26

(11 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

I think the trick is getting them started young.   Kids have no idea about what "can't" be done, they just know they're having a good time, and if they're encouraged, "talent" will grow naturally.

I've said of the new baby that "I don't ever want her to remember a time when she didn't make music."  And I mean that.  smile

27

(10 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

I notice the ads because they often overlay the content I'm trying to read, and there is no way to move around it.  I if I scroll down, the ad stays put!

It's annoying.

28

(6 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Baldguitardude wrote:

nice! I always get nerves at those places.

That's because screwing up is usually free!  smile

29

(11 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

None of these people are coming to my house for dinner, so I have no problem with judging the work on it's own.  It does influence purchasing decisions, though.

30

(2 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Maybe!  I think it still needs a little fiddling.

I sure do miss chordpro.  sad

31

(2 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Wee little punky number...



Chordpro error: This is not a valid artistname. You will have to specify an artistname in the form {st: Artistname} in the beginning of the code.

32

(8 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Zurf wrote:

My father-in-law was a man of strong faith. He passed on a while back, 10 years or so. His final words were, "I'll be fine." 

I wrote a song about that because I think "I'll be fine" are as good of last words as a man of faith could possibly have.

I've been pondering on this theme for a bit, too, but from the other direction.  When my dad died, I tried hard to remember the last thing I said to him, and couldn't.   I just recently lost an old Navy friend, and in June am heading to Las Vegas for his memorial.   I do remember the last thing I said to him, though.  He was up my way a few years ago with his new girlfriend ("The One!") and were planning on coming by the house.   That morning he called and said they weren't going to be able to make it.   I said "Hey no worries, there's always another day."

Except there's not.

33

(8 replies, posted in Recording)

Are you looking to record?  Garageband is fine for simple things like this.   Reaper is free as long as you want to not pay for it. It's fully functional and the only thing that happens is you get a nag screen when it starts.  That will give you a click track,  a fully functional multi-track recording environment, and there is a whole lot of tutorial videos out there.   Best part is they're done by professionals.  The best set is by Kenny Gioia, who did a bunch of engineering work for Marcy Playground.  The dude is a Godsend.

Here's one of the video tutorials he put together on how to record audio.  It goes into great detail on the ways you can punch in and punch out of your recording.  I'd reccomend watching the first four of these, just to get an idea of what the capabilities are, but this one will get you pretty much everything you want.

http://www.reaper.fm/videos.php#iLC1HjLXLd0

34

(21 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Start over?

I didn't realize we'd quit!  smile

35

(4 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Kalaloch is one of my favorite places on Earth.   We used to camp out there a ton when I was a kid, and when my kids were still interested in camping, we went out there all the time.

Cm is the natural minor relative to Eb.  Fm is the natural ii of Eb. That part is in the key of Eb.  The only really "out of key" chord from Eb is the C major chord.

In the chorus, Dm is the natural minor of F.   So I'd say the song is in Eb, and modulates to F for the chorus.

37

(18 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

Doug_Smith wrote:

See you learn stuff on Chordie Too !!  If I'd known there were only Three Chords to have to learn, I might have made a different choice of instrument all those years ago!

Only three chords for guitar, too.  The I, the IV, and the V!

I did fool around with a friend's old "F" Mando way back in High School, but was intimidated by the petite thing and trying to get my big 'ol fingers down between those narrow frets.  Haven't looked back..... yet.

I hear that "big hands" thing a lot when it comes to mando.  Every time I do, I point the person to Mike Marshall.  Dude has hams with sausages hanging off them for hands.  He absolutely swallows the neck.

Here's Chris Thiele and Mike ripping it up a couple of years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ypsqqKU2a8

Check out them meathooks!

38

(18 replies, posted in Other string instruments)

So, just finished up with another Wintergrass.  My oldest child showed up to help tending bar in the green rooms, and otherwise helping out with the liquor distribution.   She also decided she wanted to play mandolin, so she went and bought a student model.  Nice little mando.  She showed up in my office with it, very proud.   She had nothing else, though, and no idea she even needed it. 

Off we go shopping.  Case, strings, picks, tuner...  I'm $100 into the thing and I don't even play it!  big_smile

Anyway, she now knows all three chords.   It's pretty amazing all the lessons a pretty girl can get just walking the halls.

39

(34 replies, posted in Recording)

A lot of the stuff, because it's commercial, requires you to have an iLok account or otherwise register with the providing company.   That is a bit of a hassle, butyou'd have to do the same thing if you actually purchased the software, too.

My account page has a list of all the stuff I'm eligible for, along with whatever the latest Plugin Collective offer is about.   Beyond the secondary registration hassle, it's been relatively pain free.

40

(8 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Zurf wrote:

From now on, buy your guitars in Hawaii. Everybody's happy. Except your wallet.

The last time I "lost" a bet, I came home with a really nice Kala ukulele.   I play it every night with the baby.  It's got the exact same body style and finish as my Breedlove, so she gets the little one and I get the big one as we play "The La La" song together.

41

(34 replies, posted in Recording)

I just bought a Focusrite interface, and along with it comes a ton of good software, little of it free unless you are registered with Focusrite.  They have what is called "The Plugin Collective" where every month there is a commercial VST made available to members.  You don't actually have to own a Focusrite interface to take advantage of it, but more is available to those who do.   So far I've recieved

* Focusrite's Red 1 and Red 2 compressor and EQ
* Addictive Keys instrument of my choice (I went with the grand piano)
* Syntorus' Double Path analog chorus.

