An A- by U Standards...

Yesterday came too, too fast...

Last week was one big blur-peppered with an assembly or two (I TOTALLY got to meet Miss Utah...), afternoon naps, T.R.A.S.H. Book Club, TWO trips to Heartland and some deep cleaning and pile making, and meeting Chauncy the crab spider. It came and went so fast that I'm not too sure HOW it came to be October 5th, and just how I let this slip by-yet again for two weeks...

So the Weather Man told me to expect gray clouds and LOTS of rain yesterday and that's just what I was greeted with when I finally rolled out of bed at 8:30. It was a perfect morning for a bath and some T.R.A.S.H. reading. At 10:30 I finished the book that I was given on Tues. the 30th. Classic Patterson. I found myself getting SO absorbed into the book that I started seeing and FEELING things that weren't there. (At one point, I DID see a mouse-however it WAS outside and it more afraid of me-than I was of him. (I was pretty creeped out, though...))

After the prunish bath, I got myself put together for the 20 minute trek to Guitar in Union Square (Sandy). I could NOT believe the drivers. It's as if they had NEVER driven in the rain before. People were running lights right and left (ALL THREE TIMES IT WAS A BLACK MUSTANG!) and most cars didn't have their lights on (I guess because it was 1 in the afternoon it didn't mean it was time for the lights to be turned on. Never mind that it was DARK from the clouds AND pouring...) Amazingly, I arrive for my lesson in one piece and EARLY.

I sit down and get to have the chat-again-about using a pick. I HATE guitar picks! HATE THEM! I don't know what mm. I should be using. I don't know what size. What brand... (They all feel different, by the way...) I'm not even TOO sure how to hold the stinkin thing! With B's help, I finally settle on a FREE pick from The Arrow 103.5 that I got while waiting for the STYX show at The Depot last Feb. I'm thinking that B chose that one because he used one like it for a couple of months.

From there, we start our warm up: Strumming a "1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &" down/up strum pattern/time, while playing D, Am, G, and C chords. These I'm actually able to change to and from quite quickly. THEN...Daddy walks in. I've got a MAJOR complex about playing in front of ANYONE-let alone him. (You know...because he knows EVERYTHING about the guitar, theory, technique-everything.) I'm having a hard enough time playing for B-and that's with constant reassurance that I have nothing to worry about. "I really want you to believe me-you're like in the top 5% of my students-for how long you've been playing." (I started lessons on Aug. 16th.) Okay-but that still doesn't take away the massive anxiety that I'm feeling. (Which, in case you're wondering, is why I signed up for guitar in the first place. It's time to push past that hang up. "Bring it ON!" I said. It's proving more difficult that. It's been a struggle to even leave the bedroom door open while practicing...) I finally had to close my eyes to push out all of the other distractions while I talked myself through this ridiculous fear. Surprisingly, I was able to relax enough that both hands got to do what I was asked to do: keep time and play clear chords. Success...

I've been learning "I Will" by The (GENIUS) Beatles. B's written it out to include bar (with 6th string roots), regular, and power chords that I get to move through. All while playing a "1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a 4 e & a" time/strum pattern. I chord and strum down on 1, 2, & then up on a-then change chords and strum down on 3, 4, & and up again on a. Everything combines seamlessly and smoothly into 16th notes in 4/4 time when B plays it. My version usually includes a 2 or 3 second pause between chords, but I've got the strumming/counting down and can move from chord to chord without thinking too much. I've just got to get my fingers in the right place. "Wow!" B says. "I'm gonna give you a....90% for that. That's an A at Murray High, but...an A- by U Standards." Thanks, B.

From there we discussed Chord Alterations. Now, I've got that chords consist of the 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 8th note in a Major scale. I've even got that to play a minor, all I have to do is flat the 3rd. Then comes the next step-that I'm STILL trying to wrap my head around: Sometimes, it's the 1st, 3rd, 5th then 7th notes. Sometimes the 5th is optional. Sometimes you can flat the 3rd AND the 7th. AND...if you're not confused yet, why don't you try "sus"ing extra notes in! ("Sus" means "suspended") Say, you come across "Csus2" that just means adding the 2nd note of the scale-in addition to others that make up the chord.

Okay...

"Don't get nervous about the combinations of alterations..." B says as I'm sitting wide-eyed, pick in hand (mid-air) with a white knuckle grip in G chord position. (However at the time I DID "sus" the 5th... ;))

After all that, my lesson wasn't over. I got a new song! "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas! I LOVE this song! Dust features the Travis PIMA finger picking method. So, while playing the chords with my left hand, my right gets to be engaged in a super fancy dance: my Thumb (P), Index (I), Middle (M) and Ring (A) fingers work together to create a 1 2 & 3 & 4 & (4/4 time) beat "Useful for emphasizing a melody note." What's interesting is that on the beat 1 my P and A are picked together THEN I move into beats 2 P, & I, 3 P, & M, 4 P, & I. Now, I is ALWAYS on string 3, M is always on sting 2 and A is always on string 1. P is free to move around on the 4th, 5th or 6th string-depending on which string the root of the chord I'm playing is on. Awesome, huh!!! The best part of this song (and what it's known for) is the INSTANTLY recognizable intro. I switch back and forth between the C and Am chord-BUT, while PIMAing there are chord alterations taking place. So, I start in C, remove my first finger, add my third, then back to C. and so forth and so on to Am with alterations...

Sweet...

j