I should be rocking out

Ben Folds Album Review: Way to Normal

2008-11-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

The reactions to Ben Folds' newest album, "Way to Normal", have been, to say the least, mixed. Some people hail Folds' return to poppy, peppy irreverence as a good thing, while others consider it an "unconscionably awful" album.

As a dedicated Ben Folds fan, I will enjoy pretty much anything Folds puts out with rare exception. And I'm one who has felt his recent albums have been a touch too subtle and nuanced for my personal tastes.

So I'm on the side that is glad Folds has opened up the throttle on Way to Normal. I really like it as an album. At times, it feels like Folds is overcompensating for three albums of easy listening and restraint. I learned about halfway through my first listen that Folds had gotten divorced right before he started the album. The song "Errant Dog" told me that pretty clearly, and I had only to confirm with Google.

I do hope Folds isn't through with the softer sound of some of his other works. Songs for Silverman was an amazing album and includes some of my favorite songs of his. "Time" is an amazingly sweet and selfless breakup song with great lyrics and a haunting melody.

But I'm also very glad that he lays about a half a dozen F-bombs on Way To Normal.

One last note: I am loving Folds catering to old-school and new-school sensibilities by offering Way to Normal in vinyl and live performances from his tour off of iTunes.

A Capella Karaoke crooning - for charity!

2008-04-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

Although I haven't picked up my guitar in months, I have been finding other ways to rock out. For example, I recently sang some karaoke for charity.

The Pod Five podcast is holding a Pod Five Idol contest. Contestants sing 2 minutes of a podsafe song, a capella, and listeners vote on their favorites.

Each contestant chooses a charity, and the contestant with the most votes gets at least $100 donated to that charity, though most everybody who is stopping by to vote is giving money.

I am singing Barney's In the Vent, by George Hrab. I'm playing for Equality Now, a womens' rights charity.

There's some pretty good singers up there, so I encourage you to check it out.

Light my fire

2008-02-27T07:13:00.000-08:00

Got together with some friends last weekend, one of whom plays guitar. She's been playing since high school, and I was friends with her as she was first learning.

We had a conversation about learning and practice,and she gave me some great advice. The highlights:
* Practice at least once a week.
* Practice until you get tired. This is enough to to get calluses and build up stamina, but not too much to cause injury.
* Learning chords is good, but learning an actual song is better to help with changing between chords quickly. She suggested La Bamba or some Beatles' songs as good first songs because most songs are only 3 basic chords.

The brief conversation was very encouraging and motivating for me. It turns out that she was only practicing a couple times a week, max, when she first started out. It was really good to learn that I'm, more or less, on the right track, and that it may take a while, but my current practice setup is enough to build strength and proficiency.

So, that goal of playing at an open mike night sometime in 2008 may be realistic after all. Yay! Of course, if I choose a Beatles' song, it means I will have to learn the dreaded "F" chord (insert A minor chord here for dramatic effect).

Snap! Crackle! Pop!

2008-02-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not having cereal for lunch, I'm finally getting around to practicing after nearly a month of idle fingers (well, idle from strumming, at any rate).

I'm not any worse than last time I picked up the guitar, but I'm not any better. I remember the fingerings of all the 6 chords I've learned, if not always their names, and my scales went swimmingly. And, for the song I am learning (Eagles - Take it Easy), I'm really starting to internalize the strings and notes, so if I'm "guessing" at the next chord, or a guitar solo melody line, I'm pretty good at getting it right. (e.g. Playing by ear. Sort of).

But none of that is translating to improvement in sound.

The other nice thing is that my hands, fingers and wrists don't hurt from overpractice.

I need to start on another lesson, but with such sporadic practice right now, I wanted to get back to regular practice before jumping in to something new. Now that today's practice has clearly shown to me that I'm in some freaky-bizzaro plateau-land, I'll definitely be moving on to put some more variety in my practice. Even if I'm only practicing twice a week.

Rocked out?

2008-02-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

I've not been able to get momentum going to practice since the holidays, but I'm still around. I've got a lot of other stuff that I've been working on that has gotten in the way. I'm still hoping to carve out time to practice. The guitar is at work now, and I'm hoping to use a couple lunch hour's a week to practice. We'll see how that goes.

