Hello all!
"I just go where the guitar takes me" ~ Angus young
Yes, yes..yes. This is the end!As much as I'd love to keep talking about my passion I must stop! Like this quote above says I just go where the guitar takes me, i dont control it, it controls me, and hopefully it takes me somewhere I wanna go!. For this last blog I will tell another story of "jamming"
I received a txt awhile ago from a drummer to an add I put out months ago. I never thought someone would actually reply but they did! I found myself congering up excuses that I didn't have time, too busy, didn't have gear etc. I'd sit in my room and say to myself "what am I doing?!" so after I found the much needed confidence all those weeks ago I finally arranged a time to meet this drummer and have a Jam!. Now I've been playing and singing with my flat mate so I was pretty comfortable around him at this stage. I begged him too come along as I knew he was keen to play with others as much as I was, to move to that next level of being a musician. He agreed and then the following week we were heading to this drummers house. I was quite relieved that the drummer had txt me saying that he didn't have a mic or anything so I let loose a sigh of relief in my mind that today I would just be playing guitar and not having to worry about the vocals, not that I dont feel comfortable, ive played to a crowd and he was just one man but that I didn't have to take on two roles straight away. When we got there, I have to admit I was shocked at how older he was haha, a bunch of young guys and this 30 year old something man but I soon got over that as age doesn't really matter, its how we he can play and his playing was top notch. For a start we got all our gear ready and both of them (flatmate & drummer) said I should start it off. I started playing a piece I had been working on with my flat mate (talked briefly about it in pst blog, song that reminded me of a drifter walking down a road alone). My guitar filledd the room, silence everywhere but this sort of lonesome tune. Soon the flatmate was putting some soft bluesy lead parts over top and I started to feel it coming together. Next the drummer came in with just a soft beat. After a while I got to some harder parts and I really started slamming my guitar with some dirty, loud power chords. i dont know why but I just had some slight aggression in my playing, I wasn'y upset or anything, it just felt right. The drummer seemed to agree cos he told me "thats awsum, keep playing that" and he started to really get into the drumming. My flat mate also picked up the pace, starting to get harder and putting more bends and little twists to it. I took the time to look up and see everyone in their "zone", just feeling the music, feeling the emotions, putting a piece of their soul and self into the music. Now this was an original piece of music, completely our own and I could tell this was the start of a really, really good song and maybe a future alliance!
(the next day)
I ran into my flat mate cooking tea and he came up to me with a certain look on his face that you can tell is not good. I knew what was coming, and I predicted right. he told me he didn't have time to play in a band, and that in a couple of months he would be leaving the country anyway as his degree finishes and he wants to get out of the country. I was a wee bit disappointed but I didn't mind really. He is a good guitar player and I still enjoy playing with him to this day but there is a difference in our sounds, the way we connect when playing music. A part of me knows what I want to hear and feel but I didn't get that to the level I wanted when playing with him. So its just me and the drummer but he said he's got a bunch of friends who play lead guitar and basss so I guess I'll be jamming again sometime soon!
Yesterday I heard an amazing song called "the A team" by Ed Sheeran. I had to go home straight away and try it out. Over the last nine weeks or so my confidence in guitar and singing has increased and I have been playing all around the place. So as its the last blog, and maybe someones been thinking "I wonder what he sounds like?" here's your chance! below is the link to my first (fast) attempt at "the A team" some of my other video's are there as well. Feel free to give feedback as long as its not too bad =P.
Thanks for reading!
Rock on!!!!!!!!
The A team cover
Peoples blogs ive commented on:
Anita
Charlotte
Dave
Judith
Merryn
Engleheart, M. & Durieux, A. (2008). AC/DC: Maximun rock & roll: The story of the world's greatest rock and roll band. HarperCollins: Australia
Monday 24 October 2011
Monday 17 October 2011
Blog Five: Familiar occupations
Allo Allo!
