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12.01.06 Jimmy Learns Music Blog 9
Written by Jimmy
Health Warning: January is a month of delusion. I recognise that now, so consider these ramblilngs the scratches of an idiot, in the middle of a dream, on a pile of rubbish.
Intro: With that out of the way, I am now on to tackle music again, starting 2012 refreshed with more resolutions than a boring day in Parliment. Assume I’ve committed to stop all evil liquids entering the blood stream and sworn off carbs and committed to exercise and family and spiritual well being. And, of course, I’ve recommitted to this thing called my musical journey. So, as always happens with boys, I assemble kit first (boys start every new project with a vast purchase of the necessary – and always unnecessary kit – and I am most definitely a boy. I’m in our front room – the one with the dying Christmas tree – and have my key board, my guitar, my computer (to say hi to David) and my chord wheel. I am also surrounded with chord books of all dimensions (guitar and keyboard). And this year, the journey is directed at both guitar and piano, building on last years largely failed travels with the guitar.
The Journey So Far: The destination is a little world where: 1) I know the basics of musical theory, guitar, piano, voice and percussion, 2) I can write songs and play them to my buddies in the Saturday Morning Canasta Club on both guitar and piano and 3) I can perform with the band one my songs (voice and guitar) at one of our gigs. The destination does not include: 1) becoming one of the musicians in the band (that is an insult to how good they are or 2) becoming a credible performer with the band (that is an insult to our fans). I will always be the slightly wonky uncle who’s allowed a song, simple to lower the standards sufficiently so everything else rightfully looks good. And I’m happy with this. I started the journey at the beginning of 2011, focusing on guitar (from complete nothing) and the basics of musical theory. I am now fine with open chords and painfully can play bar chords. I’ve written one song completely on guitar, which was my goal (admittedly, Andy took this a long way from the poop I started with):
And I know some musical theory, much of which will be reviewed as primer for me over the next couple blogs. I have also promiscuously ‘played the field’ to look for all sorts of on line buddies on this journey and can highly recommend two very close friends (see below). I would give myself a C+ on guitar, a C- on musical theory. Given my tutors (self tutored), who were all rubbish, I would say that is okay. Moreover, they’ve reported today, that Brains begin to decline at 45 – sadly that means I’m well into half a decade of dissolution – so I’m proud of my self reported C’s.
My Buddies on the Journey: I’ve gotten in a lot of trouble in my reporting on good on-line partners. I reported on a plethora of very good guitar buddies – so many good friends and hard to choose one. All fun, irreverent and cool; if you can be cool talking to your computer web-cam for more than 9 hours a day. In contrast I reported that piano teachers are very hard to find – creepy, sweaty and you feel too much like you’re being groomed for something. Word of advice if you do decide to blog – don’t put peadofile, on line, creepy, grooming in same sentence as it tends to spark up all sorts of police filters. One other News Years Resolution is not NEVER do that again, as I can’t bear the Pete-Townsend-like scrutiny again. I’m serious, though,, about not finding a good piano partner yet, and given 2012 is the ‘year of the piano’ that concerns me. I might actually… well…. resort to… live … humans. Dread. They force such a higher level of accountability. And grade harder than my rubbish tutor. While I’ve listed on line resources before, I will now only focus on my greatest hits. Here are the resources I really love to date:
- Guitar: I highly recommend Next Level Guitar. David Taub is a crack up and is either a great team leader or he does in fact respond to most e mails you send him. I’ve complained about one or two things – his early stab at making you learn the Baby F is a travesty of justice! And each time he responds. You will ultimately need to buy a $139 a year lesson programme, but you get unlimited access to his on line stuff and about 30 song DVD’s which are good. That’s roughly 3-6 live lessons in fees for a year of good stuff.
- Music theory: I know this is weird, but of all the books I’ve purchased, and the very small sub-set that I’ve actually read, the single most useful tool I’ve found in the Chord Wheel. You can purchase it here and then use the online resources here. It is a very helpful song writing tool for beginners. The band think it is about as useful as putting big letters of the alphabet up around my room to help me read history books, but I am truly a beginner and they are truly excellent at their craft, albiet quite often rude to beginners.
The 2012 Roadmap: This will be the year of chords, piano and guitar. And I have five goasl:
- Chords Ahoy: I’m just going to take my little old chord wheel and I’m going to work around it, understanding the I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi vii (dim) pattern. I figure songs will emerge along this journey.
