Entries Tagged 'Music' ↓

She acts. She writes songs. She sings. Zooey Deschanel is a renaissance woman. She was on NPR, so you know she’s talented. I’m a fan. You should be, too.

My subtle desire to learn to play the guitar goes back to my youth. I never acted on it though. When I was still in my 20’s I did somehow end up with a nice little Martin guitar. Good intentions to learn to play never materialized, and I sold it to a friend who did play. It was a rather expensive guitar and I remember hating myself for parting with it. I think I hated myself more for failing to give learning to play a go.

About 3 years ago I began saving my money $5 at a time. I’d stash away a little bit here and little bit there. Never anything more than $5 and usually doing it a dollar at a time. My objective? To purchase a guitar and learn to play. I had no idea what guitar I wanted or needed. I had no amount of money in mind, but I figured it might require about $500 or so.

My failures of the past were due, in part, to my inability to properly fret a guitar. The action (the height of the strings off the fretboard) of acoustic guitars seemed awkward and difficult for me. I could fret an electric guitar easily. But I didn’t want an electric guitar. Amps and all that stuff? No thanks. Not that I wouldn’t love it, but it’s just not practical for me. Even so, I was often tempted to go that route because electric guitars typically have a lower action than acoustics.

I kept saving my money. I stumbled onto Zager Guitars.

“EZ-Play” Guitars are modified by Master Guitar Luthier Denny Zager to play easier than any other guitar made. The EZ-Play modification process involves: Lowering the strings closer to the fret board so you no longer have to press hard to form a chord. Adjusting the string spacing so there is more room for your fingers which enhances speed and reduces buzzes and rattles. Modifying the bracing, bridge, and saddle in harmony to amplify the tone and resonance. The result is a guitar that is 50% easier to play with a sound that compares to guitars costing 5 times the price

First, I must brag about their customer service. I’m a customer service fanatic. These folks perform extraordinarily well. And they make a fine guitar that is admittedly easier to play (fret) than any acoustic guitar I’ve held, and I’ve held Taylors, Martins and many great ones.

Well, I’ve had the guitar since November 2007. I even got 6 months of Zager’s online guitar instruction. I’d love to tell you that I’m strumming away with great success, but I’m not. I tried to follow the instruction, but after a month I become incredibly discouraged and stopped. No, I wasn’t even able to get my money’s worth from the 6 months of online instruction.

I don’t blame the instruction though. A number of things sabotaged me. One, the instruction was online and if you don’t have constant hi-speed Internet access, then you don’t have access to the lessons. To just sit and noodle (practice) away from a computer is practically impossible. Two, I struggled to get into it. I take full responsibility for that. I just couldn’t seem to make progress. Day after day I would try to practice for 30 minutes so I could chord more comfortably and apply what few things I was learning. Truth is, I got very bored. Three, my boredom won. And I surrendered. But not completely.

Enter my next phase. I began to talk to people and ask lots of questions. I began to research taking lessons. I began to research other instructional programs. While almost everybody said personal lessons would be beneficial, they also indicated that the instructor made all the difference. Well, I suspected that. So I began to ask around about various instructors. For every recommendation I got, I got a handful of people who suggested somebody else. Then other questions began, “What style do you want to learn?” Style? Are you kidding me? I don’t have a style. I suspect I won’t live long enough to have a style. Blues? Rock? Gospel? My answer: Yes. It was all becoming so complex.

Time and again the Internet was recommended as a great source. Like I didn’t already know that. So I continued my search. This all began in earnest around March. In the meantime, I was barely taking the guitar out of the case. I had little idea what to do. Correction, I had NO idea what to do. I did, however, reach a few conclusions. I knew I needed help. I knew I needed somebody who could show me what to do. I also knew I needed somebody who wouldn’t just teach me how to chord a song. My quest to learn the guitar was sparked because I really wanted to learn music. It seems lots of people taught how to parrot. I wasn’t so interested in that, even though I wanted to see myself able to play real songs. And I also concluded that I needed something not tethered to being online. I wanted video or in-person. And I wanted some written material to boot. I also knew I needed a community of other people - guitar players - where I could ask questions without looking as stupid as I really am.

After months of doing more research on learning to play the guitar than practicing or actual learning - I finally made a purchase. I’ve not received the program yet, but I’m anxious to get it. I’ll keep you updated on my progress. It’s a highly touted program, but it may be all hat and no cattle. I’ll find out if I can at last get the inspiration to keep after the goal.