My stickers? Iz can show you them?

2008-01-13T18:19:00.000-08:00

I know it's going to be a very, very long time until I get any proficiency with my guitar. I've got to keep motivated, and find ways to keep practicing and keep things interesting when the practicing doesn't seem to be helping much.

So, I've decided to start collecting guitar stickers and slap 'em on my guitar.

You know, those cool stickers that all guitarists have on their guitar cases? Or the stickers that rockers make and give out as swag? Or the stickers that come with Guitar Hero?

I've got a couple already, that I haven't stuck on my guitar yet. One is from www.keneally.com, that says "Mike Keneally Ripped My Head Off," (and he did, too). The other is not rock-related, but it's irreverant and funny. It's a picture of a cartooninzed nautilius, with the text "Naughtylus: Would you like to see my Chambers?" I got that one from the Gargoyle Humor Magazine.

Though I'd like to save them for my "new" guitar, that I will buy when I am "good," I've decided I can't wait.

I shall try to post pictures of these stickers later in the week.

Practice Notes: I practiced for about 10 minutes toninght. The standard 6 chords, Chord changes in "Take it easy," then a quick set of scales. My fingertips hurt. Not sure if more frequent practices or longer practices will be better to develop calluses. I'm sure both would help.

Rock On!

2008-01-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

Pulled out the guitar for a short 7-minute practice, to see what I remembered and how much I've lost/forgotten.

The good news is, I've got a lot of the muscle memory still there. Scales, in particular, were pretty easy.

I remembered nearly all the chords I've learned, though not exactly what they're called. So I can play D minor, but I'd forgotten it was D minor. Same problem with E minor and A minor--I forgot which was which.

My chords sound a lot worse than they did before. Part of this is because my nails are getting long again. Part of this is I've lost a bit of flexibility over the past month. Part of this is I was never terribly good with the chords in the first place, and part of this is my arms are very tired due to an intense Aikido session this morning.

I will need to make the most of my practice sessions, and try to improve, and learn new things. A short practice is all well and good to retain skills, but if the practice is too short, I won't necessarily see improvement during the practice.

My goals over the next couple months will be to get better at the chords I already know, learn some new chords, and pick a song to practice. Ideally, this song will be fun, a bit challenging, and something I can play at an open mike night sometime this year. If anyone has suggestions, let me know.

--The musishian

New Year's Resolutions

2008-01-02T08:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I won't have time to pick up the guitar until Thursday at the latest, but I can certainly get back into blogging before then.

I came across some good information on how to make and keep New Year's Resolutions. Highlights from the article:

One resolution is better than many.
Set specific, measurable, realistic goals
Tell lots of people about the goals. Even blog about them. The peer pressure, especially for women, will help you stay on track.
Don't treat setbacks as failures.

So, my resolution for 2008 is to learn how to play guitar. More specifically, I will:

Practice at least twice a week
Blog at least once a week

And, as an over-arching goal, I hope to play a tune at an open mike night and not completely embarrass myself before the end of the year.

Hiatus post

2007-12-09T16:24:00.000-08:00

The good news is I've been keeping my nails short, and keeping my guitar in the car, so I can be ready to practice at a moment's notice. The bad news is, life has been so busy, I've not had time to practice.

I hope to get back into the swing of things around the new year. Thanks for your patience and understanding (all 6 of you who read my blog).

In the meantime, you can check out my other blog, Garlic is Love, which is all about food and cooking, something I do a lot during the holidays. Non-garlic lovers also welcome.

I will be back, though.

--the Musishian.

TSO Concert Debriefing

2007-12-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

If you've never heard of The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (or TSO, for short), their shtick is that they play Christmas songs and classical songs, but with a rock arrangement. So, in addition to piano .and violin, there's drums, two lead guitars, a bass, and lots of singers.

Okay, so it's a little bit cheesy, very 70's and 80's, with the laser light effects, pyrotechnics, and big, big hair. But on the other hand, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra rocked out for three solid hours, playing their guts out on the stage

These guys are amazing. If you ever have a chance to go see them, do it. I've seen them twice now, and each concert is a high-energy, superb experience.

