TapperMike

Remember vinyl? You got the whole album and you listened to both sides? And then there was the artwork along with all the credits. My father is an avid reader. Yes he has a b&n nook and an amazon kindle. only for the reason that he has no where else to store the books he is continually buying. He'll occasionally check out books from the local library. No one is impressed with his library card or his readers. What impresses people most is his vast collection of printed material (real books) CD's Albums, Books are tangible references to the intangible material they represent. As for me I'll never re-read a book. I do have a smaller collection of cd's and wish I still had my album collection (long story) I remember as a kid going to the record store and buying records. Going to friends and marveling at their record collections. Bringing them to my place and spinning my collection for them. A record collection was something to take pride in. Though I've bought a nice collection of mp3's over the years I rarely play them. They don't have the tangible aspect of CD's or vinyl. I do however slip in a cd from time to time. Gaze at the case and it brings me back to a place and time long since forgotten. I don't get that romantic feeling from a youtube video or an mp3.

http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php?pg=product#/interface Guitar Pro is a software tool that displays songs in Tablature. The number of songs available in "gp" format number in the hundreds of thousands. The makers of guitar pro host http://www.mysongbook.com/ which is a "repository" of songs for guitar pro. They are 100 percent legal and the transcribers are paid for their hard work as well. The guitar pro format is extremely popular and there are hundreds of other sites (not just mysongbook) that host guitar pro tabs. Yes there are other products which can read guitar pro format. Some shareware and freeware products such as http://www.tabledit.com/ And Tux http://sourceforge.net/projects/tuxguitar/ come to mind. However nothing comes close to the quality of sound, ease of reading and other fine points of guitar pro.

Much Thanks. I'm revising some stuff in my head right now and I'll post to my blog over the next week as time allows. Currently I'm working two jobs and have little free time. -Mike

Tasty one Tom I'd love to change the world - Ten Years After

Push - Matchbox Twenty

I did a long diatribe on the uselessness of soundcloud and bandcamp way back when. Any fans that you get are usually fellow musician types trying to lure you to their work. When youtube was young. It offered greater opportunity for expanding lister base and occasionally getting a record deal with a major label. However those deals often went unsupported. So even with the contract in your hand expect nothing from the label. I can go on an on about could have been should have been would have been major music players who broke through all the right barriers and still nothing..... You indeed may be the next Paul McCartney, Paul Simon or Paul Carrack. and... your music may fall on death ears. Listenership has changed along with the (inferior) medium of delivery

Honestly that's all window dressing. Get out and Tour. Sell hats, t-shirts and an occasional CD. Aim if you can for the parks and rec crowd (better money)

Thanks, Yes, I'm aware that looking at problematic situations is best done as challenges to rise up to. Some situations are untennable. I always refer back to St Francis God grant me the courage to change the things I can. The humility to accept those I can't And the wisdom to know the difference between the two.

I laugh at how bad the work situation is. The work is work I can live with that just fine. I've never been ashamed of honest hard work for decent pay. The pay is deplorable, I've been ripped off both in pay for hours I've worked and rate (they promised me much more then they are actually paying me) The level of unprofessionalism by the owners, the kitchen manager and many a co-worker has me stymied. I put on a happy face and take it all in stride. To me the job is just a stepping stone to get my "sea legs" back. I'd get into greater details but... I'm tired of complaining and every time I vent a little bit of me accepts the unacceptable.

I'm not my own best student. One of the things that came late to me and I'm reluctant to follow through on is ... Practicing slowly and building speed gradually. Especially when I'm trying to work out a difficult passage. I too learn the mistake and find myself working harder to unlearn the mistake. Acknowledging it when it happens is the first step but... If you still do it afterwards who do you have to blame?

