. It makes me want to sit and write songs, and that hasn't happened in a long, long time. I worked on a couple of things tonight... one ("Closer Than We Are") a holdover from yesterday, and one from an in-store play we have at work. "Closer..." sounded a lot better tonight. Made it through, and only flubbed the words a few times. Getting the lyrics memorized for all of these tunes is going to be the tough part, I think. As for the song I heard at work, it's called "Yankee Sailor," and it's by a band called Great Big Sea. Maybe it's because I hear it all the time at work (and sing along when I can), but I thought that, for an initial run-through, that one sounded great. I'm noticing something interesting though. Anything that's capoed in the original version works better for...

So, I'm closing in on a month of doing this. Somehow that seems kind of crazy. How could it have nearly been a month? I've either made some good in-roads, or I haven't played nearly as much as I've wanted to, or both. Likely both. Know what's funny about today? It dawns on me while I'm at work that the entire month has been about the electric. Scales, comfort, riffs, etc. I've hardly touched my acoustic at all this month. Learning to play guitar (or getting better at guitar) is, at the beginning, about learning some of your favorite SONGS. Then, as time passes, we tend to get caught up in technique, in dexterity, in speed... all of these are important things, but in their own strange way, they take our focus away from the reason we started playing in the first place... the songs. That being said, I picked up the acoustic tonight, and opened that binder of acoustic stuff I started (remember that?) way back around day 3 of this whole process. Initial...

Today I puttered around with three different songs by three totally different artists. 1) "Yellow Ledbetter" by Pearl Jam 2) "Medicine" by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals 3) "Bell Bottom Blues" by Derek & The Dominos While the artists are drastically different, the songs all have some blues in them. Someone told me once that I'm a blues guitarist, even if I don't know it. Maybe they were right, who knows. I'd love to say that the common theme has to do with Key, and that it was a total accident that I played about with these songs, but that's not true. "Ledbetter" is in E, The riff in "Medicine" is solidly in A Minor, and "Bell Bottom Blues" is in C. I had fooled around with the Pearl Jam YEARS ago, and barely scratched the surface on it. It felt good to come back to the same old scratches. Hopefully they'll get deeper in the next few days.

Today was a little rougher than I had hoped it would be. I worked early, my company left, and the day was long. In theory, this should have worked for a great evening of playing. In reality, we ran ourselves so ragged yesterday, and got up so early today that I picked up the guitar for a bit right when I got home, and then proceeded to fall asleep shortly thereafter. Not very productive music-wise, but completely necessary otherwise. I've got a movie to watch tonight that my manager loaned me, so I shall run some scales and play while I watch that. Must do better tomorrow...

So, hardly any playing today to speak of. Friends were in town though, so I can't say I felt entirely bad about it. And despite only having a few minutes to devote to the instrument today, I can say that I discovered some musical goodness. Picked up an Alkaline Trio 7" on vinyl today at Hot Topic. They didn't have the latest record on vinyl, otherwise that would've come home with me. Missed opportunity, as I had been there a month or so ago, and they DID have it. Couldn't afford it at the time though... Also, discovered that Matt Skiba's solo record came out, so I picked that up for 10 bucks. Back to the rocking hardcore tomorrow evening. I open, so it should be good times.

Not much to report today. I worked, and I have company in town, so my thoughts have been directed elsewhere. That being said, I played for a bit this morning before heading off to work. I put the demos on that have been getting re-done, turned up the volume, and did a little soloing. Not much has gotten done with those in what feels like forever. This needs to change... soon. Also, finished sorting through everything that ISN'T a burned CD, and I even have a little bit of extra room left over! Definitely didn't expect THAT going in. More tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to fit in a few minutes with the guitar in between fun excursions with excellent people!

So that big chunk of time I had hoped to set aside? Yeah, it never showed up. And I'd feel positively horrible about that, except that I spent the afternoon/evening/night re-organizing my CD collection. It had really needed doing for about a week and a half now, ever since Mom brought down the lion's share of the rest of my music. There are still a few things (Yes, Essential Springsteen Collection, I'm talking to you) that are up in Wisconsin, but it's less than 50 discs, so I'm okay with it. This way, all of the standard stuff can be cased and displayed, and all of the burned CDs can go into the folders I have. Plus, it looks really nice, which is awesome! Now if only I could find some more of the CD racks I didn't get enough of from Linens N' Things all those years ago, I'd be set! For those of you keeping track, YES, I have played today, just not as much once I started in on the CD project. I did pick up the guitar periodically as a break, tho...

