Skip to main content

Day Two Hundred Nine (Year Three)

So, tonight's lesson/exploratory meeting (because let's be honest, the first lesson is more about figuring out where to go from there than it is anything else) went really well.  My student wasn't kidding when she said that she really only knows three chords.  And yet, I feel like we got somewhere concrete tonight.  She's had her guitar for 12 years, and has learned 1 chord for each 4 years she's had it.  Of late she's been learning out of a book/DVD combo pack that lost her immediately by having her learn a version of "Tom Dooley," or as she put it "some really ancient folk song I don't care about."  I may have showed my nerdiness by mentioning that the Kingston Trio did a great version of that song.

The other great question I got tonight?  "The guy from the DVD thinks I need to learn scales too, what do you think?"

It's always interesting to have to defend learning at least a few scales.  I suggested that it might be a good idea to learn a few, but told her that, for now, I'd rather she focused in on chords, as that would get her feeling like she was making music faster.

She had me play her instrument for a bit, just to prove to her that it was capable of making actual music.  She's got a really nice guitar.

We're not planning to get together every week right now, but she's thinking maybe every other would work.  I can live with that.  We'll have her learning more chords sooner than the next 4 years, that much I can guarantee.

That's really the big news for today.  More playing of my own tomorrow.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dat Two Hundred Thirty One (Year Three)

So, apparently the new Airborne EP that came out yesterday is MP3 only!  Downloaded that as soon as I figured it out this morning, but didn't have time to sync the ipod after doing so.  Therefore, I naturally had a ton of time to listen tonight that was away from my computer. On the plus side, though, I was able to spend some of that extra time with a guitar in my hands, working on the chord progression for this month's song.  I've got an opening chord change that I really like, and the flicker of a two guitar approach, with one of the two parts capoed up the neck dancing somewhere in the back of my brain.  If all goes according to plan, it could work out really well. Also, finally over halfway in the Grohl bio.  Considering I was hardly home at all today, I feel like I got a decent chunk of that read. Tomorrow should (hopefully) be another decent day for music, with a chance to play in the evening, and enough time for a few runs through the Airborne EP....
Post a Comment
Read more

Day Two Hundred Twenty Seven (Year Two)

So, the new Springsteen disc is amazing.  There's enough of a mixture of his upbeat rockers, his ballads, and his message songs to make this his best record since The Rising .  And speaking of that record... Buying The Boss the day it comes out always takes me back to a specific moment in life.  It was July 30th, 2002, the year after 9/11, the year after someone on the streets of New York told Springsteen "we need you now."  I had driven to Oshkosh, WI to visit some friends, when I remembered that Springsteen's disc was scheduled to come out that day.  I drove downtown to The Exclusive Company, but had to park a few blocks back.  At the time, there wasn't much going on downtown, but when I got out of the car, I could hear this music coming from up the block somewhere.  The closer I got to Exclusive, the more it began to dawn on me, they had set up a giant set of speakers in their upstairs windows, and were blasting the new album out into the streets....
Post a Comment
Read more

Day One Hundred Forty Two

So, I haven't been sleeping much lately, and I've been staying up late. listening to music, doing a bit of playing, and watching old episodes of Behind The Music on the internet. It's funny, you know, because I never met the rest of my "band," I've become the critic. It's all right, don't get me wrong, but for a decade now I've always hoped that I'd find a way to release something. It'll happen, I know it will, but it's continually happened slower than I expected it to. I've gotten close to getting something released, as I've documented before here before, but with the winter coming and the cold closing in, I'm facing another chance to make something musical of the winter. I'm going to start by finishing up the old things that have gotten pushed to the sides in the last few months. With the buildup of everything since the summer, it should be easier. Even if all I do is spend the winter writing lyrics, trying to g...
Post a Comment
Read more