76 Reply by M.B.

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

debrap wrote:

Today.. I'm listening to a band out of New Orleans..  Tuba Skinny.  Oh my.. they are really good..  local to NO I think.. just happened upon them.  Check them out.  No disappointment here.

Thanks for the suggestion about Tuba Skinny, debrap. I really enjoyed listening to them. They're are a bunch of videos on youtube that feature them playing in the street and in clubs. I don't know too much about old time jazz, but I think that I'm going to learn more.

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77 Reply by M.B.

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

Lifgrd wrote:

Not exactly the song itself but the video from Tom Petty's Don't Come Around Here No More scared the hell out of me when I was a kid.  It seems pretty tame now, but I was 9 or 10 at the time and was probably a bit too sheltered!  Between the pignosed baby and seeing Tom Petty cut into Alice and pull out a piece of cake, I couldn't watch MuchMusic (Canadian version of MTV) for months.

I've seen that video! It IS creepy. But I like watching it.

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78 Reply by M.B.

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

bluejeep wrote:

Good one M.B. Ya had me laughing so much, my wife had to know what was going on. She is a Jane Austen fan.

I'm a fan, too. We're reading "Pride and Prejudice" in English class. At first, I didn't understand the story at all, but after my teacher explained some of the history and culture, it began to make sense. It's fun to try to talk in Jane Austen style!

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79 Reply by M.B.

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

"Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" gave me nightmares. The lyrics scared the heck out of me:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town
He's making a list
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake!

I cried and pouted, and I was naughty, so I thought Santa was going to get me. I was always  afraid to sit on Santa's lap.

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80 Reply by M.B.

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

Happy Birthday, Roger, and thanks for your advice and help!

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81 Reply by M.B.

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

I'm listening to two c.d.'s my big brother gave me for my birthday: Dylan's, "The Whitmark Demos" and Tom Wait's "The Heart of Saturday Night." He said I needed more fiber in my diet.

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82 Reply by M.B.

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

Glad you got a laugh!

That paragraph comes from Jane Austen's "Guitars and Prejudice" . . . the part where the proud and condescending Darcy brings his Martin GPCPA4 (sapele back and sides!) to a ball at Netherfield, and then makes fun of Miss Bennet's Luna guitar while celebrating his own guitar's tonal purity.

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83 Reply by M.B.

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

Zurf wrote:

It's wood.  Just because Sapele isn't what others want to say that it is doesn't mean that it's not a decent wood for making a guitar.  You can't impute the dishonest or ignorant behavior of Craigs list sellers to the wood. 

- Zurf

Zurf, don't mistake me for somone who knows what she's talking about.  Wait--

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84 Reply by M.B.

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

Looks good, but wait!  What's this? "Sapele Back & Sides."  SAPELE??!! Never, sir. I'd rather stuff my girlish heart with chestnuts, wrap it in bacon, and have it fed to common curs, than purchase a guitar with even a hint of sapele!  Let us never speak of this monstrous wood again!!

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85 Reply by M.B.

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

Zurf wrote:

LOL M.B.  You can rest assured that the banjo I messed around with had five strings instead of two cheeks.

Ohhhh, SNAP!  LOL!!!

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86 Reply by M.B.

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

Zurf wrote:

Neat.  I messed around with my sister's banjo once and really enjoyed it.

Zurf, your post really made me laugh!!  My grandmother is always coming up with creative words for body parts  and "banjo" is her word for butt. Like, she would say, "You kids behave or I'll slap you all on the banjo!" Or, "Get off you banjo and get to work!"  So when you said you
messed around with your sister's banjo, I just about died giggling.

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87 Reply by M.B.

(5 replies, posted in Songwriting)

Are you going to record this, Jeff? I'd love to hear how you do it, with your rhythm and melody!

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88 Reply by M.B.

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

Hi Astro!

Yeah, you're right, we're getting into topic drift, but it was fun while it lasted. Your funny post was an inspiration to me. I really appreciate your supportive comments! I liked what you said about channeling your talents. I think that it could be difficult to do, because it means really committing to something and having strong faith in your ability, even when things aren't going too good. 

I just remembered something I read: A professional is just an amateur who didn't give up. But it must take a lot of courage (or fortitude, or nerve, or arrogance, etc.) not to give up.

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89 Reply by M.B.

(10 replies, posted in Acoustic)

I'm in the middle of my first finger-style book, so these are nooby observations:

I tried planting my pinky, but it didn't feel right, so now I hover.
When I started, my finger-eye coordination wasn't too good. It took me a long time to learn patterns. It helped to say the string number aloud, like, "5, 3, 4, 2."
It was hard to keep a good picking pattern going when I moved from one chord to another. It took at least a couple of weeks before it started to work, even though I had no problem doing this when I strummed. So expect that some of things you could do easily before may not be easy now.
Don't feel like you have to play a pattern fast. Make it as slow as you need to in order to prevent getting lost and then gradually make it faster.
Practicing with a metronome was really helpful to me.
You may find that chord shapes that sound pretty good when you strum sound mutted, buzzy, or otherwise icky when you pick. May have to go back to the drawing board and work on proper fretting technique.

