"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

To all faithful followers of this awesome blog, this is his conscious......better half.............evil twin, however you wish to address me. I am here on behalf of him to pass along the message that his computer has been afflicted with the "blue screen of death" and is not expected to make it. As such, he is essentially computer-less for an unpredictable amount of time. He sends all apologies. Today is day 191, he played guitar yesterday even though he was unable to post about it. Having spoken with him, I know he has every intention of playing tonight so nothing to worry about. As far as I know, he has been working on album stuff, Classical Gas, and other various and random whankery. In regard to future blogs before he obtains a computer, possibly this will not be the last time I will emerge but we shall see so be sure to continue to check as often as you regularly do, just in case. Have a nice day.

So, I know last night's post was short. Too short, I realized afterward, to even delve into what it was I worked on. I have these books on rock and blues licks & chops. I grabbed the "rock" one off of the bookshelf, and just started in at the beginning. It starts with pentatonic scales and 50's rock. It seemed to me like a fun place to go, and definitely an interesting change of pace from the things I've been working on. By no means does it mean that I'll be dropping my plans to move forward with the hard rock tunes, but it (hopefully) is a further step in diversifying the things I've been working on. I woke up a bit early today, and kept going with the rock stuff before heading off to work. Tomorrow looks to be more of the same, with perhaps a bit more time in the evening after my shift. We shall see.

I went for a drive tonight as a way to listen to some music and clear my mind. The iPod was dialed into Counting Crows the whole time, as it usually is for my late-night drives. Needless to say, I feel like the process worked, I came back refreshed and ready to get back down to the business of rocking. It was just what I needed at just the right time.

I had every intention of plugging in and being loud today, and yet somehow, the way the day broke down, it never quite happened. Relative loudness aside, however, I did do some playing. Again, it wasn't successful in terms of the hard rock stuff, but I played nonetheless. As long as I'm making a list of things I wanted to get done today, I'd like it known that I also intended to sit with a notebook and try to process some stuff lyrically. That didn't happen either. Here's the funny part of the whole thing. Despite listening to stuff on and off all day, and picking up the guitar repeatedly today, nothing really seemed to click... until I sat down to type tonight. As I usually do, I cranked up iTunes to keep my ears entertained while my fingers were busy typing, and all of a sudden, the music hit me full force. Everything from Fastball ("All I Was Looking For Was You") to the Damnwells ("Kiss Catastrophe," "Closer Than We Are") to F...

Nothing much to report today. I played some acoustic this morning before work, and went back to it for a little while again tonight. Precious little progress on the album. Some days are like that, I guess. They bum me out, but they're like that. Off tomorrow, hoping to get some rock done, and might just try and learn "Casanova, Baby!" by The Gaslight Anthem. It's off of '59 Sound. I really do quite love that record. Two weeks to 200... bring it on!

So, as fate would have it, the whole "match the riff with the progression" thing didn't work quite as smoothly as I had hoped it would. I have this bad habit of trying to put two wholly separate things together and make them one, and I really need to knock it the hell off. If I could find a way to stop doing that, maybe I'd find I have about twice as many flickers that deserve to be turned into songs, be they good or not so good. Granted, I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel on the whole notion quite yet, but in reality what I ought to be focused on is fleshing out all of the possibilities on their own merits before I try fitting together pieces that might not match up. I know that I ought to have patience, because patience and progress come to those who wait, but I'm tired of waiting. More moving forward needs to be happening!

So, I started laying down a couple of ideas tonight for the hard rock stuff. Nothing too impressive yet, a riff here, a progression there, and I had this beautiful "aha" moment where I realized that maybe, just maybe, a newer progression that I really love, but am just starting to really figure out might work underneath a really cool riff that I've had for about a week or so. I know I've made mention of it here before. There's a nifty run of chords that runs underneath the riff currently, but that ought to match with the larger progression. If I'm not careful, I'll end up with music for an entire song out of this... which would be awesome. Slowly but surely it seems I'm working myself back into songwriting shape. Hopefully the trend continues, because lord knows there's a wealth of experiences to pull from over the last few years.

I had an interesting conversation tonight with a friend about the almost complete lack of new music that comes out between the beginning of January and the very end of March. Working where I do, I understand the reasons why (post Christmas dead season, etc.), but it dawned on me while I was on my way home that the lack of new music may be another of the things that contributes to my blahs in the winter. In the end, it's just one more reason why I'm determined to make something of this rock stuff. It'd be nice to add something cool to an otherwise quiet time of year. I've been listening to a lot of Evanescence the last few days, sort of as a way to put myself in the mood to write some heavier stuff fronted by a female. Gotta do whatever I can to get back into that groove, right? Except, now that I'm a few days into that listening, I'm wondering whether it hurts or helps. Some of the riffs I've come up with don't exactly conjure up the Evanescence im...