Here is my simple tip to learn smarter. Learn Songs all the way through. Believe it or not the cornerstone of learning any instrument has to do with muscle memory. Our eyes and ears "teach' our fingers. Don't try and learn every song under the sun. Learn songs that you should be able to play with relative ease. A well performed easy song will do more for your self confidence starting out and be better received then a difficult song half learned with lots of mistakes. Play Out When you get a song down well enough to perform play out. Even if you are only playing to birds and squirrels. Again it's a confidence builder and you'll be more prepared with performing in front of others as well with others or recording. You'll be able to concentrate past distractions. Loud and Proud I'm actually rather soft spoken and introverted. It takes a bit more for me to push songs out with confidence then extroverted. However If I practice with conviction I perform with conviction. You don't have to get the loudest amplification in the world. It's more about attitude. If you mumble through a piece to learn it, chances are you'll be mumbling or fumbling through the song when you perform it. Practice Slowly This is something I always need to remind myself because I didn't learn it the right way. I'd try to race through things and make mistakes. When you are learning something and make a mistake on a muscle memory or subconscious level you are learning a mistake. It's takes longer and it's actually harder to unlearn a mistake then to simply practice slowly enough that there is no mistake. Practice in the Morning In the morning our minds aren't cluttered with everything else going on in our life (usually) In the morning we are less likely to have internal and external distractions and we can focus on what we need to learn, A well concentrated half hour of practice every day in the morning is more effective to building strong technique and confidence then trying to roll it all up into 3 hours of Late nite can't sleep try to do it all once a week. Practice When you aren't Practicing. Throughout the day we all have moments where we have free time to think. This isn't the time to listen to your playlist. Try to imagine how a song you are learning is played in your head. This will do wonders on two separate levels. It will help you to develop relative pitch and .... A funny thing about the collective unconscious / subconscious. The subconscious can not differentiate between a lie and the truth. That is something that our conscious mind has to think about and determine. If you imagine the song and your performing it inside your head. Then it treats the song as almost a valid experience as playing the song. Almost in that your conscious mind will sink in and say to you. That wasn't you performing it was just your imagination. However If you imagine playing the song none the less it will actually ease any discomfort you have playing the song. I used to work an 80 hr week at two different cooking jobs. Every day I'd get up early and try to practice at least one song. I'd keep a setlist of the songs I'd be performing and imagine myself playing them during idle moments at work. I'd try to get a little practice in during the afternoon between shifts. And then.... Well I was still playing in a band two nights a week. When I'd hit the stage I'd be confident and competent ready to play. If I didn't put the practice time in and put the imagination time in I would have easily fallen apart on stage. The rest of the guys were playing out 5 nights a week which wasn't an option for me. But I could easily play on there level of seasoned pro because I made time to make it a reality. Being Your Own Coach Tom and I have expressed some of the challenges of finding a good music teacher. Yes they are out there but you have to know what you expect from them in advance and.... You have to be upfront about it. Part of the problem is we often don't have as clear and direct goals that we define in advance and the other part is...Sometimes we just get wow'd over technique and personality and surcomb to what they think we ought to know rather then what we need from them. When you play around more seasoned players regularly or a teacher who has your interests at heart over their own the equation changes dramatically. Others can see the progress you make over time better then you might see it yourself. Friends, teachers and other musicians to hang around are great when you have them to. I used to go out to ....parks. Where I'd often find someone else playing to birds and squirrels. Listen to a few songs, play a song for the guy or gal and chat. Every-once-in-a-while we'd jam over the blues. It was good fun for a few hours on a lazy afternoon and helped me build my confidence playing with and for other musicians. But as I stated above "when you have them to' Sometimes family or friends can also serve as a form of inspiration although they might not be the best coaches they can send you good vibes that you are headed in the right direction. Never walk away from a situation and put the bad on yourself. Even in a less then stellar performance. Instead think of yourself as your own best coach. "Well that's something that I'm going to work out and get better for next time" is a way to monitor yourself rather then "I suck, I'm never going to play guitar again" It's awkward but not impossible to be your own coach at first. More often then not what people need is a coach to build them up then a teacher to explain something they already know. Recording yourself for yourself. If done correctly you will be able to see your own progress over time by recording yourself. Set a two week goal. I'm going to learn x song or master x lick or finish writing x song in two weeks. Don't record leading up to when you are going to finish the project. Simply practice at a relaxed pace and record during a confident and relaxed state of mind. I love songstuff because people actually do things like rewriting lyrics and trying in earnest to better themselves as songwriters. It beats the pants off of other forums I've visited where people just give up trying or think that they have to know everything before they can do anything. If you set the goal for two weeks you should be able to perform a song with no editing for note correction. When you are done with recording the song, Listen to it in a non judgemental fashion and store it away to listen again. Don't decide you have to release it everywhere instantly. If you like it enough after a month or so or if you want to redo it later that's fine. Life is a work in progress as is writing, recording. Hotel California was an overnight success that actually took very very long time to get down to where they could play it. http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1121 I know there is a lot of recording technology on the market and in my opinion it devalues the recording process because it's too instantaneous. I know people who will sloppily put together tracks then spend ungodly amounts of time editing the tracks so they are somewhat usable. You want your music to come from you. "Keep it real" When it is real even for your own listening it's more earnest. When you do have that quiet time where you can look back over what you did for the last six months or year you can gain a greater appreciation of your own work and progress. Play for the sake of the Song Whether you are playing for yourself, playing to record, or playing to an audience play for the sake of the song whether it's yours or someone elses song. Don't play it because your bored. Want to play it and play it like you want to play it. I've done a lot of gigging in my life. Received many a standing ovation. Stood before my worst critics and had audiences that wouldn't stop staring at my hands. The secret is respect the song enough to play it well and play it for the sake of the song, We musicians are a needy lot and we suffer the same insecurities as the rest of the world. Some gigs others may just be platicating or enduring us because they are friends, family. Some gigs we are simply window dressing or wallpaper at some event where we might not even get a nod because we aren't the main attraction. I've done "art in the park" shows where the audience wouldn't even look to the stage. That's fine play for the sake of the song and you can walk away knowing that you