debut!

So I was on vacation, and I realized I missed my guitar. Just being able to sit and play and enjoy, it’s become a part of my day. Upon my return I had to head straight to school. This has left little time for practice over the past few weeks, which made me nervous since my song was going to be featured (and played by me) at our “Welcome Back to School” assembly. While hesitant to play in front of anyone, or do anything in front of anyone for that matter, I was  thankful my fellow teachers were up there with me singing along. Strength in numbers, right? Of course that didn’t keep me from getting that sickish feeling in my stomach, nor did it limit the fear that I’d totally mess up. Only one student knew I was going to be up there playing: a former student of mine, also a guitar player, who’d once been up on that same stage all by himself. I’d seen him earlier in the week and mentioned that I was a bit freaked out. He reassured me that I’d be fine, I’d practiced all summer. Even though he was right, I didn’t feel all that reassured, and not any less scared.

So as I prepared to close the program with my song, I looked out and saw him giving me the encouraging thumbs-up/good-luck/you-can-do-it sign. I do think that helped. I got through it with minimal mistakes, the teachers sounded great, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it! There was much applause, at least.

My students knew I just started to play guitar, and they were surprised to see me up there and hear me play. One little boy said to me, “You said you were a beginner. You don’t sound like a beginner, you sound like an ender.”  It doesn’t get much better than that. :)

more music

of the local variety. I visited the Battle of the Bands at our town's Three Rivers Festival this week. I'm always happy to see a good turnout for local musicians, and better yet, the audience really enjoying the performance. How could they not enjoy the loud, jamming music at our downtown festival? Here are two of my favorites:

The B-Sharps, a band consisting of several young, talented musicians. I'm a bit partial to these guys, as their incredibly gifted guitarist (Mitch, on the left) was also the helpful young man who sold me my guitar. Catchy, loud, what's not to like?

And here is Unlikely Alibi. If you didn't love them for their name alone, you would after hearing them play. Catchy, poppy rock with a hint of big band and reggae. Awesome instrumentation and high-energy performance.

getting somewhere...

If you’ve been wondering, writing a song is not easy (well, for the majority of us it’s not easy). I listen to music constantly, and lately I’ve really been thinking about the lyrics of the songs I listen to and enjoy so much. They’re quite simple actually, not wordy, They’re repetitive. You’d think that would be easy. Proving once again what a gift these artists have, not just playing instruments and using their voices, but putting everything together with words to make a song that’s meaningful or fun or just enjoyable.

One of my goals is to write/compose/record a song, collaborating with my mentor through the whole process. Over the past few weeks we’ve been working at this, but the words or ideas just weren’t coming. Then I'd become more frustrated with the pressure of the time constraints. I think the problem was I wasn’t headed in the right direction for what to say, because Thursday I started over with a completely new idea and wrote about something very familiar to me: teaching. I was excited, had so many ideas, and the words just came. Went to my lesson with lyrics in hand, Sean asked, “Which chords do you want to use?" and three hours later we had the rough draft of a song! So that advice we’ve all heard, write about what you know, that’s really good advice.

So the next step is to get into the recording studio, which I'm really excited about now that I have a song. What I didn't realize about this part of the project is that it's going to be a real song. By that I mean that there will be several musicians participating in the recording process. A true collaborative effort, which is good, there no way I could do this on my own. And before anyone gets too excited, my contributions to the song are lyrics, chords, and guitar. Sean will be supplying the vocals on this song. My focus is learning guitar and songwriting, I have to save something for the next one, right?

on recording...

So Sean is taking every effort to expose me to all sides of being a musician, including recording. I was invited to go to Kent’s recording studio (Kent is the other half of Finest Grain) to see the process in action. Sean and Kent had written and recorded a song, and at this point they needed to add the drum track, courtesy of their go-to drummer, Randy Cole. The whole process was very involved, not that I really expected anything less, but once you see that in person, you really understand. It’s so technical, precise, and repetitive, but when there’s an opportunity to make something just so, why wouldn’t you? 

A very collaborative effort from all involved, the musician brings the skill/knowledge of his craft, but has to work with and take suggestions from the producer and fellow band mates, making adjustments to the instrument or how it’s played to achieve the desired sound for the song. Everyone then listens to the track so intently, discusses, makes suggestions, and records again to implement those ideas. What amazes me is that they’re so specific with what they’re listening for, such slight nuances to the sound, what the average listener probably wouldn’t notice. But each specific part has its place to make the song whole.  Soon enough I will be recording a song. I’m hoping it’s not quite so involved. Being a beginner, I want to keep it simple, but of course, I’ll want it to be “just so.”

what a week!

I learned quite a bit this week, unfortunately much of it was not about music. What was going to be a great Wednesday, with practice and a field trip out for “Blues Night”, ended up being full of shenanigans. Upon leaving for my lesson that night, I noticed a few things "off" with my car. To make a very long story short, I’ll skip the details about the smell of gasoline, plummeting gas gauge, million phone calls, and waiting on a tow truck in 90+ degree heat for an hour. Ultimately, Ray from Penske Honda in Indianapolis discovered that some sort of rodent decided to snack on my fuel line. See photo of the suspect. Note the creature’s teeth. Now observe the evidence left on my fuel hose. You be the judge.

On the musical side of things, I practiced much, learned about recording, and saw a lot of great live music this week. The recording bit was overwhelming to me, so I’ll focus on the good stuff: live music. For me, there’s nothing better than going to a show, and there’s a plethora of places to do so in Indianapolis. 

At Locals Only:

The Troubadours of Divine Bliss, a female folk duo armed only with an accordion, guitar, and two beautiful voices.Delilah DeWylde & The Lost Boys, a honky tonk/rockabilly band fronted by a woman playing upright bass. Enough said. 
And at The Upper Room in Broad Ripple:

Chad Mills, good old acoustic rock.
Finest Grain, the musical brilliance of Kent Vernon and Sean Jackson (on the right, my teacher).

practice, practice, practice...

I’ve begun my lessons with Sean. We meet three evenings each week for three hours each time. I have to say that after two weeks, I’m being overwhelmed with information, strategies, and theory on playing guitar, writing songs, and recording. Music is such an incredible skill, to learn the method to produce the sound, and then to make it your own. And whether one performs music for others (which amazes me), plays for themselves (which is likely the journey my music will take), or just enjoys listening, music is such a constant comfort of life. As my Fort Wayne instructor Tim Beeler said, “Things change in life, but the guitar and music are always here.”

I was speaking with someone who asked me how my lessons/practice were going. I said, “Well, I’m not great yet.” Then I wondered, did I actually think the greatness would happen so soon? Of course I didn’t. But I do realize that I’m on a path to becoming a musician. I’m so thankful for my ‘crash course’ this summer to jumpstart the learning process. And while Sean is throwing out every possible bit of information, whether or not I can fully grasp it at this time, I know everything has a purpose and will all make sense… eventually.

I’ve got lots on the agenda for the next few weeks: more lessons, going to more shows, seeing a band in the recording studio. And, of course, practice, practice, practice…

get ready, get set...

Our last student day was Friday, and as soon as I finish up a few loose ends at school, my summer will begin. I’m very excited to begin my six-week project: I’ll either be working with my mentor, practicing guitar, or listening to other musicians. Up to this point I’ve been taking weekly guitar lessons and practicing quite a bit. I’ve made a point to really pay attention to anyone and everyone who might have some bit of knowledge to share about music and/or songwriting. This is going to be an amazing experience for me, and I’ll be sharing as I go. Stay tuned…