They, essentially, play two full concerts every show. The first half is a Rock-Opera story thing, where a narrator guy links the songs together. Around the Holidays it's a story where an angel goes around trying to learn a valuable lesson, and helping others in the process. It's a little heavy-handed and didactic, but it's really good music, and fun to listen to.

Then, the second half of the concert is more free form, where we get introduced to the band, and lots of popular and classical songs are played. Where else are you gonna hear "Proud Mary" and "Carmina Burana" in the same concert?

(Oh, and the Carmina Burana was simply spectacular. It will hopefully be out on their new CD, in Summer of 2008).

I totally appreciate these guys work ethic. They know that they've got a good gig going, and they still bring tons of energy to the show. They have an insane touring schedule, too. But if you can get a chance to see them live, totally do it. It's a spectacle in every sense of the word.

(Addendum: Apparently, in certain venues, like Detroit, they play two full concerts a day--a matinee, and a later show. That means they play 6 hours of concert music in a day. Makes me feel tired just thiking about it. Huge props to the band.)

Immersing myself in some rock tonight

2007-11-30T12:04:00.000-08:00

It's just another way to say "I'm going to a TSO concert instead of practicing."

I had some good inertia going with the practice schedule, then Thanksgiving came up and BLAM! Nothing.

I have very little free time between now and the end of the year, and I was thinking about just saying "screw it," and picking a practice schedule back up after January 1st. But I've decided to try to get back into a practice schedule starting Monday.

It may only be one or two days a week, but it'll be something, and then I can kick it into a higher gear in 2008. I've already found that lunch practice works well for me, and it's an otherwise less-than-productive time of day (other than the days I go out to run errands, that is).

Look for an update on the TSO concert sometime this weekend.

--the musishian

Taking a (short) break

2007-11-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

The guitar won't fit in the car when we go out of town for Thanksgiving. With guitar, Aikido and the typing I do for work and at home, my wrists are killing me.

After about a half a week of rest, doing nothing more difficult than icing some cookies or lifting a glass or two of wine, I hope to be well-rested and ready to come back at it.

--The Musishian

Thursday Lunch practice

2007-11-16T09:49:00.000-08:00

Another lunch practice (that's 4 practices this week for those counting). About 20 minutes.

1 set of E Phrigyan and cromatic scales, forwards and backwards.
Practiced chords
Practiced "Take It Easy" rhythm guitar
Practiced "Day Tripper" lead guitar - first verse to refrain

I made an effort to slow down my practice this time, and I was able to hit the notes in the scales without making many mistakes.
For "Day Tripper" I was able to go through it several times without screwing it up. I even started trying to figure out the part under the refrain.

Was having some trouble hitting chords today, for some reason. My fingers wouldn't go into the right positions, and kept getting in the way of other strings. Perhaps I need to do some finger stretches in addition to the scales warm-ups, or maybe just more scales.

There's several good hand stretches in Aikido that, once I learn them all the way, I'll probably use to warm up for guitar practice (and probably at my desk job when my hands get tired from all the typing).

Until next time,

--The musishian

Lunchtime practice debriefing

2007-11-13T17:14:00.001-08:00

Not only did I practice on Tuesday, I also got about of 20 minutes of practice in at lunch today! Wow, 3 days this week already! Go me!

After only one lunchtime practice, I've decided that I love it. It was a great break in the day, a mood-booster, and, frankly, a way to make practice fun. It's certainly more fun than working...

I did notice that I started out playing much quieter, so as not to disturb any co-workers who were still at their desks for lunch. Which was interesting because it seemed to make me a bit more accurate with my scales. As I got into it, though, I started to get louder, and nobody seemed to notice.

The scales are coming along well--E Phrygian is super-easy for me now. I've also noticed I tend to do scales faster backwards (from high E string to low E string) than forwards. Odd.

I continued to focus on songs, changing from chord to chord, and working on some strumming technique. I also discovered that I had a different Web site bookmarked for guitar help at work then the one I have at home. This site, Guitar Noise, is one I may also check out at home.

Still noticing problems with my playing. Like many things in my life, it's hard for me to slow down. I want to speed up and do the song at the "correct" tempo, but to learn it, I need to go laboriously slowly.

