A day at the Thrift. A very quiet day. A new computer came in with a device I have never seen before, called a Line Driver. There was no software but it has microphone and MIDI jacks on the front. It also looks expensive and well-made. Dickens left the store in great condition, with all the clothes on hangars. That won’t last long once the customers arrive.
Jerry, the Irish guy called. Of the things, he lent an expensive painting to some “millionaire” and the guy turned around and sold it on him. I don’t know the details but he was in a flap, indeed. Mind you, he called the Police, wrongly thinking they would go get his property back. People, it does not work like that. Once the Police get involved, it is between them and the other party, not you. I advised him to file in Small Claims Court. Millionaires hate it when you do that.
[Author's note: this pic added in 2016 to liven up the page. The astronaut you never heard of, Charles Duke, left his family photo on the moon.]
I got back to the new computer. It has a flat screen and one of those multi-screen cards. I believe those once cost $400. The system is Win98 and it is tricky to find the speed of the chip on those models, although it is a Pentium III. It has only 256K of RAM, so the potential is there. Oh, and for an older computer, it has a flat screen monitor.
My top students have developed an affinity for the Blues. I never steer anyone toward any style because I think Nature can work better on that. The word is there is a TV show that teaches the Blues, although it seems they only teach it in [the key of] E. (This is a tough key for beginners because the dominant chord, a B, is hard to play.) Still, my student has the riffs and movements down, so it was an evening of Blues. My teaching methods do not include assignments or homework. This effective technique means a huge lessening of the need to memorize things.
It was a particularly fun evening as well, because with me in the room, you are going to spot the huge gap left over by formal music lessons. Such lessons just do not show you how to put things into perspective, so for me it is a bit like conducting an orchestra. Example, shuffle beats get drowned out unless the other guitar player backs off. One thing led to another, and I finally put Jesse on the bass. This was a good move.
Preferences have developed to the point we now have a lead player, a singer and now a bass player who sings. The payoff is, although I really should be letting my students tell you all this, we were able to completely assimilate performing using completely understood principles. It almost makes me sad that, as a teenager, I never knew anyone who could have shown me all these things in so short a time. It took me the usual years to piece it all together. Yes, I wonder about a video.
These students are ready to embark on music as a career or hobby, with no illusions about the mechanics of it all. I can’t teach the practice time still required, but my bet is they will never turn back now. One aspect of each of my students, is that no matter what they are doing now, each one could individually pick up a rhythm guitar and accompany a band – precisely what we set out to do three months ago. That goal is accomplished. Done deal.
This means, oddly, that we are slowly dispensing with the rhythm guitarist as time goes by. You should see this in action. Because each member has the rhythm part down pat, I can instruct any musician to play a different part, or to play silence. It seems magic to the bystander, but there is no mystery. Once every person gets the rhythm, we don’t need the part. Jesse took to the bass like a pro. You can tell when, in addition to any talent or interest factors, things “make sense”. She was playing riffs that I know took me up to twenty hours to grasp.
She lit right up on this as well, but I had to burst her bubble by demonstrating that it would affect her singing. It did. If you listen closely, you will observe the bass player is rarely the singer, and if so, he will revert to a very simple bass pattern while doing any vocals. Plus, I don’t want any students running out and buying expensive gear on a whim. I’ll put her on the bass a little more, but trust me, she’s already got it.
The biggest accomplishment of the day was something else, a fact that is left out of all other music lessons. This is how a single note, then a series of notes, begin to sound different in another key. Hang on, I’ll try to explain that momentarily. My point here is that people who say they don’t have an “ear for music” are actually referring to this effect, and I believe it is the reason I cannot sing. I cannot do what I’m about to show you.
Okay, here is how it works. I developed this teaching technique when I was in my early twenties. We have all sung rounds as children. Each person begins singing the same words at a different point. You had fun; to me this was highly serious business. Here is what I want you to change. Take three different rounds, such as “Brother John”, “London’s Burning”, and “Row, Row, Row, Your Boat”. Each person, in turn, begins singing different words and melodies where they would normally join in. Try it. If you can do it, I can make you a star.
When I get a crowd doing this, a look of wonderment comes over those who “get it”. The downside is that if you don’t get it, you probably never will. The “notes” mesh even when they should not. If your brain shuts down, you get off key and off beat. I can teach the part where you have to listen to what the others are doing, but not so much it throws you, that is, exactly the skill needed to play in a band. Seventy-five dollars, please.
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