Well I thought it would be a super fun idea for the people who are writing about guitar for this blog as well as me to get together and have a wee jam! In the end it was only my fellow class mate Merryn who was available and keen for a wee get together! We met up at tech and to my surprise the place was dead (we were on "holiday"). Merryn was already playing some nice mellow acoustic tune so it wasn't hard to figure out where bout's she was as the acoustic guitar could be heard echoing in the 2nd floor corridor of the OT school! Straight away I noticed her super radical acoustic guitar and became jealous as hers was acoustic electric and mine was not but also because on the neck/fretboard she had mountains engraved into it and it was the coolest thing Ive ever seen! needless to say that when I asked if we could swap guitars for keeps she wasn't too keen! We didn't really know where to start cos we didn't really know what each other was in to or the type of music we like to play. I suggested some Lynyrd Skynyrd as that's whats on my mp3 at the moment, she didn't know the song but she was soon on the computer and nailing those chords down. We had a wee bit of a muck around and then decided to have a go at a more well known Skynyrd song.....Sweet Home Alabama! We started jamming away and the awsum-ness that is that song consumed me and I had the need to crank out some husky vocals.... "Big wheels keep on turning!" eventually I couldn't remember the lyrics and that was the end of that! Like always it was great to have another guitar mixing with my own, the sounds combining and working together to make a unique sound. Even though people are playing the same tune they're always different for example the strumming patterns may be a wee bit different or like me I tend to strum really hard the more I get into the song (I'm always worried I'm gonna break my guitar), its something Ive picked up on when jamming with other people lately, people adding their own little "touch" to someone Else's song. We carried on playing a different range of tunes, mixing and making them our own and then finally we were done!
Well I thought it would be a super fun idea for the people who are writing about guitar for this blog as well as me to get together and have a wee jam! In the end it was only my fellow class mate Merryn who was available and keen for a wee get together! We met up at tech and to my surprise the place was dead (we were on "holiday"). Merryn was already playing some nice mellow acoustic tune so it wasn't hard to figure out where bout's she was as the acoustic guitar could be heard echoing in the 2nd floor corridor of the OT school! Straight away I noticed her super radical acoustic guitar and became jealous as hers was acoustic electric and mine was not but also because on the neck/fretboard she had mountains engraved into it and it was the coolest thing Ive ever seen! needless to say that when I asked if we could swap guitars for keeps she wasn't too keen! We didn't really know where to start cos we didn't really know what each other was in to or the type of music we like to play. I suggested some Lynyrd Skynyrd as that's whats on my mp3 at the moment, she didn't know the song but she was soon on the computer and nailing those chords down. We had a wee bit of a muck around and then decided to have a go at a more well known Skynyrd song.....Sweet Home Alabama! We started jamming away and the awsum-ness that is that song consumed me and I had the need to crank out some husky vocals.... "Big wheels keep on turning!" eventually I couldn't remember the lyrics and that was the end of that! Like always it was great to have another guitar mixing with my own, the sounds combining and working together to make a unique sound. Even though people are playing the same tune they're always different for example the strumming patterns may be a wee bit different or like me I tend to strum really hard the more I get into the song (I'm always worried I'm gonna break my guitar), its something Ive picked up on when jamming with other people lately, people adding their own little "touch" to someone Else's song. We carried on playing a different range of tunes, mixing and making them our own and then finally we were done!
Thursday 6 October 2011
Blog Four: Another jam session!
Hey listeners!