Another thing that tends to get me off track is when I want to sing along with the guitar. A lunchtime practice is good to get me out of this habit because there's no way I'm singing and playing where all my co-workers can hear. That's what Wednesday night Karaoke is for.

All in all, the practice was very good. It was rather relaxing to switch gears during work, and I had plenty of time to practice, eat lunch, and do other things (like surf the 'Net, go for a walk, or, write this blog entry).

Love me two times...

2007-11-13T05:19:00.000-08:00

Had the day off yesterday, was able to squeeze in two 15-minute practices in one day, for the first time.

Unfortunately, I feel like I'm hitting a plateau. I'm doing the chromatic and E Phrygian scales correctly, but slowly, and I've memorized the 6 chords I know so far. However, I'm playing the notes very, very slowly, and I'm not good at switching between chords yet. Perhaps it's time to go to Lesson 3 and learn some more chords.

For my "free practice," I worked on the lead part from "Day Tripper." It's really catchy, pretty easy to play by ear, and uses (at least) four strings of the guitar. So it's a good one to learn the strings and to learn the individual notes on the strings. It's also fun to play.

I also re-tuned my guitar yesterday. Since I don't have a guitar stand, every time I take my guitar in and out of its case, it gets a little more out of tune. But it was much faster to re-tune it now that I've memorized the string names. I can just plunk out the note on my electronic keyboard, and not have to take 2 minutes figuring out which string corresponds to which note.

Mastering the speed practice

2007-11-11T19:39:00.000-08:00

Friday night, home from another aikido lesson, ready to sleep, but I know I don't have to get up for anything in the morning. Before bed, I kicked out a 10 minute practice--2 sets of scales, both Chromatic and E Phrygian, and a quick study of chords. The good news, I remembered the chords. The better news, I was able to get a practice in when I thought I didn't have time.

The only bad thing: My guitar is getting pretty out of tune. Will need to take some time to tune on Monday. Since I no longer have my little tuning device, I have to tune using my keyboard, which is not a problem, just takes about 5 extra minutes. The one good thing about my (near) perfect-pitch--I can tell that it's my guitar out of tune, and not me getting the chord wrong. I still know what it should sound like, and what it will sound like when it's tuned properly. I do need to work on internalizing the correct tones, though. I'm sure it will come with practice.

A short practice is certainly better than no practice at all. I'm happy with myself. This is a step in the right direction. Will post again when I get my first lunchtime practice in, to let y'all know how that goes.

--the Musishian

Lyrics epiphiany

2007-11-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

(Author's Note: If you promise to recognize that learning how to write lyrics is just as important as learning how to play guitar and compose melodies, I promise I won't foist critical analysis of rock songs on you all that much.)

While listening to Coverville, I heard a version of Overkill (originally by Men at Work) and had an epiphany. We all know the song--

"I can't get to sleep!
I'm tired of all the, something something!"

--It was played so much in the 80’s that we may even be sick of it. We tend to think of the song’s melody, and only a few lyrics stand out:

“Day after day, it reappears,
Night after night, my something, shows the fear,
Something here and fade away.”

As I listened to the cover version, I actually caught all the lyrics for the first time. And I realized that the song is a perfect statement about anxiety, and its obsessive nature. And it has narrative structure to boot!

The lyrics of the song paint a picture of a guy with insomnia.

I can't get to sleep
I think about the implications
Of diving in too deep
And possibly the complications

He knows that he’s only getting anxious because it’s night, and he’s alone. He knows he’s blowing things out of proportion.

Especially at night
I worry over situations
I know will be alright
Perahaps it’s just my imagination

Then we get the end of the verse, which resolves the anxiety. The melody line descends here, which evokes a sense of relaxation and quieting down of the mind:

Day after day it reappears
Night after night my heartbeat, shows the fear
Ghosts appear and fade away

In the second verse, though, it seems the anxiety is still there:

Alone between the sheets
Only brings exasperation

So, he goes for a walk to try to distract himself from the anxieties. It seems to work:

It's time to walk the streets
Smell the desperation
At least there's pretty lights
And though there's little variation
It nullifies the night
From overkill

Ah. Now we’ve gotten to the crux (and the title) of the song—Overkill. Which is the anxiety he’s feeling about every little thing, that he doesn’t need to worry about, but he’s worrying about anyway.