Tonight was... not an "off" night by any means, but a night I thought was going to head in a certain direction that instead went somewhere else entirely. It started out to be a continuation of the last couple of nights, where I would spend a lot of it trying to put together the ideas for the hard rock project. Instead, it wound up a night filled with a set of plans that changed, and a music documentary. One of the things that fascinates me about music is the process behind the creation of it. That said, a music movie or a documentary about a band or album is always guaranteed to hold my attention. I had wanted to spend most of my night playing, but instead found myself watching a doc on U2 and "The Joshua Tree." Watching that made me want to do two things: 1) Break out that album again (I have it on vinyl) 2) Watch "It Might Get Loud" again, as that movie features The Edge Also, I think it's important when working on any project, to get in touch ...

After last night's inventory of what we had from years back, tonight was focused on all of the random ideas that I've had kicking around my brain since then. As I said last night, I'd like to end up with a full album out of this, but something more than 3 really solid songs would be really cool. If I were able to hash out the two musical ideas that seem like the best, and then am able to find 2 more songs, that'd give us a total of 7, which I would be thrilled with. I'm off to sit down for more time with the newer ideas. Let's hope there's a breakthrough out there somewhere. More tomorrow (hopefully).

Might just have started the buildup to day 200 today. Finally sat down for an extended visit with all of the hard rock stuff. Recordings, progressions, all of it. I'm still trying to make sense of where things will fit together, but it seems like any time I revisit that stuff, something fresh always comes out of it. It's interesting how half of those demos sound finished, and the other half sound so haphazard, like the ideas were there, but so much else was happening that we never had the time to really flesh them out. All told, there are three finished songs that really stand out, two unfinished musical ideas that could be awesome, and two other songs that are finished, but sound vaguely second-tier compared to the other stuff. Then there's the song we finished almost fully (no drums). It was the first thing we wrote, and thus it got the most attention. B. wasn't ever really happy with the lyrics, and I'm not quite sure the music works with the strongest of ...

It just dawned on me that I'm three weeks away from 200 days. Wow. My immediate reaction to that realization is that I haven't come nearly as far as I'd like. For those of you that have been following for a while, that will ring as a popular theme. So, I sat with the hard rock stuff for a while tonight. I stopped short of the "breaking down" I spoke of yesterday, but I'm pretty positive that some form of it is coming soon. I did, however, find a riff that I like. I know, I know, more ideas for the pile. It's a variation on a riff I've had knocking around for quite some time, and what I'm struggling with is the timing of it. Know what else I figured out? This whole hard rock thing doesn't work nearly as well without B. I'll soldier on regardless, but it always worked better when we could bounce things off of each other, take an idea and build on it. What I really need to do is just hide myself away somewhere and blast away at thes...

Up early, had to work this afternoon (strange), but wanted to get in a little playing before work. Puttered with the acoustic for a bit, unsuccessfully trying to figure out what I can get done with that hard rock stuff. I've got tomorrow off, and am really hoping that I can get somewhere with the whole thing. Think it might be time to break it all down, and see if I can build it up into something a bit more cohesive than it is in the current state. Work was fine, if quiet, and picked up when one of my close friends stopped in for a moment, and hooked me up with a copy of the latest Arcade Fire record. Haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but that, I figure, can be done tomorrow. Fairly quiet day today. Hoping to make up for that tomorrow.

What a great day! I got up at a reasonable time, spent some time with the acoustic, watched a fantastic music documentary, and wound down with a bit of electric. 1) The time spent with the acoustic basically consisted of me banging my head against the glimmer of an idea that I got yesterday. I didn't get very far, and I'm still mostly convinced that the idea, even in its current form, is way too major in tonality for the project as it was. Times and ears change, though, so I'll give myself a bit of time to work out the details. 2) As for the fantastic music documentary, it was "Barenaked In America," a doc about Barenaked Ladies directed by Jason Priestley that was released back in '99. I saw it once when it came out, and have looked for it everywhere in the 12 years in between. Always to no avail, until tonight, when, having finally signed up for Netflix, it was one of the first things to roll across my screen. 3) When it comes to the electric, it was mo...

Got a series of text messages tonight from B. my good friend/vocalist from my music making days in WI. As is usually the case following such a conversation, the experience made me miss the band. Immediately afterward, I picked up the acoustic, and found a cool little riff in D. Admittedly, it's a bit major for her taste, but I'm sure that can be adjusted once I get past the riff and into the chords that will underpin it. I know I've made mention of wanting to finish off at least an EP from that experience sometime, and it dawns on me that I'm headed home for a visit sometime next month, and now I'm wondering whether or not I could throw together this EP before then, or at least a few songs. I miss my band. I need to rock. And more than anything, I need to finish those bloody songs.