- Pickin’: I’m a-tired of a strummin’ and as I continue my guitar jouney, I’m-a, gonna start pickin.’ My real goal is to focus on African pattens as I love what Bishop and Winyo are doing…. maybe they will teach me in exchange for …. I could teach them rope magic!
- Learning the fret Board: Freebird solo.
- Time Signature: boom bada boom.
- Basic Voice Lessons: la la.
By months, then, here’s what I’m setting out for myself (please read the health warning again!). 1) Jan: key of C, key G, one pick pattern, 6th string bar chords, 2) Feb: key of D A, one African pick pattern, 5th string bar chords, 3) Mar, E and B, one African pick pattern, the “D string’ and a Voice lesson, 4) Apr: F#, Db, one pick pattern, the “g’ string (giggle), 5: May: Ab, one pick pattern, the “B’ string, 6. June: Eb, one pick pattern, the “E string”, one voice lesson. That’s a half year. 7) Bb, one pick pattern, blue scale on guitar and pian, 8: F, one pick pattern, second blues scale on guitar and piano, 9: F, one pick pattern, more blues scales and one voice lesson, 10-11-12 Catch up and complete review. I will also learn a song for guitar and piano and month and write a song for guitar and piano a month. That is the plan.
Today’s Journey: So what the heck did I do today? Well… we DID have to take down the Christmas tree, so it wasn’t 100% focused. But, here goes:
- Assembled boy kit. Piano to write, Guitar to left. Computer in middle. Books all around.
- Started with a simple blog I found last year on writing songs, to orient me to the task of sorting through chord progressions. Basically, I take the key and follow two rules: 1) to get the core chords you follow the notes from the ‘key note’ going tone tone semitone, tone tone tone semitone, and 2) then to get the right chords from the right notes I following the second rule: major, minor, minor, major, major, minor, diminshed.
- Then I just jumped into C major. Piano Easy Peasy as you move up the I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii dim chord progression. So sharps or flats so even though the chords are zipping major and minor, you’re happily playing white keys. Simples. But, on guitar you do have to learn Bdim for guitar, to make it to your happy viidim place. I found it, I learned it but we’ll send out some fireworks next time I use it.
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- Then I just got back in touch with my guitar, zipping through open chords majors and minors, add 4, sus 2, major 7th stuff. Nothing complicated but fingers are soft so basically just beasting the fingers which are yet again in bleeding phase:
Some Observations:
Here’s the practical book someone needs to write on basic chord progressions. I would buy it in a nano-second. The thing needs to be big, a4 spiral bound and sorted so an open page, left to write takes you through full chord progressions.
1. Chapter 1. Lay out some basic music theory, including chromatic and harmonic scales and then explain the Circle of Fifths. Wiki-pedia is not bad on all this for the basics.
2. Chapter 2: Lay out more basic music theory around chord progressions introduce the chord wheel and explain implications for song writing. The Chord Wheel does a pretty good job of this and the on line site is very handy.
3. Chapters 3-15: Then, for goodness sake, then just take each K and show all the chord progressions, I-vii and then the complete chords for piano and guitar in both fingering and musical notation. I’ve got 73 reference books and all of them do a little bit of that but no one just lays the thing out as a reference. The two pages just have it there – piano on left, guitar on right. Everything you need. Now I know that all this will seem like asking for the alphabet to be hung on my bed room walls — but with my diminshed brain that is a decade away! For now, I would rather note fumble through a guitar chord book, organised by major, minor, etc… and a piano chord book organized by A, B, C, D, etc… Just do it by the I-vii in each key please. I’m waiting.
4. Chapters 15-36: Then go into 21 musical styles (one book refers to this) and talk through how different chord progressions work – you’re really talking through how I-vii work but throwing in lots of ‘accidentals’ and talking through key shifts, etc… Do it in one key, but since you’re taking C key and the I-vii, I can switch back to earlier chapters to switch keys.
5. Appendices:
- Guitar reference: Chords laid out as open chords and then the 6th and 5th root bar chords but also put all the chords in one place as you mention a C for example. And someone come up with a good fret board guide as reference! And as further reference sheet put in 50 pick and strum patterns.
- Piano Reference: I don’t know about this yet, back at ya.
That’s it for today. I’ll really commit to leaving one of these a month. Oh, see health warning.
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