The end of the second ‘verse repeats the lines from the end of the first verse, showing that the anxiety does, in fact, go away again.

Yet, the anxiety comes back (the very next day—wait, wrong song), and it’s worse this time, which we know because he’s singing the melody an octave higher:

I can’t get to SLEEEEP!

But, the anxiety goes away, at least for a little while. The end of the verse, like the other two, is always the same:

Ghosts appear and fade away.

Even the form of the song evokes a recurrent, unavoidable anxiety. With the short lines, limited rhyme, and repetition of entire stanzas.

The beauty of this song is it’s such a common experience. Everyone’s gone though this at least once in their lives, where the cares of the world get you the wrong way and keep you up at night. You think you’ve got it under control and you’re calm, but then a stray thought sets you off again.

Very cool.

p.s. if this sort of thing interests you at all, I must recommend an amusing analysis of Jailhouse Rock by maestro George Hrab, from his Geologic Podcast episode 22. Unlike my work, his is edgy, laced with profanity, and very, very funny.

Excuses, excuses

2007-11-09T07:02:00.000-08:00

Good excuses, but still excuses, for not practcing since early this week.

1. Started Aikido.
2. Had to finish a job application and walk it over to HR during my lunch hour, when I would have otherwise tried to practice at lunch.
3. Chose to go out to a Guitar Hero event being run by a local radio station. If you played the game, they would enter you in a trip to London to see Led Zepplin in concert. Free trip to London = coool.
4. Rode the bus to work today, did not have room for my guitar on the bus (well, actually, forgot it).

I still feel like a slacker, though.

Aikido = Guitar?

2007-11-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

I went to my first Aikido class last night. As expected, it was pretty hard, but it was largely a mental challenge rather than a physical challenge.

Now, it's always hard learning something new, but I have no aptitude for this sort of thing at all. I may have some innate musical aptitude (near-perfect pitch, for example)which helps me along with the guitar, but kinesthetic stuff?

Let me put it this way: back in high school, when I was in the musicals, learning the dance choreography for the chorus parts always made me cry.

Aikido is just like that. I'm not a spatially-inclined sort of person, so to watch two people attack and defend, and try to figure out what they are doing, is not the best way for me to learn.

But, thankfully, there was time for one-on-one practice, where I sorta started to learn what I was supposed to be doing. And I did see places where I was improving during the lesson, which was also helpful. The teachers were very gentle, and very encouraging with the positive feedback and corrections. Even so, it was a struggle not to get really, really frustrated. Scratch that. To not show how frustrated I was. Lots of deep breathing to keep the growing anxiety at bay.

The reason I'm learning Aikido (and playing guitar) is not because it's easy, but because it's hard. I know I'm going to totally suck at first, but if I keep at it, I'll continue to get better. It doesn't really matter what it is I'm learning. And learning how to keep my calm when doing something really, really, hard.

Need more practice, but how?

2007-11-04T12:23:00.000-08:00

Practiced today. Did not record. Focused on memorizing the chords I've learned so far. (Note, chords are Major unless otherwise noted) Pretty good with G C D A. A minor is OK, E minor is OK. D minor is a pain in the ass. It's a hard chord for me to form because my fingers aren't flexible. I have to form it from the bottom up; I can't form it from the top down. I shouldn't complain; I haven't even hit the F chord yet in my lessons.

I'm averaging about 2 practices per week. I'm not happy with this, but I'm having trouble finding time to practice. You'd think that finding 20-30 minutes, tops, every day wouldn't be so hard, but it is.

George Hrab, musician and podcaster extrodanaire, says in episode 38 of his Geologic Podcast that, when he practices, he breaks it up into several short sessions throughout the day. So, he'll do lots of 15 minute practice sessions in one day rather than one big session.

I'm wondering if I can apply this to my practice schedule, but in 5 minute chunks instead of 15 minute chunks. Like do scales before work, do chords at lunch, and play around with melodies and songs after dinner. It couldn't hurt to try.

I'm especially enamored with the lunchtime practice idea. Nobody near me stays at their desk during lunch, and without the amp, it should be pretty quiet. Not sure if I should try to ask the brass first, or just go for it and wait for somebody to complain.

