Uncategorized

Music Journey Part 2

by

My Journey into Music continued – April 2018

Playing music, singing, should be a joy I guess, but maybe not, maybe an expression, an outlet for emotions, a war cry, a punching bag perhaps. At the least an outpouring of something that’s for sure, a release of emotions.

I can stuff around with a song and the guitar for hours, trying to get the rhythm, the beat, a melody line even, a guitar lead section. Take my latest challenge, Seven Spanish Angels originally performed by Willie Nelson and Ray Charles, written by Eddie Setser and Troy Seals.

I’ve simplified the song into three, basic chords in the key of D, my singing key. So we have the three Major chords from the D key, these being D, G, and A, a basic 4/4 time drumbeat, Country 1 Straight sticks from the Drum Beat App, at 125/130 beats per minute.

For the first time I can actually strum along / finger pick and sing this song to the beat of the drum, in the garage at least. The test now will be to do it on stage with a band, watch this space. I actually tried it at the guitar group yesterday. I printed up songs sheets with my arrangement, explained a bit, set up the mic and amp, drum machine, and performed it through, did ok I thought, but I got no well dones, any maybe you should try this, any feedback whatsoever, making me think let’s not do that one again. Well the guitar group are pretty much all beginners, so maybe that accounts for it.

But performers do like some positive feedback, for it’s a tough gig when no one throws a tomato. Certainly at the Cool Country Group everyone claps and encourages people for having a go. I mean a lot of effort goes into making that song happen for someone like me and also for other people, so it should be acknowledged. It’s what keeps you trying.

I can play some lead sections, my own devised guitar lead sections as well for this one. I’ve settled on a rift in B and then D. The key of B I believe to be the ‘relative minor’ to D major key. I’ve download some sheet music and figured out a basic melody which I play in B. So I start the lead bit by playing in the pentatonic minor scale up at the 7th fret for a few notes then switch to major scale at the 7th fret to play the melody line. Once the melody bit is done then up to the 10th fret to play in a D minor pentatonic to head back in the B major scale for a finish line in the melody.

There is an Intro Tab available of the net, which I can nearly do but I just can’t make it sound like the song, difficult to transpose into D also as I think the original key was F.

Performing is about controlling emotion.

Well I’ve sung this song in the garage too many times to recall now, always works pretty well and I’m able to keep time with the drum machine. So, here we go, with the band on practice night, know nerves, all set to play a lead section on the guitar as well as the song, and it flopped. Well the bands drumbeat sounded like some foreign tune, my guitar sounded out of key and the melody escaped me. I could not get past the first line. In ‘Cool Country’ fashion everyone tried to help at this stage, the guitarist on stage singing the chorus to me, Rob the rhythm guitarist setting a beat, and Tom from the group up on stage singing it with me. By down though I was overwhelmed, and all though I sang through the song I really have no idea how it went from there. As they say you live and learn and the first song I did ‘Long May you run’ which I thought I may mess up went pretty well.

The problem I believe was initially the guitar D chord did not sound like a D. The reason for that seems a mystery. Then the drum beat was awkward to follow, and thirdly, probably as a consequence of the first two I started to sing out of key and with some left over melody from the previous song. I think as it’s difficult to pin point. I do know as soon as I was in the car driving home I had no trouble singing the song!!!

Music Part 1

by

My Journey in to Music Part 1
It would seem that music, singing, and guitar playing is a lifetime pursuit if you want to be any good. Well maybe not if you have an aptitude and started young. There are prodigies who just seem to be able to do it without learning, and others that were born with a voice, seemingly finding it easy, indeed a gift. For me well I started late, musically inept, untrained ears, and a voice that’s never in tune. So you would wonder why I would pursue it.

Well I have always just wanted to, somewhere inside me pulls me towards a desire to be able to play my guitar and sing a song or two, perform them on a stage perhaps, not for the enjoyment of an audience so much, but for the gratification gained from doing it well.

Some years back now, I started to play the guitar, at first I couldn’t even strum it, the right hand just wouldn’t go up and down, just didn’t have any rhythm whatsoever. A strum pattern was given to me, DDUUDU (Down Down Up Up Down Up), and I practiced that relentlessly, with a few chord changes for a long long time. I’d pick the guitar up for a few weeks or so then leave it for months. I wrote a song or two as I couldn’t sing anyone’s else’s. This spasmodic method went on for many years, learning chords, the F and C and Barr chords appearing impossible with my fattish fingers and lack of dexterity in the left hand. I tended to want to play a soft melodic style so I started teaching the fingers how to pick each string rather than the full strum method. I went through many pick styles, thumb picks, finger pics, standard pick, eventually just to use my fingers, down with the thumb and up with the rest except for the little one which generally rested on the guitar body to hold the hand in a steady position. I now use a combination of standard pick and fingers and fingers only. I played, or tried to, the Barr chord shape for F major (Em shape with a Barr) as the normal shape seemed impossible, and while this wasn’t easy it lead me into Barr chords shapes. Many chord shapes appear impossible as a beginner, but after a time become easy.

Whatever

by

Issues on my mind today are my diet, physical issues, and penalty rates.

I started a diet near the end of January, January the 22nd, after all the Christmas chocolates and trifles, and meringues, were eaten. Started out at 85kg and as at the 26th February I am now 76.7 Kg. Not too bad but still a way to go, 72Kg would be nice. My food is a piece of dry toast in the morning, a replacement protein drink for lunch (Arbonne) and the a normal meal for tea, no deserts, no chocolates, lollies, or drinks other than many cups of tea with one spoon of sugar and milk. I supplement my intake with nectarines, plums, and apples, when feeling too hungry. Initially I dropped quickly to about 80 kg but stagnated there for a few weeks so I decided to knock of a normal meal with a protein replacement every 2nd day. This seems to have done the trick and I have been losing about ½ a kilo each week for the last couple of weeks or so.

After table tennis on Friday by right foot just pains. Tendonitis I believe and so far two days later I am still hobbling. Nothing going for it (old age) as a friend of mine says.

Reduced penalty rates are just another way of saying reduced wages. Our most lowest paid workers who have been forced into working on weekends, public holidays and after hours, due to the demands of our society fuelled by competition and greed which have allowed unneeded extended trading hours are now to be punished.