I hope that your kid doesn’t get the same clarinet that this guy is using, for next years curriculum! I don’t think that he is using the mouth piece … or is he? I wonder if the guy behind him is the official paper turner?
Keep on Jammin’
How long should an election take
This past Sunday, the Prime Minister of Canada, dissolved the government, thus opening the door for an October 14th Federal Election. From start to finish, the process will take 37 days.
This, I promise, will be a short (just like me) general post!
My wife in I live in the Danforth area of Toronto, which happens to be in Jack Layton’s NDP ridings. The biggest musical supporters are the Barenaked Ladies, which I find outlandishly entertaining! I’ve never seen them live before, but I hope to ends this little streak soon.
So my question here is, why does it take America about 2 years to do it? To us Canadians, it seems like the US elections has been dragging on for years now. This isn’t a regular length of time, is it? Why is it taking so long?
Keep on Jammin’
Jeff Healey rest in peace
I found this out this morning while making Midnights breakfast (she’s our new beautiful Labrador Retriever).
Wow, taking about being blown away! I think that I will always remember where I was and what I was doing when I found out of this great musical lose! I can still remember when I found out that Stevie Ray Vaughan had passed. I actually called my wife right after finding out.
Rock and jazz musician Jeff Healey died Sunday in a Toronto hospital after a battle with cancer, his publicist said. He was 41.
Healey lost his sight at age one as a result of Retinoblastoma, a rare form of retinal cancer.
Retinoblastoma, is a cancer that hits children younger than 5 years of age.
Healey had the great honour of playing with George Harrison doing one of Harrison’s songs called As my guitar gently weeps. He also played with other guitar gods such as B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It was Stevie ray who actually brought Jeff into the greater world musical spotlight. Being in the 1988 movie called “Road House” didn’t hurt either!
I was in his club called Healey’s in Toronto and saw Saga’s second last show in Canada, the last one was in my home town of Brantford, with the lead singer Michael Sadler. Nice place to see a show, go check it out.
My wife and I are God parents to my cousin’s son and he is blind. This happened as a result of contracting a disease called Toxoplasmosis. He is a very outgoing little fire cracker and has a love for all genres of music. He has developed a great singing/rapping voice and has actually recorded some tunes at a local recording company.
My cousin and his son went to a event for the blind that Jeff Healey was at around 3 years ago. His dad thought that it would be a blast for his son to meet him, so they both went up to talk to him. When they met, our godson went silent, if you actually know this little guy, you would think that I was making all this all up because he’s never Silent! He knew who Jeff was and what he accomplished so maybe that is why he was nervous about meeting him.
So let’s keep Jeff and his family in our prayers.
Jeff Healey
1966 – 2008
Taking Guitar Lessons
If your a guitar player who thinks that he or she knows it all, then you should just skip this post! Also, this post is VERY LONG as well!
Every once in a long while I come across a guitar player who thinks that they know it all. I think that we’ve all met a person like this who fits the category? I understand that in order to be a great player you have to have this invincible attitude or ego to obtain these lofty goals but come on, you can’t know everything. There is always someone out there that knows something that you don’t.
In my younger days, there were moments when I had this type of footprint attached to my persona. Sometimes upon entering a Brantford music store some musicians put down what ever they were playing and looked at it as if they didn’t know what this thing was that they had in their hands. Sometimes at a party or other social event guitarists would not play while I was playing or afterwards for that matter. This I thought was good for my ego, but later on I realized that we all were doing was just cheating ourselves out of a learning experience. After not playing for many years, I started to understand this problem.
While living in a dorm/frat house I started to play with many levels of musicians. I realized that some had these guitarists were playing these great little progressions that I had never heard of before and it spurred on my thirst for more musical knowledge. I made great efforts to stunt my level of playing and let other people shine. This approach made others relax and play without intimidation.
Fast forward to today, I think that it is time for me to take lessons again, not to figure out songs/styles but for technique. I know proper positioning, how to change chords efficiently, but I could use some work on understanding progressions better.
Another area is finger picking.
My classical picking is now at the level of a hack, but I can achieve the action and dexterity that I need to pull off a song or style without any noticeable problems. The classical stance is something that I do not use to any great extent but it does come in handy once in a long while.The real problem is with my thumb drone or an alternating bass picking style. The easiest way to understand this is to imagine a piano. You have the left hand working the bass or lower notes and the right hand doing the phrasing/melody. In guitar, your thumb is the bass and the rest of your fingers are the right hand playing the phrasing/melody.