Just a mellow night with the acoustic. I started off just puttering around, and wound up playing in D for a while, throwing in a little bit of "Under The Bridge" by the Chilli Peppers here and there. I had learned at least some of that song really well a few years back (like, maybe 5). Some of what I learned back then must have committed itself to long term memory, because it was still there, the rest however... not so much. I'll have to go back and find the tabs again. As long as I'm mentioning RHCP, "Soul To Squeeze" is another tune of theirs I'd like to learn.

Went to Half Price Books today. I hadn't found much music there in what seems like forever, but today I hit upon a couple of things. 1) Long Road Out Of Eden - The Eagles 2) It's A Wonderful Life - Sparklehorse 3) The Great War - Justin Currie and 4) Gunmetal Gray - Grace Basement The Eagles record, I was simply curious. I've got a lot of their old stuff, and have wanted to hear the newest stuff for a while, I just wasn't up for buying it new. As for Sparklehorse, I have a couple of their records, and they are both long, winding, dark, strange, beautiful things. I'm hoping this other one is the same. Plus, the world lost Mark Linkous last year, and I had to pay tribute to his loss somehow. Justin Currie is perhaps better known as the frontman from Del Amitri (who is freaking amazing, by the way), and I'm interested to hear how he comes across by himself. And finally, as for the Grace Basement record... it's been there for six months, at least. Probably ...

Today was a Wilco day (he writes, as if that sentence alone should explain everything). It dawns on me that Jeff Tweedy is a poet for the downtrodden, the disenfranchised, the emotionally lost. The shattered among us all (of which I consider myself one) find solace in his words, his music, his experience. I feel in his writing the same thing I feel in that of Adam Duritz, something that speaks to my soul on a direct line. Both of those guys would make my "if I could write songs like anyone" list. Tweedy's music came up all day, from the moment I woke up, all the way through my shift, and then tonight with the iPod on shuffle. If anyone out there isn't familiar with Wilco, or for that matter, Uncle Tupelo (the band he was in before Wilco), I'd urge you to check them out. It's great, great stuff. And each album is completely different from the next. It's music that reaches out and grabs you, music that makes you want to pick up an acoustic and dream ...

So, for the first time in forever, I'm late posting. That's what I get for falling asleep on the couch. I played for a bit when I got home from work, though, so that makes it easier to just sit down and write. Much of it was like yesterday, getting myself to feel better about my acoustic playing. I still have it in my head that I need to start writing again soon, but I figure, if it's not happening naturally, I'm not going to worry about it all that much. It'll happen when it's supposed to, right? Still, I think I need to be more diligent about carrying a notebook on my person at all times. Some old habits don't need to change in the new year.

So, yesterday I made it my mission to spend a lot of 2011 working on scales and songs. Today I added another criterion to that list: I'm going to do so first on the acoustic. The reasons behind this are two-fold. 1) the thicker neck and strings will strengthen my fingers, making the electric all that much easier when I get there. 2) the songs aspect will eventually get me comfortable with playing live, and it'll help me fine tune my set list. Within all that, I'm most curious about alternate chord voicings that will come out of the scales and whatnot. Not only will it help when it comes to translating songs to the acoustic, but I expect that it'll also help out with my songwriting. That said, I sat with the acoustic tonight, working through the key of C. Had fun finding the pockets of notes in C that really sing on my acoustic, and I may have found a few areas of the fretboard that will be fun for fills and adornments on basic progressions.

"Classical Gas" today. Well, the first part of it, anyway. I worked on what my transcription classifies as the "intro," even though it's the first 36 bars of the song. I stopped just short of the section the magazine refers to as the "main theme," but I'll get there soon enough. First I've got to work on the speed and the fingerings in the first part, because if I don't get that right, I'll be completely lost when the tempo and the difficulty ramp up. So, the more I think about it, the more 2011 needs to be devoted primarily to 2 things. 1) learning my scales 2) learning songs That'll get me the chance to get out and play live, as well as get me feeling comfortable with soloing over any of those songs. Read a bit more today as well. All is good. Off tomorrow, chance I might get snowed in, so hopefully I can get a lot done.

Tonight was pretty quiet, which, for a Saturday night, was nice for a change. I got home from work, sat with the acoustic for a while, and then got a bit further into the book I rediscovered the other day. Having read for a bit, I decided to page through the binder of songs I made forever ago that has been largely ignored of late, as I've been finding other stuff to occupy my musical time. It was great fun to revisit "Superman's Song" by Crash Test Dummies, and a number of other things I still need to flesh out the details on. No "Classical Gas" or "Stairway" tonight. Maybe tomorrow, the night sets up better for it.