Is there any value to playing Guitar Hero while learning guitar?

2007-10-31T06:06:00.000-07:00

My husband just got his copy of Guitar Hero: Legends of Rock yesterday. He also picked up the wireless guitar peripheral, in the hopes that we’d rock out together. After all, Guitar Hero was first a purchase for me last year for my birthday. But, after he pwned me on “Carry on My Wayward Son,” in battle mode, I kinda lost my taste for it for a while. Besides, I was learning real guitar now, and had less time for the game.

I have been wondering lately, though: does Guitar Hero help you learn guitar at all?

I found this salon.com article that says, yes—to a limited extent.

I’ve already got pretty good rhythm, so the game didn’t really develop that skill. But it is rather useful to stretch my fingers out. I am cursed with fat sausage fingers and the inability to do the “Live Long and Prosper” sign. I need all the help I can get when it comes to flexibility. I’ll never be the next Gene Simmons, but I’ll be a passable guitar player, eventually.

Guitar Hero has also gotten a lot of people interested in learning real, actual guitar. Not me, for I’ve been wanting to learn to play for several years now, but a good friend of mine definitely got into guitar after Guitar Hero.

The article leaves out one beneficial aspect for people who play both Guitar Hero and guitar. When you’re struggling with scales or learning a song, you can go straight to Guitar Hero, and pwn a song. Perhaps the same song you are trying to learn on guitar. It’s cathartic, and good for the ego…

Practice debriefing

2007-10-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

I thought that a debriefing of my practice might be more instructive than the file itself. So:

* Looking at the waveform of the raw file, I could see very clearly which notes I hit clearly, and which ones I did not hit well. Also, could see my tempo issues in scales and changing chords.
* Need to memorize chords better. Need to practice more often so I don't forget the chords.
* E Phrygian scale is much easier for me than Chromatic Scale
* I'm playing chords too fast. Need to slow them down
* I'm playing scales too slowly. The faster I do them, the better they sound.
* Picking and strumming still need a lot of work.

My first (recorded) practice

2007-10-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

I'm either very brave, or very foolish. I've been rocking out for about a month, playing maybe twice a week, and here is my first recorded practice. Listen, if you DARE! Bwahahahaha!

October 29 Practice Approx. 13 minutes.

(this link will take you off-site, FYI. You will need to type in the letters you see in the upper right hand of the screen to prove you are not a robot. Also, this will take a while to upload, so please be patient.)

There is some kind of high-pitched whine on this recording and I don't know why. Sorry, folks. I shall apply noise reduction next time.

My typical practice schedule includes: tuning check, scales, chords, songs, songs by ear--includes melodies, riffs, and chords. Takes me somewhere between 10-20 minutes.

A more detailed summary of today's practice follows.

Tuning check
Chromatic Scale
E Phrygian Scale
G major
C major
D major
E minor
A minor
D minor
A major
Random Riff- In the Afterlife by Squirrel Nut Zippers
Take it Easy by The Eagles

The lack of practice meant that I had to look up chords more than usual. I tried to cut out the dead air as much as possible.

I'll probably record and upload my practices once a month or so, to check my progress. For the future, I'll keep the uploads to 5 minutes or less. I'll pull out the best bits of what I did, or if there was something terribly interesting or instructive during practice. Listening to 15 minutes of crappy practice is unarguably painful, I know.

My hope is that there will be a clear and consistent progress and improvement on my part, and, eventually, this can be used as a resource and motivation for those just starting out. I will get better, and so will you out there who practice a little bit every day. I hope that my short-term embarrassment will be educational, somehow.

The persistence of patience and practice

2007-10-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

"It's been three days. I should have mastered the thing already." --Young Sherlock Holmes.

I am not a patient person. It makes it hard to stick with things sometimes, like learning guitar.

But I'm keeping at it--the guitar thing and the patience thing.

I'm not getting in practice time every day, but I'm hitting the guitar about two to three times a week. And I'm keeping my practice time fairly short, to somewhere between 15 and 30 minutes. As I get better, I will probably increase that on certain days, especially when I'm trying to learn songs.