Bruce Cockburn is the master of this in my eyes! It’s almost impossible to pigeon toe his style into one word but this is one of his many fortes. The best example of this is one Going to the Country which I have been trying to finger out or master for many years. I wish that the intro to the song was there to introduce to you to what I mean about his playing ability.
So now I am toying with the idea of taking lessons at the 12th Fret by a gentleman call Dave Martin. He specializes in picking, he loves the some style of picking that I do and best of all he has the same length of fingers that I have. While talking to him, he told me that he has come up against the same playing/technique problems that I have so it would be nice to have someone who has similar issues in this area.
They charge around $22.50 a 1/2 hour so I’ll try him out for a bit and see how it works out! I’ll get back to you later on the results and besides, he probably knows something that I don’t!
The Dream Theatre Rock experience
I first heard of this band by my buddy Tony when we were standing next to the speakers at the Saga concert that I was at recently.
He had told me that his son that has his own band, loves this type of Rock. He quickly described it as a hybrid of RUSH, Saga, Yes and Heavy thrashing metal. These guys I had to check out!
I first headed off to what in the world is that obscure site called … oh ya, youtube and listened to a few of Dream Theater’s tunes.
This is the one song that really caught my eye. It was everything that Tony had told me about all wrapped up into one song.
The keyboardist sounded like a young Rick Wakeman near the beginning and the bass player sounded a bit like Chris Squire. The guitarist had that Alex Lifeson sound that he had on A Farewell to Kings album one minute then a hint of Permanent Waves the next! The vocalist at first sounded a bit like Jethro Tall then Michael Sadler from Saga.
Todays music in my mind, sometimes lack the feel of musical diversity. There is so much influence out there that bands just don’t tap into. Remember, there is no such thing as a completely new style that has never been heard of before. We may use multiple approaches/styles to create these new sounds but we all use outside influences to create our own individual stamp of music.
I now think that it’s time to let Rick be exposed to this style and see if he can incorporate some of this into his unique approach!
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Keep on Jammin’
Indie Update – read about up and coming Indie Bands
You just have to love Indie music! Since the turn of the millennium Indie bands have been using the Internet to promote their music and they’ve been quite successful. Their success of course is directly related to consumers use of the internet as a medium for listening to new music, gathering current information about bands and of course buying the music produced by these bands.
Another great thing about the success of Indie music on the internet is that these bands don’t have to bow down to the rules of the big labels. They can stay true to their music. Some of these brave souls just like to create music to be appreciated and listened to while someone else takes the spot light, no biggie for them.
I recently visited the indie music blog. It’s official name is Indie Update. On this site you’ll find honest articles and opinions about up and coming Indie bands.
One of the write ups – The onerepublic review – talks about how this indie band has had great success on MySpace and how Myspace is offering Indie bands a great new way to gain exposure. I believe that each of the Indie band articles on this blog have a link to each bands MySpace page where you can listen to samples of the bands music and learn more about the band members.
I was captivated by the Indie Music history series. In this series of post you can read how Indie music came about and how it’s evolved from the 1960’s to the present day. The author has really done their research for these Indie Music History posts. I’m sure you’ll be fascinated when you read them.
If you enjoy Indie Music I think you’ll want to bookmark or subscribe to the Indie Music blogs rss feed so that you can keep up with the latest Indie bands on the scene.
The Bassist
The Rick Wakeman concert that I saw a couple of weeks ago left me in a state of music appreciation overload. The level of musicianship at the show was in a realm that only a very talented few ever get to venture into or near.
They were so tight that it just made R. Jackson’s and my head just shake thinking to ourselves that this just can’t be happening right in front of our eyes and ears. When they played a staccato’ed note and then stopped for 2 or more seconds, the whole hall went eerily quiet. Now that’s scary! These guys have a kindred spirit/musical ability all rapped up into one.
Mr. Rick Wakeman was his usual stellar self but his supporting cast took a while to bring it up to his level. The only stand out in both of our eyes was ‘Pearly’ Lee Pomeroy the bass player and when he got going it turned out to be a night to remember!