My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am ~ Joan Jett
Well last night I had a sudden urge to play with my flat mate again, I had just learned a song called "Hunger Strike" (link below) and I was having trouble picking and singing at the same time so my certain "need" for this situation was for him to play it for me! So he agreed and I grabbed my guitar and went to his room. He had a quick attempt at it and didn't seem that interested in playing it (to my disappointment!) but he said he'll learn it, woo hoo! He wanted to start off by playing some familiar songs we have already done (see previous blog) so we did those but I didn't feel as connected as what I wanted cos I didn't really wanna play those songs! We finished those and I started just playing one of my own tunes, sort of a style that's country/blues that you would picture a lonely man walking down a road not really going anywhere and nothing to look forward to. I told my flat mate that, and gave an example of what I wanted him to do for the lead parts and to my surprise he did them perfectly. Together we jammed and created a piece of music that both of us could tell was emotional, you could picture this image described in your head and you could feel the loneliness and the sense of being disconnected. We jammed away, each of our instruments perfectly connecting to make a sound that none of us have ever heard and we both were nodding in approval of how amazing this sound was. Happiness and accomplishment consumed me as I realized what I, WE, had just created and we both decided there and then that it had to be a song cos it didn't feel like two people mucking around, it sounded like two people putting themselves into the music, communicating with guitars and that we had played it a thousand times and loved every second.
So the need for playing guitar had lots of reasons but the topic I am going to focus on is playing with others and the need for this is expression of self/individuality. For me music and guitar is a huge part of who I am and is a occupation that brings tremendous meaning to my life, If I ever lost my fingers or became deaf I would not be able to live with myself cos thats how much this occupation means to me! The result of this need of expression/individuality is engaging in a similar activity with others who equally enjoy it, it brings happiness to myself and a sense of achievement. There is a sense of belonging in the world, being a musician and being part of that group of people. The satisfaction that "yes! I can do this and it sounds REALLY good!" almost proud of myself that I have come this far from the days of playing "smoke on the water" on one string to performing in public and creating mesmerizing sounds with others that no one else has played, just yours, something that is natural and is your take on life, your emotions, thoughts on how your life is, is truly amazing!
My god I really love guitar! if only there were laws to make my love official =)
Hunger strike - temple of the dog
My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am ~ Joan Jett
Well last night I had a sudden urge to play with my flat mate again, I had just learned a song called "Hunger Strike" (link below) and I was having trouble picking and singing at the same time so my certain "need" for this situation was for him to play it for me! So he agreed and I grabbed my guitar and went to his room. He had a quick attempt at it and didn't seem that interested in playing it (to my disappointment!) but he said he'll learn it, woo hoo! He wanted to start off by playing some familiar songs we have already done (see previous blog) so we did those but I didn't feel as connected as what I wanted cos I didn't really wanna play those songs! We finished those and I started just playing one of my own tunes, sort of a style that's country/blues that you would picture a lonely man walking down a road not really going anywhere and nothing to look forward to. I told my flat mate that, and gave an example of what I wanted him to do for the lead parts and to my surprise he did them perfectly. Together we jammed and created a piece of music that both of us could tell was emotional, you could picture this image described in your head and you could feel the loneliness and the sense of being disconnected. We jammed away, each of our instruments perfectly connecting to make a sound that none of us have ever heard and we both were nodding in approval of how amazing this sound was. Happiness and accomplishment consumed me as I realized what I, WE, had just created and we both decided there and then that it had to be a song cos it didn't feel like two people mucking around, it sounded like two people putting themselves into the music, communicating with guitars and that we had played it a thousand times and loved every second.
So the need for playing guitar had lots of reasons but the topic I am going to focus on is playing with others and the need for this is expression of self/individuality. For me music and guitar is a huge part of who I am and is a occupation that brings tremendous meaning to my life, If I ever lost my fingers or became deaf I would not be able to live with myself cos thats how much this occupation means to me! The result of this need of expression/individuality is engaging in a similar activity with others who equally enjoy it, it brings happiness to myself and a sense of achievement. There is a sense of belonging in the world, being a musician and being part of that group of people. The satisfaction that "yes! I can do this and it sounds REALLY good!" almost proud of myself that I have come this far from the days of playing "smoke on the water" on one string to performing in public and creating mesmerizing sounds with others that no one else has played, just yours, something that is natural and is your take on life, your emotions, thoughts on how your life is, is truly amazing!
My god I really love guitar! if only there were laws to make my love official =)
Hunger strike - temple of the dog
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