For starters, I intend to practice at least 15 minutes a day. I can find that much time every single day. And I hope to increase it to 30 minutes after the first few weeks. If I find myself enjoying the process (and making progress) then I’m liable to sit for much longer practicing. It’s more important to start out with a lower expectation. After all, when you consider all the drug-addicts capable of playing the guitar (and other musical instruments), surely I’m able to learn it. Or, maybe I’m too sober to ever learn!

I’ll post a weekly update. Look for me on YouTube in about a year.

This guy has a problem many audiophiles have, including me. A love of music, some nice audio gear and no place sufficient to set it up and enjoy it. He appears to have negotiated a closet and he’s been pretty inventive in assembling components that hopefully work well for him.

Not all audiophiles have this problem. For instance, this fellow seems to have all the space he wants. There are lots of guys like this, but I’m not one of them. And I suspect there are more of us, but we just don’t post pictures of our closets or small spaces. Tricked out Hummer owners post more pics of their rides than those forced to ride around in 1978 Honda Civics. The same is true in audio. Or anything else I suspect.

I’m going a different route. For starters, I’m selling my loudspeakers and the amp designed to run them effectively. The combination is very magical when they’re set up in a room that can be properly configured. But I don’t have a properly, or even improperly, configured space. And the set up represents quite an investment that seems wasted sitting boxed up.

I’ve taken a few steps to remedy my situation. It’s probably an unwise strategy, but it’s the only one I’ve got (for now).

1. I decided to sell the components that need a proper room. This includes a set of speakers and one amp (yes, I have more than one amp). The amp I’m selling is designed to drive single-driver speakers. So, it’s not the most versatile amp out there, but it’s incredible with single-driver speakers that have no crossover.

2. I’m keeping the components that can be engineered to work in a very small space. This includes another amp that will work with most any speaker. It’s a high quality amp that is pretty “speaker friendly.” I’m also keeping my source component, a heavily modified DVD player (used only to play CD’s, DVD-Audio or SACD’s) with a tube output stage, and a buffered-passive preamp (a glorified volume control). I’ve also got a cheap CD changer, for just grins and to use when background music is more the goal.

3. I purchased some mini-monitors to use in a nearfield situation. I may have to play with the placement when the speakers arrive, but I think they’ll be fine. I’m not worried about lack of bass because I’m not a low frequency hound anyway. And there are always subwoofers that can remedy those concerns.

4. But my primary move is the most space saving of all - headphones. I’ve been the longtime owner of a pair of Senns HD600. However, I’ve never owned a headphone amp before. So I bought one. A portable one. Battery powered, or wall wart powered. And it works like a champ! It even makes my iPod or iPod Shuffle sound terrific - and I’m a huge opponent of compressed music.

In the end, that last item may be my final state. I may wind up selling all my audio components knowing that wherever there’s room for my head, I can always slap headphones on and hookup to an iPod or my Mac laptop.

Jimmy Buffett’s “Pirate’s Look at 40″ realized he was “an over 40 victim of fate, arriving too late.” He lamented that there was no longer anything to plunder because he arrived too late on the scene to be a real pirate. I’m an over 40 victim of fate with no space - no room for the music anymore. Except in the car and through my headphones. Thankfully, technology is on my side. The sound is pretty spectacular.

I do miss the days of being able to sit quietly and listen to a great record. But, that’s what happens to audiophiles like me and Pwfletcher. We just go back into the closet to listen to our music.

“I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob,” said Bo Diddley to The New York Times in 2003.

Mr. Diddley died today from heart failure. Last year he suffered a stroke and a heart attack. Perhaps he died from a lack of respect. He considered himself the father of rock and roll. According to the New York Times he was disappointed that he was never able to collect royalties from artists who borrowed his sound.

We’ve heard this before. In fact, quite often. People are bitter that their greatness is unrecognized. They are legendary in their own minds and want to be considered that in the minds of us all. Reality is what it is. Bo Diddley may have been great. Phenomenal even. But the public determines who gets credit. And who doesn’t. They determine who gets paid. And who doesn’t.

Mike Vanderjagt came to Dallas from Indy. The Cowboys have experienced their fair share of egos, but number 13 was by far the greatest of the out-of-control egos! He was 13-18 through 10 games when coach Parcells said, “See ya!” Today, he returns to the Canadian Football League where his talents are appreciated.

He once described his accomplishments to Dallas media as “mind blowing.” He said if he hadn’t gotten on with Dallas when he did it wouldn’t be a problem, because he’d just go to Canada and be the highest paid kicker ever. He took some crap in Indy because he was such a lousy teammate. He took crap here in Dallas for the same reason, coupled with his ineptness. But his greatness isn’t fully appreciated. Just ask him.