played well even if the audience didn't acknowledge it. When you put your attention to the song as opposed to on yourself or the crowds reaction then you don't have to be concerned with if they got you are not. Every year or so I go to a huge outdoor festival mostly featuring singer / songwriter folksy type. I don't recognize the songs and most of it goes in one ear and out the other. If someone can pull me in with a good song I'll stop and listen. Moreover I'm interested in people watching and the shops or little stands set up in the street. That's the way most people act in outdoor events. it's not a discredit to the fine singer songwriters who perform. It is just what it is. They don't get flustered hoping / waiting for a good or bad reaction or endless lines of people who don't even look their way. It's a paying gig. They are already plenty loud and playing any louder isn't going to attract more of a crowd. Because they are playing for the sake of the song rather then their own ego they can hold their head up high and move along to the next song. On Theory Music is not science and it's not religion. It is part craft and part art, There is not one universal theorem that applies to all situations. If for example you studied the original four mode theory behind Gregorian Chants you would find it very hard indeed to understand how "popular" music is written or use it as a basis for non Gregorian Chant music http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregorian_chant The same holds true for other theorems that have developed since then. While a bebop bass player injects chromatic ideas over walking bass lines it could come off as obtuse (doesn't sound like it fits) in other musical forms. I'm not against theory. I'm an advocate for theory however. I've seen where some types who are so afraid of doing something wrong they blindly follow a path are actually defeating their own creativity in the process. Experimenting with theories in context is the way to learn theory. Not just read something on a page and think you know it. Don't be afraid to try out different concepts for yourself but simply accept that there is no "Be all end all" theorem under the sun or that all theories will work in all circumstances. Use your ears and use your sense of taste to see if it's working for you. If something doesn't you can put it on the shelf for someday when it might. Chords, Progressions, Scales, Licks. Learning scales and scale patterns is important not only for understanding how music works but also for developing muscle memory. It's one of the few things I advocate out of context of learning songs and in context. Fluidity first. As for the rest i generally advocate learning in the context of a song. After learning my first two chords ever I learned my third chord by combining the first two and the third in context of a song. To learn a progression say a 12 bar blues progression outside of the context of a song is not as effective as learning it inside the context of the song. You learn the progression, you learn the chords, you learn the rhythm and you learn a song. What's more when you are done you can take the aspects from that song to write your own song. Nothing is totally abstract and in isolation. If say you learned Tom's pentatonic playground. It's teaching you stuff in context. That isn't really where it ends. You get the scale in context of a song. with pentatonic ideas riffs that you may be able to adapt to your own music. And do so in a much more in hand approach then dried ink on paper. Guitar Pro No software will make you all that you want to be. A lot of that comes from you first. That being said some software can help you if you are willing to make some commitment. While there are several products similar (both free and payware) Guitar Pro - http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php is the industry standard. While not every transcription you get for the program is dead on accurate I've found that in general and for the most part they are the closest on the market. Simply because someone can transcribe doesn't mean that their transcriptions are accurate. It is true for print sheet music as well. The tricks for making the most of gp are, Don't be afraid to experiment once you have learned something "So you can make it your own" And know when to walk away. GP is a learning aid. However it can quickly become a crutch if you let it. I've found this true for myself, Where I would learn a song by using the program but not well enough that when it wasn't open I couldn't perform what I had learned. Study a song "just enough" to get through it then... Close the program and try to play the song without the program. As that is the true measure of learning. When you don't have to reach for the book/program to play because you know it. Try not to obsess over only the parts you like for a song. Learn the entire song. Learn the song sufficient for playing it and then try taking what you've learned and putting your own stamp on it. Great you've learned a song that goes A-E-G. Now take those same chords and try playing them in different positions and with different rhythmic techniques. Try swapping out major chords for their relative minor chords. Try changing the order of the chords. Try transposing the song to a different key. All of these (and more) are creative approaches you can use to expand your knowledge and technique and then apply to your own unique songwriting. Backing Tracks I know it may seem hypocritical as I'm a fan of Band in a Box. Using backing tracks to write songs is like trying to dance in a body cast. Sure they are fun to jam over and improvise but I really don't think of them as writing tools. Arranging Boy that's a long road. But you don't have to walk it alone and you don't have to wait till the end of the road to learn and apply things. I know you aren't in a band. In the right band setting it can come as easily as turning on a light switch. You lay down the chords and give others room to play they give it back to you and magic happens. Not in a band and you are doing several takes sometimes with only a click track to work from. Playing one guitar part, then playing another then trying to play a bassline that fits and then at the end of it you finally get to sing. Along the way you start figuring out how to tighten things up. not playing others parts and still putting just the right amount of splash into your playing. Some people like to play and sing at the same time. Problems can emerge when they are playing the same rhythm as they are singing and then it's next to impossible to get enough separation between the guitar and the vocals afterwards. Taking a little time to think about the arrangement and....playing the parts separately will go a long way in attempting to get everything in place without stepping on the other instruments toes. Good blues and jazz bands know this well. They don't as much play as written as they simply improvise over a progression. Each has their spot and can support the other without stepping on one another. That level / type of musicianship is best learned and served being in a band that operates on the level. It can be developed alone but it's an uphill battle. Playing Parts Okay so you can play guitar and sing. Good for you. (i'm a terrible singer) you don't need to take on other instruments to handle arrangement (but it doesn't hurt) I love Julia Nunes whether she's singing an original or a cover. Have uke will harmonize. She doesn't have the greatest voice in the world but she makes the most of it. She's not the greatest uke player in the universe but she knows how to play a rhythm that compliments her singing without getting in the way. She doesn't play every instrument in the world but the ones she does play are there to... compliment the song not detract or derail it. She doesn't use backing tracks or tones of synths or reaches for some super duper thing a ma bob (like me) she just uses the tools she has to make things happen. All that stuff is... within your grasp. It's work, it's dedication and it's out there. In short Julia Nunes is being Julia Nunes. Sure she's learned a lot by playing other peoples songs yet kept enough of herself in the process. So goes the journey of the musician / songwriter. Learn from others and take away something to make it your own so you can share your uniqueness with the world.

