James Austin
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Everything posted by James Austin
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I'm having trouble finding out information on what notes would comprise a minor scale in the Locrian mode. Can anyone help?
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I travel a lot and have found that multiple singing teachers can be inconsistent and choppy, and that impacts the rate at which I learn. Does anyone know of a good online service that would be of help in rounding off the edges? Thank you
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Thank you so much guys. There's some really worthwhile advice here. I wasn't being a 'no theory lulz' guy out of some misguided elitism, I just started out without it and got into habit. I guess a few good theory books are now in order.
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This has been an on-running dispute between me and a band member for a while now. He believes that you can succeed on musical and lyrical strength alone, whereas I think that that helps although the most important ingredient is image: you're selling a product, after all, and people don't buy a product unless it's packaged right. For added context, we have heavy punk leanings. Thank you for your help.
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My bass instructor says to try this little exercise: play the notes on the bread-and-butter scales but let them ring out, and try to listen for the exact point when they cease to be audible. Do that several times for each. Another thing I believed helped me is vocal coaching: an instructor will sing a note and you're asked to identify it. I don't know how useful that is, but my bass instructor said I was bizarrely good at playing by ear, and years of vocal coaching alongside double bass lessons (where I was also asked to identify the notes as played on a piano) was his explanation.
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I know I want this, but I don't know why...
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Depends on the song, but mostly finger. I often drift into playing with my fingernails and it's easier to navigate between the two.
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I know very little about theory. I'm largely self-taught, with a few lessons here and there to do things like tell me what the notes are, show me scales, and make sure my guitar is in tune. I play and compose on gut, and do feel as though my playing is completely 'free' and experimental, but I can't quite shake the feeling that a limited understanding of theory is holding me back in some way, particularly when it comes to modes: Locrian fascinates me, and I haven't the faintest idea what to do with it in a song. If I did I'd imagine I'd be much better than I currently am. Then again, technically-skilled music isn't the aim of my game, so how useful that would actually be is open to debate.
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Two, a black acoustic and a sugar skull bass. I also had a quarter-size double bass that I tried playing like a guitar, but that didn't work out...
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What Are Your Favourite Lyrics, Of All Time?
James Austin replied to Garrett Robertson's topic in Songwriting
It's got to be Gaslight Anthem, for me. Counting Crowes would be top, but on closer inspection a lot of their meaningful lyrics don't actually make much sense, whereas Gaslight's are grounded in their gritty insight. It's impossible for me to pick an all-time favourite, but these three definitely stand out from the rest (and the rest is outstanding): Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?: 'Between the minor chord fall and the fourth and the fifth/ It's a broken Hallelujah and a pain in my fist' Blue Dahlia: 'Did they take you to the carnival to get locked up on a ride? Me, I got caught up with the fortune tellers and the ladies with the sleepy eyes' Halloween: 'And who are you supposed to be? You look like heaven tonight/ Me, I'm a tomb, a corpse in a suit, trying to look a little alive' My ambition is to write something Brian Fallon wishes he'd written, and it's scaring me that he seems to be getting better with each album. -
The main focus of my lyrics is 'true underdogs' - people a psychiatrist would call 'damaged' and a social commentator 'under-privileged.' So I draw inspiration from my circle of friends and their troubles.
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I don't see it as a problem, personally; if that's all it takes to express the music then that's all you use. The problem arises when people see it as an excuse to get lazy. As a punk-trained bassist I work mostly around the root, the bread and butter four notes. Music afficionados will tell you that that's too simplistic, and they've got a point: you can learn it in about a week with no prior experience. But people don't appreciate that 'four notes' isn't just 'four notes:' tuning, frequency, accompaniment, multiple frets, and even what you play with (personally I use my fingernails) all make a massive difference, and I make it a point to consider each of them when composing. Many others don't, and cite 'four chords' or 'punk, amirite?' as an excuse to cut those corners. It's their loss, but it is a shame.
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whos your favorite singer and WHY!!??
James Austin replied to euphoriamorning's topic in Performance
I honestly couldn't call between Brian Fallon and Amy Lee. Amy for her astounding voice control, as exemplified by this note right here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtiqIu8KsyQ#t=2m20s ...and Fallon for what has to be one of the best rock and roll voices in half a century. He outbossed the Boss, Bruce Springsteen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1rTI0oCe0E#t=1m59s
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