That's about $500 worth of software for nothing, which is quite a bargain considering the interface was $300.  smile

So I'd register with Focusrite just in case they decide to drop some freebies on everyone, which they do on occasion.

https://us.focusrite.com/home?rd=1

42

(8 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

That's funny.

I have a couple of guitars that are the results of lost bets.  She loses, I get a guitar.  I lose, she gets a trip to Hawaii.

Despite the incredibly high maintenance, she's worth it.  smile

43

(10 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Nice!

Every day the almost-two-year-old and I sit down and sing songs.  I play guitar.  She plays the uke.  The song goes like this.  (It's in G, if you cared)

La lalaa lala la la la la lalalala la la la la laaa.

Sometimes she changes it up to "Lala la la lalalalala la la la".

Which works, too.  smile

44

(23 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Shawn Lane "Paris" show.
1970 Atlanta Pop Festival - Jimi's last big show.
Late Zeppelin '75 tour (The Physical Graffiti tour)
The Dwarves, anywhere.
'91 Lollapalooza in Enumclaw, WA.  Notes on this beyond a whole lot of really good acts.

Enumclaw is my home town.  It is a tiny little redneck cow town southeast of Seattle.  It is also home to the King County fairgrounds.  Seattle is the King County seat.    So Lollapalooza brought in all these super alternative acts (Jane's Addiction, Butthole Surfers, Nine Inch Nails, Fishbone, Rollins Band) and their super alternative crowd into tiny little redneck square peg Enumclaw.   The town went nuts.  I was in the Navy at the time  getting ready to deploy to the Persian Gulf, so I couldn't attend.  My mom had been sending me copies of the local newspaper, the Courier-Herald.  After the show, the editorial page took up most of the issue with letters about all these purple haired weirdos invading the town.  I wish I was there not so much due to the concert, but because uptight civic hysterics always amuse me.

Shows I have seen that I'm glad I did see.

Primus at the Palladium in SFO.
Jane's Addiction at Iguanas in Tijuana
Social Distortion at Iguanas in Tijuana
Van Halen 1984 tour
Grateful Dead at Memorial Stadium in Seattle.  This more for the crowd than the show.  Entitled hippies everywhere!
GWAR at the Showbox in Seattle
Bill Frisell at Jazz Alley - I love Bill and have seen him multiple times, but his bass player (Tony Scherr) absolutely robbed this show.
Maynard Ferguson at Jazz Alley - This was actually a terrible show.  Maynard had kind of lost his chops at this point, but he died shortly afterwards so I'm glad I got to see it.
Robert Cray - Key Arena in Seattle - This was the last time I went to Bumbershoot, and that was maybe 1986?.  The city has fairly ruined that festival since.
All that early grunge in a whole lot of venues in Seattle - Those were good days, my friends...
Green River - This band in and of itself didn't amount to much.  Locally they got kind of popular, but former members went on to form bands like Perl Jam, Mudhoney, and Mother Love Bone.  Hugely influential in that regard.
Queensryche - Enumclaw High School.  This might have been 1983?  It was just before they blew up into what they are now.  Town did not freak out.  smile

I'm sure there's more.  I've seen a brazillion shows.

45

(16 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

Baldguitardude wrote:

You'll wind up a much better player too.  Think of this as overcoming a plateau.  Like learning barre chords lol.

Yeah, that.    Set aside half an hour a day to practice, and then do it.   Come up with a plan, or use a guided book to help.    I bought this https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Aerobics- … 1423414357 and it's been invaluable for those  times when I'm just not feeling it.  I know at a minimum I can open that thing up to any random page and at least have something to practice.

46

(16 replies, posted in Music theory)

beamer wrote:
jerome.oneil wrote:
Baldguitardude wrote:

While this is technically true, knowing how to play them and knowing how to use them are very different things, agree? I can play locrian up and down the fretboard.  Using it in a musical way? No idea.

That is true of all things, though.  No point having the most awesome set of tools in the universe if you're the worst carpenter in the world.

Well heck by that logic Jerome, I shouldnt have but one guitar either, but lets not forget the FUN  of it to.

I'd be curious for you to  walk me through the chain of logic that lead you to that conclusion.

Because if tools:carpenters as guitars:musicians leads you to that conclusion,  then either you've got a serious logic problem or you're a carpenter that only owns a hammer.

Edit:  After further reading, that came off as kind of snarky and I don't mean it that way.

You're a musician.  You make music (don't deny it, I've heard you!) and are entitled to all the hammers you want.  smile

47

(16 replies, posted in Music theory)

Baldguitardude wrote:

You talking to my wife? I've been called an awesome tool before.

Are we married to the same woman?

48

(16 replies, posted in Music theory)

Baldguitardude wrote:
jerome.oneil wrote:

If you can play a major scale, you already know all seven modal scales as well.

While this is technically true, knowing how to play them and knowing how to use them are very different things, agree? I can play locrian up and down the fretboard.  Using it in a musical way? No idea.

That is true of all things, though.  No point having the most awesome set of tools in the universe if you're the worst carpenter in the world.

49

(182 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)

You would think at some point Dan Quinn would figure out you can not go into even a little bit of a prevent defense against Tom Brady.    If you give that man so much as an inch underneath, he's going to take you to the house even if it's a mile down the road.    Dan did the exact same stunt when the Pats beat the Seahawks two years ago.

Anyway, as much as I hate the Patriots, that was awesome to watch.   Brady has cemented his place in football history.

50

(16 replies, posted in Music theory)

If you can play a major scale, you already know all seven modal scales as well.

If you understand how chords map to the major scale, you already understand exactly the same thing for a given modal scale.