Little River Band - Reminiscing

I've got to hand it to Tom for that article was great. I was self taught at first. All my buddies had guitars and encouraged me to pick up guitar but as soon as I did they'd offer me nothing. I'd have to watch them play a song then go home and try to figure out what they were doing. I'd buy books and try to learn from them. The thing was.....I got good quick on my own and I could hold my own as a rhythm guitarist but my lead playing sucked. Even as I got better there were still many things I knew that I didn't know. I was dissatisfied with my first teacher and found a second one at the same store. Three months with a good teacher taught me more then 3 years on my own with every book I could get my hands on.

She Bop - Cyndi Lauper

I used to break 09's and 10's and even 11's playing live. It was just nervous energy. I played harder then I had to. Finally after a few years in of live playing my bandmate and I swapped guitars for a set (just for fun) He convinced me I should go back to 09's I've wanted to go back to 13's for my jazz playing for years but never got around to it. I've gone up to 11's on one of my tele's (vintage modified) but bending is problematic and tuning down then transposing / capo always feels like a cheat to me. I've been loving the heck out of 09's on my other tele (modern player) and only slightly miss the extra meaty tone. My LR baggs was designed for 09's went up to 10's once and regretted it. My parker is specifically designed for 09's as well. If you go up or down a gauge on a parker the trem system goes out of whack as it's one bendy piece of metal rather then springs.