His regular gig is with this band called Tar Babies.Their site is a MUST to check out in it’s entirety, but don’t let the Tom foolery misguide you. He comes across on stage of the perfect band mate. Always smiling and with positive energy to burn!
The one thing that caught my eye maybe half way through the show was that he was a left handed bass player and here’s the kicker, he had it strung upside down. He places the thick strings that normally go at the top of the neck on the bottom part.
Now to put it in a way that non musicians can understand, just envision this for one second, imagine using your keyboard turned upside down and having to type that way. It’s almost like walking backwards, you could do it, but when it comes to running it’s a whole new ball game.
So to give the nod to the best player in the band besides Rick Wakeman, Mr Jackson and I would have to give it to the guy above … really you had to be there!
Keep on Jammin’
The Guitar Resource
Just like every other guitar player on the planet, you realize that there is always someone out there that knows more then you do. You may spend your time, like I do, by searching, and then figuring out different styles to play that will help develop a unique sound that you can call your own. This does take a long time. Or, you can search the web for sites that can dramatically speed up this process.
Some great guitar sites even expose you to different ways to listen and understand overall musical structures. Well, I think that I have found one that does all the above and then some. The site is called The Guitar Resource. This is like one stop shopping for technique!
The Guitar Resource has an article called Circle of Fifths that will help with everything from finger exercises all the way to chords and chord progressions.
Not only does the Guitar Resource provide information on how to play, but it has a great selection called How to Read Tabs that compliment and makes the site that much more informative.
The videos that he makes about his topics are top shelf! He has the uncanny ability to make you feel relaxed and he doesn’t talk down to you. His posts also make you sit down and think about what and how to achieve all this without all that dry musical theory stuff. It gives you the very basics and lets you go from there. If you want more detailed info, then just ask him. It’s just that simple.
The tools provided at The Guitar Resource are simple and straight to the point. You don’t need all the bells and whistles to achieve your goal, and I think that he has that aspect all sowed up since he started in March 12th, 2007.
I also found a fabulous book in the portion of his site called Recommended. The book is called the “Practical Theory for Guitar”. Yes it certainly is a must have for any guitarist regardless of his/her level. I looked at some articles and found it simple and straight to the point, so I’m seriously thinking of buying it! I have to hand it to this fellow, he certainly got it right on this one too.
If you visit the guitar resource be sure to check out the tabs that you will find across the top of the site. He has a section called The Store. Within the store you will find a featured product as well as a selection of categories such as Guitars, Amps, Strings, concert shop, guitar instruction, parts and accessories and whole lot more.
All and all, as the name says, The Guitar Resource it is a great resource site to fit all aspects of your guitar playing needs.
Keep on Jammin’
The Grand Old Danforth Music Hall
The Danforth Music Hall is quite the fixture in my neighbourhood. It’s been around since the 1919 and originally called “Allen’s Danforth theatre”.
It had it’s hey day back when Vaudeville acts where all the rage! It changed it’s concept and purpose a number of times and eventually was called the “Century” but kept it’s distinctive beauty intact.
They’ve just renovated this gem on “The Danforth“, known by the locals, and is fully up and running. They have underwent extensive renovations from top to bottom that reflects it original Grandeur. New state of the art sound/lighting system, new seats that are wider (now that’s worth it weight in gold in itself), updated lobby/washrooms and bar area!
This is the kind of jewel that you pass everyday and say to yourself, ” I gotta get in there some day!”. Well, hopefully I will not have to wait that long.
I just went to their site and found a treasure trove of musical talent that is just screaming out to me to go see! Besides, there is tons of parking and seconds away from the subway.
These are a few of my choices that have caught my eye!
Rick Wakeman, the man is a musical genius and machine when it comes to the keyboard (Tony, you gotta see this guy to believe him)
Stephan Stills, now this is a guy you want to go camping with, imagine the sing songs around the fire! (Stevie my favorite brother-in-law, keep this date open)
Rickie Lee Jones, she would be a nice addition to one of my backyard parties. (Jon, will we see you there?)
Just to name a few! My eyes are on Rick Wakeman.
Their site is easy to navigate plus there are some video’s of the artists in their “Events” section, just in case you want to refresh your memory of who they are.
So if your in my neck of the woods, check out this Grand Old Lady and hope to see you there on Aug. 17th/07 when Mr. Wakeman is playing.
Keep on Jammin’