Well, that's all.

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90 Reply by M.B.

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

Astronomikal wrote:
M.B. wrote:

. . . but he sounds a little pretentious.

He's not as pretentious as me.  I have a guitar that is made out of wood from the heart of one of those giant walking trees from Lord of the Rings.  The nut and saddle are made from the solidified lava from a Mars volcano, and it is strung with hair from the tail of a unicorn.

When you play it, it sounds like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing Handel's Hallelujah Chorus (and that's when it's out of tune).

It's a pretty good guitar.

I'm reporting your comment for being too funny!

Reminds me, I'm forced to sell a very special guitar . . .

For Sale: vintage 3/4 sized 2003 Fischer-Price, Sing-n-Strum. The back and sides are old growth Taiwanese Polypropylene, and the top is virgin Polycarbonate (DDF+), extruded by hand in Moline, Illinois. The neck is wood-grained Polyvinyl Chloride and features an image of My Little Pony hand-painted by my little brother in purple Glitter Glue. The tuning machines are entirely decorative and the knobs are real butter beans from last Thanksgiving. The pegs are genuine faux ivory and the strings were recoverd from a screen door my dad found at the dump. The clarity, note definition, projection, and headroom on this guitar is astonishing. If your farts don't smell, call now for a price quote. Serious inquiries only!

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91 Reply by M.B.

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

I liked the guy who has his own luthier and an extra special dread with a Carpathian spruce top that's strung with titanium strings!  Maybe he's a talented player, but he sounds a little pretentious.

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92 Reply by M.B.

(9 replies, posted in Bands and artists)

That was scary! Sorry beamer. I am definitely NOT heavy. Call me a light-weight. I think I better listen to some Joni Mitchell to get the jitters out. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5DYLYHlKvk 

(Note to Lady Gaga: see, you don't have to dress like a slut from Mars to be a musician. Note to myself: you notice, M.B., that Joni is hardly wearing ANY makeup and she looks totally beautiful? Cut down on the masscara!@!!)

Side note: I'm on the computer in the living room; Dad's in the kitchen. When I started playing beamer's video, the volume was way too loud. From the Kitchen: "Jesus H. Christ-on-a-Crutch!  What the hell are you listening to!!??"

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93 Reply by M.B.

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

When I found out that by learning a few chords, even if they were inexpertly and very slowly formed, I could make sounds that sounded something like the Dylan songs my Dad was always playing, I was hooked. It was just so awesome that I could actually make "music." I also really like the fact that learning the guitar is a series of challenges that seem really hard at first, but if you're not too down on yourself, and give it some time, you can gradually learn to do something you couldn't do before. Plus, what you learn to do can bring pleasure to other people and is beautiful in itself.

Those are some of the things inspire me to keep playing the guitar.

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94 Topic by M.B.

(1 replies, posted in Acoustic)

I've got a fingerpicking lesson book, and right now I'm working on clawhammer patterns. Is clawhammer style just about picking patterns or is there more to it? The book doesn't give any background on clawhammer, and when I look it up on the internet, the info. I find is pretty confusing to me. Thanks!

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95 Reply by M.B.

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

Dirty Ed wrote:

I think I'd like your Dad, M.B. My wife always gives me grief about taking off on 2-week canoe trips or even weekend camping or kayaking trips without a cell phone. I just don't understand the need to stay connected to the hive.

DE

Hi DE,

I think that when girls become moms they turn into worry-warts.  Moms are pretty nice, but they like to tell you what to do. And they want you to stand still so that they can hug you all the time and say things like, "You can't get any older or taller, and that's final!" Then they get mad when you roll your eyes, and tell you in that voice they have, "Just wait till you have children!" And then they go look at your baby pictures and cry.

I wonder . . . am I gonna' be like that? *shudder*

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96 Reply by M.B.

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

My mom wants my dad to take his cell phone with him when he's out with the tractor or the combine.

Dad says, "I like it without a phone; gives me chance to think."

Mom says, "What if you get hurt."

Dad: I'll ride the tractor back to the house.

Mom: What if you get hurt bad?

Dad (thinks for a moment):  Real bad?

Mom (softly): Yeah . . .

Dad (brightly): Well in that case, bury me in the north forty.

Mom: (angrily throwing a dish towel): I'm going to hurt you real bad right now!

Parents!

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97 Reply by M.B.

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

Right now, it's "Across the Universe"--maybe because I'm working on it. But even if I wasn't, it's still wonderful.

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98 Reply by M.B.

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

LOL naolslager! I thought it was definitely either sapele or mahogany. One of the two, fer shure!

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99 Topic by M.B.

(6 replies, posted in Electric)

This video is . . . amazing, funny; maybe real or could be a put-on. But you've got to watch it and tell me what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwsQudFjXXE

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100 Reply by M.B.

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

Thanks badeye! What an awesome performance. I loved them both, and wouldn't know how to decide which one was superior, but I liked Robbie Robertson's smile best. On the other hand, Eric Clapton had a really cute purple velvet jacket . . . but Robbie had a killer scarf, so I'm going with him. Yeah.

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