I take that stuff with a grain of salt. Upon starting my new job I am subjected to underground urban hip hop. I don't want to kill anyone rob anyone or rape anyone. Most of the subject matter has to do with exactly that. I accept that the music does not speak of or to me. The young man who I work with that listens to the stuff is actually very mild mannered and relaxed and easy going. He's a recent transplant out of Detroit to suburbia. If anyone would ask to change the station he'd have no qualms in doing so. It is a unique environment he's in quite different then the one he came from. In jails where they are bringing in a violent offender. The often lock the person in a cell with loud heavy metal. It has a cathartic affect on the person and allows him to vent vicariously rather then engaging in violence with cell mates or guards. Most of our development (brainwashing) is due to our environment growing up. Our home environment, how our parents act to us as children, to each other and to others becomes the formation of what we become when we are adults. Granted we still have our own unique personality in that mix but it all happens from birth till about 12~14. After that we often go through "acting out / anti-scripts in search of who we are as people beyond our development. It's one stage of many in our lives. The music we listen to as the subconscious separates from the conscious affects our musical listening habits for life. That doesn't always mean it's a reflection of who we are as people. We take some of it as one would a great movie that moves us though is not a reflection of us. I listened to a lot of drug related music as a kid. Not a drug user. I listened to a lot of songs about promiscuity growing up. My parents were devoted to each other till the day my mother passed away. My father remarried in 2 years and has been faithful to my Step mother since the day they married going on 30+ years. I don't go chasing women for sport. I always look for women with whom I could have a long term relationship. I don't impregnate them and then dump them. As I've never had financial stability nor personal time in my life I've chosen to remain childless because I would want to provide for my childs complete needs so that they would have an opportunity to become fully self actualized adults. Which again goes back to the home environment in child development rather then ...what's the latest shock song.

It depends on circumstance..... I'm a big fan of sending a mono signal to a leslie cab or at least a leslie sim. It' doesn't have to be super wide the horn and the tweeter move at different rates and different directions. Hotel California anyone?

Session work is beyond me with my current situation and the current situation in the metro detroit area. I have no car and haven't had the need for one in years. Almost everything for personal needs can be found within a 2k range. All the studios I have worked with in the past have now shut down. There are very few left and only a few artists / producers be it commercial / industrial or artist. Those that remain work on a bare bones (one man as engineer) platform even though they might have a very expensive and outdated production set up. I had entertained work as a remote soundman for outdoor venues but the majority of the work requires heavy lifting. I'm small of frame and height and they don't send out roadies for setup.

Cooking doesn't pay what it used to. Back in 2000 I was making $20 USD per hour putting in 60hr weeks. Today I'm making $10 nudging by on a 35 hour week.

I am a support tech for a company called SWiSHzone which produces a swf authoring program similar to adobe's flash. I perform several functions behind the scenes but what people know me for most is ... helping them get their swish software back after things like new computer/ reformat/ recovery / change of email etc.

My internet job is winding down. Jobs in my field have all but evaporated on this side of the globe. As a result I've gone back to cooking for a living. The short of it is I'll be around here less.

Try to find as clean an amp setting as you can...then turn the middle and the treble mostly down.

edit, Rob beat me to it.

The Back Stabbers - The Ojay's

Currently I'm using a yamaha thr10c which is a combination amp and sound card. You can read all about it here- http://forums.songstuff.com/blog/159/entry-1484-review-yamaha-thr10c-the-little-amp-that-can/ The nice thing about it is that it sends both a dry and amp signal to my daw (mixcraft) at the same time. I mute the guitar track coming back out of the computer to the speakers. This allows for zero latency I've often thought about mic'ing the amp separately and some do...I wish I could find the link right now. The nice part about separate amped and dry signals being sent to the host is that if I want to re-amp internally I can after the track is laid down. I've got a wide variety of amp sims and effects courtesy of the many daw's I own and a nice collection of effects/amp sims with IKM's amplitude http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/amplitube/. They all sound quite amazing. The thing about having too many choices is while experimenting is fun ....nothing ever gets done. Which is why I stick to the amp sims in the yamaha.