How To Not Suck, Chapter 16: Sing Out

So, last week, I was the guitar player. The only guitar player. Drums, keys, piano and me. With fairly large instrumental times.

And I have to say that I know the chords, I know (for the most part) the choruses, but I don't so much always know the verses.

I might have over-played. Maybe a little.

Yeah, right.

Let's think about playing melodically. What makes up a melody? Well, traditionally, that's the part the singer sings. So, how much do singers go up and down the scale? Let's follow a singer or two.



That's in C, which makes it so easy to talk about. The "Workin' so hard every night and day", it seems, is just all B and C. And that's about the only fast part. If you know your major scale, there should be nothing here that a few passes shouldn't let you figure out.

Which is pretty much what I was doing this morning. Learning how to install the governer on my picking hand.

And hey, I kinda like the song.

Look to the upper right of this page. Unless I changed it some time after today (Feb 27), it should say Telecasters are the preferred instruments. What do I mean by that? Telecasters are the preferred instruments. I like all guitars, but I like Telecasters more. I like the body shape. I like the hardtail. I like the control configuration. I like the scale length. I like the tradition they come from. I like the sounds they make.

I'm budgeted to get a new instrument from Rondo when my paycheck comes (I will not get into that story!) and what am I looking at?



NOT a Tele.

A black flamed Les Paul copy. It looks black until it come up under the right light, then the flames come poking through. Man, that's pretty, and $150 less than I was seeing 'em on Rondo before.

What should I do?

More Low End Theory

I told a friend the other day, "There's only one band I can think of that had two bassists, and that'd Ned's Atomic Dustbin."

(I had forgotten Dos. I've never really heard Dos, so I hope you can forgive me.)

He responded. "I can think of one other one. Spinal Tap. And they had three, didn't they?"

Now, here's Oteil and his #2 bass guy.

Hat tip: NoTreble

Still Rock'n Roll To Me

Lunchtime Quiz: Elton vs Billy Score: 83% (15 out of 18)

Why Sans should give up his dreams of getting a fretless bass

My Album Cover

Could be Kitaro-influenced. Could be Fugazi.

via Furtheron

Here's how this works:
1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random... Read More”or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

5 - Post it to your blog or to Facebook and tag those you want to join in.

How To Not Suck, Chapter 15: So you're not Miles

First track on the Kind of Blue. The chords are Dm, then Ebm, then back. Think Dorian. Think minor.

I have, as one of the last things I do before closing my eyes, cued up that track and tried to play with it. There's nothing like trying to play on the same track with some of the greatest musicians of the late 20th century to highlight how unimaginative your playing is.

But there's a bright side. A few, actually.

Listen to early tracks from Charlie Parker, like (I think; going from memory here) "Koko". Miles Davis wasn't always Miles Davis. Well, he was, and he was — you can tell it's Miles by listening to him. But in the 1940s, he wasn't the player he was in 1958. Who knows what kind of musician you'll be in fifteen years?

And you'll only become that musician by working at it. Steve Khan has broken it down for you. And scanned it. All things told, I'd rather he put it into Finale or something, because I'm a very poor reader and it's hard enough to figure it out without reading his handwriting, too. I have been slowly teaching myself to read, to the point where, before giving up and passing out, I was able to play along for the first three measures. I'll say this straight out: Nobody I play with regularly can read music. I play out with them weekly. We can do chord charts, and to at least some extent we can talk in terms of music theory. To me, it's like having words you can say but never write, hear and never read.

My son, after two and a half years of playing clarinet in junior high, is a far better sight reader than I expect to be. And I certainly won't be considered a great jazz icon.

So what?