This is an unauthorized photo of the local BK. By that I mean, they frown on pictures in there. A lady walking past noticed my camera and asked if I was a photographer. With some truth I said yes. She was looking to sell some old 35mm cameras. That I could not help with, but she was amazed by the operation of the famous Argus. In the process of showing her the features, this picture turned out.
The day was not that fast-paced. It was cool for bike riding, and lucky too because the A/C was malfunctioning at the shop. Fred has some new system that translated Euro tapes to a compatible format, I think it is called “DVD Santa”. I’ll have to take a look. A new student signed up today and I had a few inquiries. I get flurries of bad inquiries and this week was usual on that count.
By bad inquiries, I mean people who have a computer, have been using it the wrong way, but now want a crash course of some feature or software nobody else understands. They lack the skill set to follow computer directions, yet they don’t want to start with basics. They don’t know how to enter information into a required field or download a required file. They just want you to show them what button to push, but don’t have anything like the photographic memories to follow you, nor the vocabulary to write it down.The one guy in today had some strange European phone system called Abbey but did not know how to use it. For some reason he could not grasp that wireless only works when you are in range of a transmitter. This is not my clientele, but the ones who want to shortcut to everything they think is neat to do with a computer. They often spend $2,000 on a laptop but don’t want to spend more than $20 for advice. He probably figured I was pretty dumb because I’d never heard of Abbeyphone and I did not know if it “would work in South America”. When I suggested he check their website, I secretly meant maybe he should have done that before buying all that expensive equipment.
I got a call from Jane, the lady guitar player who disappeared for a few days. I scolded her for that, because I continue to audition when somebody does not follow up. She is a law student, sounds awfully young and was once a piano player. This is the correct background for my needs. Jane is learning guitar because pianos are hard to lug around and she mentioned she has had classical singing lessons. We are scheduled to meet just before noon on Friday.
Then over to Brian’s. He is just at the stage where our ten earlier sessions are beginning to pay off. More time is always recommended on all the phases, such as the magic beat, the vocal intonations, the essence of each song – things we’ve covered besides just learning the music. From the choppy, irregular vocals of somebody concentrating on fifty things, he has moved to fairly smooth and distinctive presentation of the major songs on our list.
It is too little too late, however. It is too bad because this is usually the start of the dynamic stage. His hand is healing but not being able to practice guitar means that even if there is 100% recovery now, it would be back to the drawing board to relearn the parts with guitar. He understands I cannot either wait or take a chance on that. He needs around another 150 hours put in on his own, where as I can put a working band together in less than 25 hours.
I follow the old musicians rule of “practice alone, rehearse with the band”. We know we’ve got a great collection of nearly perfect material for a duo of our caliber. In many ways Brian is now considerably better than the G at certain aspects of playing in a band, that is to say, he is far more employable in a new band because far less of his approach involves being a superb musician. The G hesitates to do anything unfamiliar.
Speaking of that, the G called while we were practicing. Maybe it gets clearer if I give you an example. He hears Brian and me playing in the background, and asks what that neat song is. Aha! It is actually a song that I spent years trying to get him to at least consider, to no avail. It was always too slow, or too old, or too something, but mainly it was a song somebody else was proposing. Yet, when a far less talented singer begins, it is suddenly a candidate.
The G is not wrong, but this behavior reveals his viewpoint [and delusion] that the guitarist is the central pivot of a band. (Don't get me wrong, in many bands it is, but never when I am on stage.) He may have lost any compatibility with a situation where this is not the case anymore. There is only one song on my new list that was on the G’s list, and by coincidence it was the only song I wanted that I ever got him learn. “Hey Good Lookin’” by Hank Williams.
The G could, and often did, claim there are others (songs he learned at my behest) but these empty claims were individually uncovered. In reality, they were tunes that he had previously learned in his career but never got around to playing. Far different that is than true sharing. (I spotted later even that particular new song was not learned, he intentionally held back to claim it as an example of his cooperativeness. But if you play a song you say you have just learned exactly same way twice in a row, you are lying to me. There are people that good, but not around here.)
We talked about playing together again, something he usually suggests when times are slow. I did not outright say so, but only if he agrees to learn music that downplays the guitar parts, to do away with two-thirds of his lead breaks, and to learn music that sounds better in a duo. Otherwise, as long as he preserves his disruptive "accompanied soloist" mindset, I won’t even let him know which clubs I’ve reached an agreement with. I ain’t that dumb.
That’s my lecture to any newbies out there who think all you have to do to form a band is buy a guitar and find a few like-minded individuals. The guitar part is easy.
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