It's just such slow going. My good frend said it took her over a year of weekly lessons to become anything near proficient. So, any improvement I can track on a day-by-day basis, even if it's small, is a good thing. Helps me stay motivated.

That's why I tend to end my practice sessions with something I'm good at: playing by ear. Tonight, I ended with The House of the Rising Sun, and Less Talk More Rokk (my husband's been playing Guitar Hero II). Whee. It's always nice to end on a high note, you know?

Patterns

2007-10-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

There's always a point when I start to learn something new where I start to see the patterns in the system--the connections in what I'm learning which helps me to form the neural pathways in my brain and start to learn faster.

There's one book in particular relating to music that really helped me to "get" scales and chords. Written for the piano, it's called How to Play Popular Piano in 10 Easy Lessons, by Norman Monath. It's a slim book, but it was revolutionary in my approach to piano, and all melodic music in general.

The book teaches just enough music theory for you to be able to learn half a dozen chords, then modify those chords into about 30 total chords, using set rules. This is sooo much easier than memorizing 30 separate chords.

Also, the biggest thing I got from this book was the simple act of how to play a major scale starting on any note. It's all about thinking of notes as half steps and whole steps. Once I internalized the pattern, I could play major scales on piano, and, I just learned yesterday, the guitar.

It really bugs me that most music lessons, whether online, in a book, or with a real live person, really lack any element of music theory or practical knowledge.

Back in business

2007-10-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

My finger is healed up, I've fixed my guitar and changed the strings, so, lo and behold, I actually had practice time today. The chords are coming easier, but transitioning from chord to chord is still slow, at best.

For my own benefit, I have started to record snippets of me playing. My thought is I'll be able to hear what I'm doing wrong, and also hear how I'll improve as I practice. Will probably be a once a month thing.

I'll try to post the Mp3 to this blog, but not sure if I will be able to. I'm still researching how to do that. Besides, at the start, it's going to be extremely amateur. But it may be of interest to, say, my dad. (Hi Dad!)

--the musishian

Headline: bread knife sidlines aspiring rocker

2007-10-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

Rocker Mary Celery (psudonym used to protect the embarrassed) was sidelined last Thursday after having an unfortunate run-in with a flimsy bread knife and a stale loaf.

"I had the bread on its side, and I was trying to cut off a little chunk to make bread crumbs," said Celery. "The bread slipped, and I got my finger instead."

The cut was on the left index finger, above the first knuckle and was pretty deep, according to two nurses who were consulted. The cut did not require stitches. However, because the cut is on the hand which Celery uses to form chords, her guitar playing career has been--not cut tragically short, but delayed until the wound heals properly.

"Right now, I just don't have the flexion," Celery explains. If I try to bend the knuckle to hit the string, my wound won't close properly.

This is Celery's second injury to this finger under eerily similar circumstances. Her first injury occured almost exactly 13 years ago, when she was at Girl Scout Camp slicing carrots. That initial injury required a tetanus shot, a nerve block, and half a dozen stitches.

"I knew I wasn't being careful," Celery says of both experiences. "I said to myself, 'this is not dangerous' right before I sliced my finger. I should have known better."

Estimates are that Celery should be able to return to rocking out (and updating her blog) in another 7 to 10 days.

Super Secret Thingy

2007-09-19T06:18:00.000-07:00

While I'm gathering up courage (and looking for a better resource) for to tune my guitar strings, I'm working on a Super Secret Thingy. All I can say is It's for The Signal podcast, and I'll be singing.

So, I'll still be rocking out, but just with the voice rather than the guitar.

Speaking of resources for learning guitar and other complicated spacial relations stuff, You Tube is the way to go. I don't know why I didn't think of You Tube earlier. Video is how I learned the (very little) yoga that I can do, specifically the Sun Salute. It's so much easier to see how somebody is doing it in real time rather than somebody trying to explain something three-dimensional and moving in words.

It's like trying to describe a fight scene in a book. Very hard to balance making sure it's a.) clear what's going on and b.) not boring as hell.

Zing! Went the strings of my guitar

2007-09-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

I tried, and utterly failed, to successfully change my guitar strings today. I spent an hour and a half carefully unwinding, threading, and winding, and when it came time to tune my guitar, my high E string snapped. Again. (the high E snapping was the reason I was changing the strings in the first place).