So, I vowed to do better today, and I think I did. Got up later than I had planned to this morning, but I still had a chance to pick up the guitar for a few minutes before heading off to work. I tried to figure out a bit of "Medicine" by Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, but didn't have enough time to really give it a good shot before I had to leave. I was still feeling badly when I got home tonight, so in between conversations with my brother and a friend from California, I got out one of the Guitar World DVDs, and tried to work through some soloing. I'm making progress, if slowly, and I'm definitely feeling more comfortable on the instrument. I think I need to up the amount of time I spend in order for things to really start to take off. Yes, I've played a bit each day, but it never feels like enough. Now that I'm holding myself accountable, it always feels like there's more I can be doing. I'm pretty sure this is a good thing. Off to cas...

Not too much going on today, although I did have a chance to pick up the guitar for at least a few minutes before going off to work. No more work on organizing the CDs, but I have the rest of tonight, and tomorrow morning to keep going on that. I did, however, come to the realization that every time I think to myself "hey, that'd be fun to learn," I'm going to do it. It's an idea borne out of the idea that, if you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always gotten. In the past, I'd have thought about it. This time around, I'm going to go farther. Not happy with the way today went musically. Gotta do better tomorrow.

Three weeks in. The interesting thing about this project is that, from day to day, I never know which way it's going to turn. Each day presents itself in a completely different way, from the time I get to play to the conversations I have that lead to other things that lead back to music. For example, after the conversation with my manager yesterday, I came home and rifled through the guitar magazines I have here, because having talked about "The Way," I wanted to learn to play it. Found the magazine late last night, spent a couple of minutes looking at the tab, and then closed the magazine again until this morning, when I went through a bit of it again before work. Tonight's project has been re-arranging a bit of my extensive music collection, in order to make room for all of the CDs that can now come out of folders and go back into cases, thanks to my Mom bringing down a couple of boxes filled with cases last week. Yay! Granted, considering everything now has t...

Has it really been another five days? Wow, the time is really flying by. Lots to write about tonight, or so I think going in. Finished up going through all of the keys with sharps in them today, now only the flats remain. Also, I ran an internet search for songs in specific keys, and turned up a pretty cool site that gives you the scale for whatever key you pick (in at least one position), lets you hear it, and gives you a list of songs in that key. So that should be fun to investigate further. Scared a manager at work tonight. He wandered back into my department and asked me what Fastball's big hit was (Fastball is going to be at the State Fair this week). I told him that it was "The Way," and he said that wasn't the song he was thinking of. He then gives me a piece of lyric ("I am still living with your ghost."), and I told him the following things: 1) The song is "Santa Monica." 2) The band is Everclear. 3) It was on Sparkle & Fade , ...

Kept going through the circle of fifths today. I've just about gotten through all of the keys with sharps in them (C, G, D, A, E, B). Also, I'm almost all of the way through outlining all of the notes in each key. As I may have mentioned yesterday, this ought to make finding the scales an easier process. I was playing through some scales earlier, in between breaking down the individual keys, and did notice that my fingers seem to be moving more smoothly (yay for small improvement). Also, I got out tonight, and was able to see some live music in the process. Went to the Blue Moon Piano Bar for a belated birthday dinner with R. and got to see Crooked Mile, a local cover band. They were pretty decent, for a local cover band. Good enough that they're playing the State Fair tomorrow, anyway. All in all, a very encouraging day music-wise. One of these days I've got to start re-casing all of the CDs that have been in folders for months now, as I got most of the cases l...

Sat down tonight and dragged out the circle of fifths. I'm going to run through each key, and write down the highlights (sharps and flats, tonic, dominant, sub-dominant, relative minor) for each one, and then have a mini-fretboard underneath with the notes for that key circled. Then, off of that, I'm going to lay the scales over the top of it, as a way to help with visualization. That way, if I have something solid to refer back to (that I've also created), I'll have what amounts to a double reference point.

Got up later than I hoped this morning, and only had about twenty minutes to play before being gone for the entire day. Got home just recently, and picked up where I left off this morning. I'm really going to focus in on unlocking the mysteries of the fretboard, because after that, the rest ought to get easier. Off to stay up late and practice, because all I've wanted to do, all I've thought about all day is playing.

Not too much to report today. Found a couple of books that I've had for a while, both of which focused on music theory and its applications to playing. I never feel like I know enough about how things fit together, whether it's notes on the fretboard or scales over chords or what have you. Figuring this out from the bottom up, and then applying it to what I'm doing has GOT to happen this year, and so I'm off to *gasp* study! I'm off tomorrow, so hopefully (crosses fingers) I can put in some serious time.

Wow, that was a quick five days. I suppose that means it's time for another Top 5 List... so here are my Top 5 Non-Documentaries that feature music in a prominent role. As always, in no particular order: 1) August Rush 2) The Blues Brothers 3) Eddie & The Cruisers 4) Empire Records 5) High Fidelity Too many other choices (School of Rock, That Thing You Do, Walk The Line) to do a real "bonus movie" in this list. Next time we'll tackle the Doc's. Off to stretch out the fingers, and do a little reading on the Mighty Led Balloon.

