Abubilla Music

11.11.01 Jimmy Learns Music Blog 8

Written by Jimmy

Intro:  This is the latest installment of the Jimmy learns music blog series.   Don’t take the long silences in between these blogs as signs of declinig interest in music – more a sign that I’m into the harder stuff and progress has slowed considerably.

The Journey So Far:  The overall goal of the journey is to learn a bit about music theory, piano, guitar, percussion and vocals.  2011 has been focused on music theory and guitar.  I knew a little piano and can’t keep time, so think percussion will come last.   Throughout, I’ve had various guides, most notable my friend Dave and my chord wheel.  Highlights to date:

• Jimmy Learns Music Blog 1 (Dec 2010):    I bought all the appropriate boy toys, including picks, tuners and timers, tell you all about my friend Dave at Next Level Guitar, who is my guide on the journey.    I then complain a lot about my sore fingers and fat palms.  The two most important tips for all of you:  subscribe to Next Level Guitar and know the strings through:  Eddie Ate Dynamite, Goodbye Eddie.
• Jimmy Learns Music Blog 2: (Jan 2011):   I start getting completely lost in music theory, trying desparately to figure out how to remember sharps and flats, etc.. and come up with a lot of complicated mnomnic devices.  And I encounter the F chord and get pretty ‘f’d’ off about the whole thing.  Dave let’s me down, we have our first troubles, but find someone else that comes to my rescue.  I e mail Dave and we make up.
• Jimmy Learns Music Blog 3 (Jan 2011):    Wow, I was so excited back then – 2 blogs in one month.  I talk to you about the Bone Guitar and it begins to travel a bit.  I discover the Circle of Fifths and search for piano teachers.  I point out that this is a really scary because a number of them look and sound like Pedo’s doing some heavy recruitment.  That blog is subsequently flagged by Google as having hit some police filter… I thank goodness I didn’t link to any of the suspect piano teachers – I woudl have gotten them and me in trouble.
• Jimmy Learns Music Blog 4 (Jan 2011):   I’m now mostly bitching.  My friend Dave at Next Level Guitar tells me that by this point it all should be coming together in a big way.    It isn’t coming together fast and I get frustrated.  In hindsite I realise I’m leaving these blogs weekly – and I don’t make that much progress weekly!
• Jimmy Learns Music Blog 5 Feb 2011:    I start to learn little blues things and I’m pretty happy here. Fingers healed.
• Jimmy Learns Music Blog 6 (May 2011):    It all goes pear-shaped.  I hit lessons 103, Dave gives me bar chords.  I die.
• Jimmy Learns Music Blog 7:   I discover the Chord Wheel at the Right time!  Having been tortured and tortured and tortured by bar chords, I redisover a little fun with my chord wheel.  Everyone must buy it: click here.

So What Is Really Happening:   So to me, there are 8 stages to learning a music instrument.  I have never gotten past Stage4 on anything, but at least now I’m at Stage 3 of the guitar and piano.  And maybe that is enough.  Although I inspire for more.  Here are the stages as I see the world and remember it is a richter scale, so each level is 10 times better than the one before.

1. Find Middle C:  You know the instrument a bit, be it middle C or Eddie Ate Dynamite
2. Use Both Hands:  You can kind of goof around with each hand doing something
3. Chords and Keys:  You start to sort out chords and keys
4. Be Able to Write Pathetically:  You can write a bit and go to ‘that place’ (I have this place on piano)
5. Be Able to Write and Play with a Band:  You can sit with a band and be part of it – if they switch keys you can follow
6. Be Able to Play Your Stuff:  You can sit down and put your stuff down – good enough to survive final take
7. Be Able to Put Down Anything Asked:  The band says we’re going through I, V, IV on the choruses and swithc to ii, V, i, I in verses and you’d going along.  They ask for a solo and you could deliver
8. Be Able to Jam in Key and Cross Keys:  They throw out the key and sequence and off you go…
9. Be Able to Improvise:  They start to play and you start to improvise.
10. Be Able to Improve Well.  You actually improvise well.   There’s a great 5 minutes in Treme where they talk about the importance of improvisation.  I wish I could find it for you.

Anyway, I’m approaching Stage 4 of guitar and can write songs now. They are all really basic, mostly open chords, but I can sit with my little chord wheel and work out if I’m in A or D and when I decide I am in D, I can do a I, IV, V verse and I can do something a bit more on chorus and I can middle 8 around a F#m and Bm and not freak out too much as I shift from 6th note to 5th note bar chords.  My right hand is still basically strumming and my left hand is fat and sloppy everywhere, but I’m improving and can get to ‘that place’, much as I could do on the piano in University.  I figure the best way right now to learn bar chords is to just force them into my songs.  All my songs have big pauses – not by intent as little Lincoln would hope (see Goon Squad Pauses) but because the whole world stops as I try to move from Em to F#m (bar), but that’s okay.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.

This is the first song I wrote on the guitar, and we are releasing the video today – so it seemed like a good time to do Blog 8 on the musical journey.  I’ll be a bit more diligent in making things regularly, but it is November and we’re on 8.  I figure 10 a year is about right.  It is a long journey. Enjoy footprints – it has an F chord.  In my version there is a 20 second pause as I shift from the C to the F.  But I’m still not allowed to play on actually recordings, so the pause is missing.  Sorry Lincoln!   Here’s the video:

That’s It

Jimmy