Boureé

June 30th, 2011

Here is Steve and me playing Bourreé.  The bass part can be downloaded and you can click the second link to play along.  This isn’t a performance I would put on a cd but, it should be alright to play along with.

Bourree bass

BourreeSteve&Bob

Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring

March 26th, 2011

JesuSoloElectric

This is posted to give musician’s something to practice with.  The sheet music can be download for the bass.

Jesus1 Bass

Poem-Open Mic

February 15th, 2011
I signed up late for an open mic
I couldn't leave early
I was stuck for the night
I heard each act play
Some were good, some were tight
I counted them down
to my turn in the spotlight

I planned my performance to get it just right
Three songs to choose
to sum up my life
I'll impress, I'll touch
I'll lighten the mood
I knew I was in
for a very long night

I worked the crowd; had a few beers
had an espresso
To bring back the edge
tuned my guitar
plucked parts unsure
stifled images of falling
off the edge of a ledge

The count down upon me. It was my turn
Pete leveled the amp
So I could be heard
Bach to impress
But, it was a mess
A woman's loud laughing
proved my angst was absurd

She wasn't malicious; just in her own world
The hours I'd invested
were too soon undone
I didn't screw up
I played the notes right
Still the question remains
Do I do this for fun

Fixing a jack in an F hole

February 5th, 2011

My family was bugging me about how I should use my jazz guitar for the jazz standards and wouldn’t you know it; as soon as I got comfortable with it the jack started acting up. Unlike my other electric there’s know little plate to unscrew and give you easy access to the electronics inside. I stared at the thing and resolved to play my other guitar. It felt even worse when Steve expressed disappointment because he liked the sound of the f hole. I finally did a google search and found the answer on ask.com. You have to fish the jack out through the f hole. They did suggest you put a wire through the jack and hole so you can get it back easily. It worked like a charm. Of course, when I got the thing out the solder joints looked pristine. I tried plugging it in with the jack hanging out of the f hole. It worked fine. I snaked it back where it belongs and have no idea why it stopped working.

Patch of Grass midi

December 24th, 2010

Patch of Grass FS

What Happened Part 2

December 22nd, 2010

Though all of the recent comments have been very positive and so complementary I feel that they’ve been a little insincere. Really, a picture of my 2 nieces gets praise for being insightful! I know it will disappoint robot computers all over the world but, I changed my setting to require approval for all comments.

What happened?

December 21st, 2010

I have this blog linked to my email to notify me if there are any comments posted. I cleared the mailbox out yesterday and there were almost 500 notifications. I checked the visitor statistics and I discovered that I had more visits on December 15th than I did on the 20th. I’m glad that people are enjoying my blog but, this songster without bonds is starting to feel bound to chains of coming up with more content.  It might be a freeing experience if I knew a little more specifically what you find appealing; at least it would save me the trouble of reading through all my posts and trying to figure it out myself.  Then again, that would put you in the role of playing critic and if you read the post ‘Subjective’ you know how I feel about them.  I guess saying what you want more of doesn’t have to be construed as being a critic though, the orphanage guy took it really personally when Oliver Twist asked,”May I have some more, Sir?”.

A Good Day

December 18th, 2010

Yesterday was a good day.  I saved $250 on a car repair and got my car back from the shop a lot sooner than I expected to.  I figured out why there wasn’t any sound coming out of the left speaker in my PA and fixed it.  I finished memorizing Jesu Joy of  Man’s desiring.  I also finished teaching Dave the last piece he needed to learn for the jazz set.  Now, today I have no idea how I could come even close to making this a good day.

California Dreaming-a conspiracy

December 14th, 2010

Between John Phillips writing the flute solo using a different chord progression from anything else in the song, thus precluding me from using my Loop Station and an anglophilic orthodondist with an aesthetic appreciation of Terry Thomas’s gap tooth thus, precluding me from whistling the solo, I’m finding it hard to give this song the rendition I want to.

Subjective

November 20th, 2010

Recently the word subjective came up in conversation.  I think the word is mainly used in describing criticism.  I find that I’m extremely critical of critics.  I believe they are the lowest level of humanity and make me question the desirability of  a species that includes them.  Everything bad in our society can be traced fairly directly to their affect: bullying, low self esteem, depression, suicide, murder and every other crime imaginable.