It’s very common to read of some famous person who resents not being fully appreciated for how great they are. They try to demand their rightful place in history. Authors, painters, musicians, athletes, scientists, politicians - few, if any endeavors, are exempt. Every industry is full of under-appreciated greatness. None have been able to sway the masses with their complaints.

Whining is ineffective in selling others on our greatness. Few people are swayed toward more highly regarding a whiner. Dead or alive, greatness is bestowed on people by others. Greatness cannot be self-appointed. If it could, we’d all be great. And sadly, we aren’t.

When people refuse to recognize your greatness you have but two choices:

Accept it.

Whine about it.

Well, maybe there is a third option. Be so great that everybody sees it!

Postscript - Humility helps. The Dallas Star’s captain is a perfect example. Read more here.

Somebody (unauthorized I’m sure) released David Lee Roth’s vocal track to “Runnin’ With The Devil.” There are no instruments on this track and it’s one of the funnier things I’ve heard in a long, long time. Click here and enjoy!

Dan Fogelberg died on Sunday morning around 6am of advanced prostate cancer. On his website he wrote a “sermon” encouraging men to get tested annually, something I’m sure he wished he had done.

I first heard Dan Fogelberg when I entered Leisure Landing, a record store just outside the campus of LSU. It was in 1972 and this record - Home Free, his first, had just been released. The store was playing it on their system and I was immediately captivated by everything about it. Every song was a keeper. There was a sadness that I embraced in the songs. A pleasant melancholy.

To The Morning
Stars
More Than Ever
Be On Your Way
Hickory Grove
Long Way Home (Live In the Country)
Looking For A Lady
Anyway I Love You
Wysteria
The River

The album - yes kids this was in the Stone Age of vinyl - was a bit country, bluegrass, folk with subtle rock. Fogelberg was a singer/songwriter. I almost wore out this record. It was among my first CD’s when the digital age came to life. Vinyl junkies like me spent a fortune converting our libraries to the digital format.

Admittedly, I’ve not played it much lately. High Country Snows (1985) was the last CD I remember playing. This week my listening will include some of Dan’s work.

Time marches on. Death shows us how fast. Thirty five years have passed since the release of Home Free. It doesn’t seem so long now.

Unless kazoos count - I never learned how to play a musical instrument. Well, that’s not entirely true. I sat through a few years of piano lessons. Sadly, I hated every moment of it. But as I grow older I struggle to keep my brain alive. It keeps wanting to die on me, like a worn out car battery.

Some months ago I decided I needed to kick start portions of my brain that may have never been energized - and I needed to make vibrant the parts that haven’t gone dormant (yet). Cross word puzzles drive me crazy. Chess is not fun. So I decided to investigate learning to play the guitar.

I have owned guitars in the past. Never did learn to play them, but I have owned them. One of the best was a Martin D something or other - I can’t remember (see, that’s how brain death occurs - your memory just fades).

I always found them hard to fret. The action (the height of the strings relative to the fretboard) always seems too high for my fingers. The result was pain - not something that makes a person want to keep playing. I hit the search engines to find out about lessons and guitars. Pretty soon it became quite clear that lots of people start to learn, but many of them quit. No big surprise really. Most of us are quitters.

Then the reality hit me. Rock and roll is full of drug addicts who can play a pretty mean guitar. How hard can it be? I mean, if Keith Richards can play it (while drunk), surely I can learn to play it while sober!

Let’s be clear. I’m not embarking on finding a way to be Leo Kottke, Eric Clapton or Mark Knopfler. I simply want to learn to strum tuneful sounds. Playing songs is the goal. And if I get good enough you know what will have to come next? Voice lessons. Because I’m going to sing. Oh, yes. There will be singing. I refuse to be Mike Campbell to anybody’s Tom Petty. I want to be Tom.

The result of all this investigation led me to a company that makes guitars, Zager Guitars. Denny Zager is a self-professed one hit wonder who recorded, “In The Year 2525.” And I always thought that was Blood, Sweat and Tears. Read more about him here.

Zagar developed two things: an easier to play guitar and an easier method of learning to play. I bought into both of them. Pictured is the guitar I bought some weeks ago. I’m attempting (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) to practice 30 minutes a day. My fingers are somewhat sore, but I expect to have nice callouses worked up soon. So far, so good. It helps to have extremely low expectations.

I’ll keep you updated on my progress. If nothing else, my air guitar should be vastly improved. As for my brain, it feels sharper already.