So, I'm two weeks in. It's an odd place to be, because, on one hand, the progress I have made feels really good. But on the other hand, I feel like I ought to be farther along than I am. I know that the process of getting better happens more in small increments than it does in leaps and bounds, and I don't really know what I expected to have happen in the first two weeks, but I don't like the feeling that there's more I could/should have accomplished. Granted, that feeling has more to do with the last three days (when I worked twice, and had family in town the other day) than it does with the first eleven days, but still. At the same time, I know that it's good to feel that way, because it means I'm not satisfied with my progress. It's such a weird catch-22. Worked on a bit of acoustic stuff tonight. Had the chords for "Dynamite" by Son Volt off of American Central Dust. Great song on a very good record. It's also a fairly simple so...

Today started out much like yesterday. Got up, did some more reading through some of the literature I have on scales. Played for a short while before Mom dropped in a little after 10. Sat with the guitar in my lap, and chorded & soloed through the current demo while taking "Happy Birthday" phone calls. Reluctantly put down the axe to go have lunch, etc. but while I was out, I stopped at Half Price Books, and left there with "Help" on DVD, "Tom Dowd & The Language of Music" on DVD, and Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland" on vinyl. All in all, not the most productive day when it comes to playing, but definitely picked up a little inspiration along the way. Working tomorrow, but have the evening free, am hoping to get a good chunk of playing in tomorrow night. As it sits right now, my week sets up well time-wise, so that's exciting.

I ran scales for a while before work, and did some reading on the way they break down across the fretboard. If I had to pick one thing I want to really focus on this year, improving my lead playing would be it. I'm tired of hearing it in my head and having to hunt for it on the fretboard. I want it to be a seamless transition. I've picked up a lot of books on scale theory over the years, and somehow I've never managed to get through them. I'm thinking maybe I'll set this up like a college class or something. Not sure. Don't recall if I've actually put this in here yet, but at the end of my year of playing, I'm going to apply to Berklee School of Music in Boston. There, I said it. Tomorrow's the birthday. The Big 3-0. The last two weeks have had some progress in them, but not enough for my taste. Tomorrow, it starts for real.

Strange day today. Had the day off from work, and thought I'd get a whole lot done right away. And yet, somehow, it didn't quite end up that way. I didn't really get down to business until later in the evening, and when I did, it wasn't in the place I thought it would be. I had expected to spend the day working on scales and learning something from the disc I burned yesterday. Instead, I wound up doing some listening to the tracks that J. and I have been working on, and then trying to iron out more solo ideas. I've gotta say, having been away from it for a few weeks, I was a little bit nervous to go back and listen, but having fresh ears won out today, because the tracks sound really good! And there's a TON more that can be done with that solo. I can hear it in my head. The problem has always been about getting what I hear in my head to come out through my fingers... but then again, that's why I'm doing this, right? To end up as nothing but a c...

Finally got around to putting together a CD with all of the songs I had listed on Day 5. Then I went rummaging through my giant shelf of music stuff to locate the Guitar Trainer. Found everything (power supply, small set of headphones, etc), so I am now all set for a full day of practicing tomorrow. It'll be the first day off that I'll have had a legitimate chance to devote a chunk of time to playing, and I can't wait! Today's Top 5 List is: The Top 5 albums I've been listening to in the last few months. In no particular order... 1) This Addiction - Alkaline Trio 2) Grace Potter & The Nocturnals (selftitled) 3) The Bottle & Fresh Horses - The Refreshments 4) Give Up The Ghost - Brandi Carlile 5) The '59 Sound - The Gaslight Anthem and for the bonus album... 6) I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart - Butch Walker & The Black Widows

More work on "I'm Tore Down" tonight, sandwiched in between setting up plans for my birthday and whatnot. In the course of my playing the last week, I've figured out a couple of the chief issues I'll need to work on this year: Speed & Clarity . It seems to me that the dexterity and mental quickness in regards to licks and runs is one of the things that has suffered the most from the extended break the last few years has imposed on me. This will give me a chance to break things down, slow things down, and then build (and speed) them back up. One of the more intelligent purchases I've made over the years in regards to gear will help out in this area. Tascam put out these Guitar Trainers that let you slow down songs & phrases without losing pitch quality. It also lets you loop a phrase for dissection, and probably do about a billion other things I'm not aware of yet. They were trying to move out the 1st series ones when I got mine, so while I as...

I know this will likely post late, but since I haven't slept yet, technically it's still the same day. Besides, I met some interesting people in the music world here in town whilst I was out. That aside, I worked on the rhythm and a few of the lead lines for Clapton's version of "I'm Tore Down" today before heading off to work. The background is an interesting pattern of notes, nothing too difficult, but something that will definitely be fun once I have it incorporated into my playing. It was easy to see the various applications for it as I was working through it. More work on it tomorrow (later today), I think. Good times!