So, I paged through a few of my unread music books today, only to discover a book that had been loaned to me last fall that I hadn't finished yet. Oops... guess that goes to the top of the list. Also, I took an exploratory look at "Classical Gas" by Mason Williams. When I'd tried learning it years ago, the tab that I had was messy and unclear. Well, I found an official transcription in one of my guitar magazines. The intro is as simple as I remember it being. Trying to learn anything after that, at least tonight, is a slight case of unlearning the bastardization I thought I knew, and actually learning what's written. It'll be a fun challenge, especially when combined with finishing off "Stairway." Hooray for a mix of new and old challenges! Oh, I got to take home our in-store play copy of "Mean Old Man," the new Jerry Lee Lewis record. It's awesome.

Relaxing day today. Not too much to report, really. I spent some of my afternoon playing acoustic, and another bit of the day sorting through all of the materials I thought were "essential" when I started this whole process back in July. Most of what was important then remains important now, but there were a few things that came out. I'm still struggling to get my "music room" organized the way I want it. Granted, when it's half of your living room as opposed to its own space with its own door, it can be a little tough, but still, I feel like everything I need ought to be in close proximity to where I'm practicing, and as of yet that hasn't happened. I need to be better about setting up a practice regimen this year. While I've made substantial gains from where I was when I started, there is still a long way to go. Having a fellow musician around (as I mentioned yesterday) was amazing, and also very motivational, as it helped to highlight t...

Jammed out with my brother to "You Belong With Me" today. Guess that musical challenge from earlier in the week paid off a little bit. It wasn't flawless by any means, but it was most decidedly fun. Also, he's working through Monte Montgomery's version of "Romeo & Juliet," a tune I introduced him to, and have been wanting to learn myself. It's always interesting to watch someone else's learning process, and to glean things from their experience that can be used to make mine easier. I've paid close attention, and made note of the fact that, the way he's learning it, the song is capoed at the 3rd fret. It's been good to have a fellow musician in the house the last two nights. Having someone who understands what I'm trying to accomplish has been nice. Plus, it's been cool to be able to talk shop, musically speaking. Another good day.

So, the first thing I've got to mention is that I finally finished the Zeppelin book! I know, I know, finishing a book isn't necessarily a major achievement, but good lord, I feel like I've been picking away at that thing FOREVER! All in all, it was a fantastic read, even if it did skim over some of the latter part of their career in a relatively quick manner. Having finished this one, I'm definitely curious to read the Hendrix book that Keith Shadwick wrote. If it's as good as the Zep one, it'll be a treat. I'm thinking I'll wait a little while on that, though. Secondly, having family in town (again) is great, because my younger brother and his wealth of musical knowledge comes along with that. He had picked up the instrument heavily during the years I was away from it, so now I feel like our places have switched, with me learning from him now. They weren't here three hours, and he was already showing me a few things (not in Page's origin...

So, for the second time in a week, I've received a musical challenge. This time around, it was to burn Butch Walker's version of "You Belong With Me" into my brain. It's a challenge I'll take to gladly, as I love Butch's take on that song. It was actually his version that got me to appreciate TS's version, but anyway. My only question is this: what key to learn it in? I've seen it in C (capoed at 6), where the basic progression entails C-G-Dm-F. I've seen it in D (capoed at 4) where the progression entails D-A-Em-G So many choices... at the end of the day, I'm going to combine a few theories, and do it my own way. Always the best option, if you ask me.

This whole escapade with the "Stairway" solo is a classic example of why one should always practice with a backing track. When I was zipping through the notes early in the process, I wasn't doing it with any sort of recording behind me to keep me in time. Now that I actually have a track behind me, I have to go back and re-learn all of what I learned before. It's going better, mind you, especially considering the slowed down version I found, but I still feel dumb for having to go back over it. If I hadn't taken those three weeks off from the blasted thing, it'd be done by now. I have this bad tendency to focus in on one thing at a time. I need to break myself of that habit this year! If I could will myself to hit on multiple things in the same day, not only would I get more done, but my learning would happen at an improved rate of speed. New Year's Resolution #1: BREAK THINGS UP MORE... HIT ON MORE AREAS OF STUDY IN THE SAME DAY!

Slow day today. Didn't have a whole lot of energy when I got home from work. Got some more reading done when it comes to the Zep book, played some scales from the poster from yesterday, and spent a little bit of time with the progressions I started sorting out the other day. Things feel like they're slowing down a bit for me. I think some of it has to do with the dark and the cold and the snow. I know that sounds odd, but all I've wanted to do after work is sleep or hide under a blanket. I'm fighting through it though. I knew these moments would happen at various points during the year. Just fighting through the down moments, that's all. I'll play more before I go to bed, I'm sure. Not getting much done is so frustrating...