First off, diagrams on how to change strings are piss-poor. I'm not the kind of person who can learn something much more complicated than a chord chart from text and/or a diagram. Those exercise routines in fitness magazines drive me nuts, because I can never grok what the routine is supposed to look like in the 25 words and two pictures they provide.

It looks like the guitar itself has these brackets towards the headstock, which are tightened in place with an Allen wrench. But the brackets prevent one from actually tuning the guitar properly. So here I am, trying to tune up my high E string, and it's not getting any higher in pitch because of this stupid design flaw. Just as I'm thinking to myself, "I'm putting tension on the string--why isn't the pitch increasing?" It breaks on me. Joy.

Will work more on this later in the week. I had to stop for the day or else I'd be out of a guitar, Pete-Townsend style.

grr. aargh.

On a bright note: I did some pretty nice scales last night. Did a C major scale very, very well, and decided to try to play Ode to Joy by ear. I'm seeing progress in my playing, which is very motivating. It just makes me even angrier that my hardware (and my ability to manage said hardware) is flaking out on me.

Housekeeping stuff

2007-09-14T05:36:00.000-07:00

Fixed some settings so anyone who wants to comment can now comment, even if they don't have a Blogger account.

Rock on.

2007-09-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

I got some new strings, and a new strap for my guitar, and my wrist is feeling better, so I'm now, offically, ready to rock. Again.

Image to the left is my axe. I have not named her yet. Is this a necessary step? Frankly, I'm just happy I was able to Photshop the image to get the color to stand out nicely.

Also, I think I've got the color scheme of the blog more or less finalized. And it doesn't clash with my guitar! Yay!

More substantial info coming soon.

Setbacks, and breakthroughs

2007-09-11T03:24:00.000-07:00

Helped my parents do a lot of work at my Grandma's house, and tweaked my wrist picking up bricks. So I've been taking a couple days off to let that heal up. Just call me Joel Zumaya.

At any rate, I did get over to Ye Olde Guitar Centre to pick up some new strings, a guitar strap, and some better picks. So I should be all set to rock out either today or tomorrow.

Electric Guitar prices: WTF?

2007-09-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

I'm currently practicing (refuse to call it playing right now) on a Series 10 guitar that I got from a friend who wasn't using it. (I'll try to post a pic later). Unfortunately, the thing was in bad shape when I got it. It's old, was gathering dust in a corner of his house for several years. I don't know the first thing about guitar maintenence and ye olde guitar centre wants to charge me $150 an hour just to take a look at it. Uh, no.

So, I was hoping to hop online and find a cheap electric guitar to upgrade on. Yep. That went well. Everything's at least over $200. Second, I have no idea what makes for a quality guitar. Mahogany, maple, Indian rosewood, humbucker pickups, neck wood versus body wood. Holy crap!

Thankfully, I found a pretty good site that sums it all up. Although it's a commercial site, and therefore a touch suspect on its info (you never know if they're funneling you into buying *their* product), at first glance, this looks very good. And it's all done in a concise, clean style.

http://www.sweetwater.com/shop/guitars/electric-guitars/buying-guide.php#2

I've got to think that anything at all is better than what I'm currently playing, but then again, playing something at all is better than air guitar.

Right?

I'm looking for something that doesn't have too wide a neck, has a decent sound, and, most importantly, something that stays in tune. I know this is a super-new blog, but any suggestions? Should I try Ebay? (I'm extremely reluctant to do this for obvious reasons of quality control).

About me, and this blog

2007-09-07T07:18:00.000-07:00

I'm a 28-year old wannabe musishian who's sick and tired of saying "gee, I wish I could learn guitar." I realized recently If I'd actually been practicing instead of bitching these past ten years, I'd probably be pretty good. So, in the hopes of staying motivated, I'm keeping a public blog, which may also turn into a podcast, about learning how to play.

I've got a bit of a music background, mostly singing karaoke and in choirs, have a decent sense of pitch, and can pick notes off a scale and play some melodies by ear and on a keyboard. Back in the day, I took piano lessons, but only for about a year. Other than that, I'm fairly new at this sort of thing.