the frig blig

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

This link was posted on Josh’s blog and it’s just so sweet I had to post it here on the Blig.

Q: How is playing guitar like shooting pool?
A: They’re both all about leave.

Viz. when playing guitar, in order to sound like less of a klutz and move smoothly to the next note or chord, the player needs to be thinking ahead about which fingers will be used in that next note or chord…and that means making sure those fingers are available by using other fingers now.

And when shooting pool, in order to sink more than a single ball, the player needs to be thinking ahead about positioning the cue ball to leave makeable shots.

Q: how is playing tennis like playing go?
A: they both can be approached using a certain style of play; i.e. keep making good returns or moves and wait for your opponent to make a mistake — then capitalize on it. With each mistake your opponent makes, he or she is more likely to try to overcompensate…to your advantage.

Bo Diddley died last week but his beat will be with us for quite some time to come.

I was learned about Bo during my stint with The Shakes in Tallahassee in the early 1980’s. I’d heard his name before but wasn’t aware of his seminal influence — viz. the Bo beat. It was used in so many great rock and roll songs it just seemed timeless, and in fact maybe Bo just channeled it first. But you know it. The songs I was familiar with at the time were ‘Who Do You Love’ (Quicksilver Messenger Service) and ‘Hand Jive’. There are countless others.

I was fortunate enough to see Bo perform live around that time, in an outdoor concert on a beautiful spring day on Florida State University’s infamous Union Green. He had his trademark box guitar, and his daughter played the crap out of the drums.

Hey, Bo Diddley! Thanks for everything. Be jammin wherever you be.

A month ago I decided to learn the song Misterioso on guitar, which seemed excruciatingly difficult but I figured if I could learn that one I could learn almost anything (and I’ve always loved those notes). I dutifully practiced it almost daily, and after 3 weeks it started sounding like the actual tune, and I started playing with alternate rhythms and figured out my own riff at the end and which blues chords sounded natural to transition into.

For my upcoming birthday, the fish paid for a couple of lessons from a real guitar teacher. My first lesson was a week ago yesterday, during which time I discovered when playing with my teacher that my guitar was at least a half-step out of tune. Upon returning home I tuned it to my trusty old pitch-pipe. An in-tune guitar is good, and I felt satisfied.

Since that first lesson I have been learning the notes — not that they’re called A, B, C etc., but which strings produce which pitches when plucked, etc.

Today the horrible realization struck me that the notes I’d learned to play Misterioso with are actually a half-step off! I quickly confirmed this by listening to the first few notes of Monk’s recording. Apparently I taught myself to play this piece in the key of f#. Which is very cool until you want someone to accompany you.

Of course this has occurred on the most fiendishly difficult fingering I’ve learned, and moving it down a half-step on the fretboard totally changes the fingerings. Should I relearn the piece in it’s true key, or stick with the key of f-sharp?

I recorded this video of my friend playing guitar on Thanksgiving 2007 and finally got around to editing it and posting it to youtube:

S asked her friends for tunes that, when heard, made them get up and dance. The list was begun with several of her own picks, and as I was anointed the compositor, I added a few of my own. Here then be the list:

13_step_boogie - martin sexton
ants_marching - dave matthews
burning_down_the_house - talking heads
dannys_allstar_joint - rickie lee jones
every_little_thing_she_does - police
fever - peggy lee
Funky Town - lipps
gloria - patti smith
go_go - galactic
grazin_in_the_grass - friends o distinction
im_gonna_be - proclaimers
jump_jive_an_wail - louis prima
misirlou - dick dale
PrettyGirls - brisbanes
stoned_soul_picnic - laura nyro
st_thomas - sonny rollins
the_angels_wanna_wear_my_red_shoes - elvis costello
you_can_call_me_al - paul simon
you_cant_always_get_what_you_want - rolling stones

I’ve been teaching myself to play guitar for the past few months. I try to play 15 minutes a day, although a workingman’s schedule doesn’t always permit. It’s tons of fun (although I can have hours of fun with almost any musical instrument).

Last night I dreamed I was playing a song on the guitar…I remember figuring out what would work for the chorus…I awoke and forthwith in groggy state, went to my guitar and played the song. I then found a piece of staff paper and wrote it out.

I was mightily pleased, I’ve dreamed compositions before but never for guitar. This bodes well for my future with the instrument I think.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports this morning that the Crocodile Cafe has closed its doors and told its employees not to return to work. Thus ends another classic Belltown establishment; I recall similar feelings of shock and dismay when Sit & Spin closed, and the 211 Club.

Fun bands I saw at the Croc over the years include the Model Rockets, Huge Spacebird, and Martin Sexton. The joint will be missed by legions of music lovers.

Karlheinz Stockhausen, pioneer electronic (and NOT) music composer, died wednesday at 79 years old according to the BBC (who oughtta know). I remember his compositions fondly — the house with a different band playing in every room, the interposing national anthems, and of course the stimmung sung underground. May you rest in peace and your compositions continue to inspire..

Jimi Hendrix was born 65 years ago today, and shockingly, this fact does not appear on Wikipedia’s front-page ‘On This Day’ listing.

His music has and will continue to be discussed to death (NPI) but as I was in highschool when he died, allow me the following reminiscences:

1. I can’t do any better than to quote my friend Tim who upon first hearing Are You Experienced, recalled intense puzzlement, thinking “What the hell was that?”, followed by immediately replaying the album. The sound was that new.

2. I recently discovered quite by accident that prior to going to England he had a band for a few months in New York city, Jimmy James and The Blue Flames. I learned about this while researching Randy California, after listening to an old Spirit CD and wondering how he got that name. Turns out there were two Randys in the Jimmy James band and to distinguish between them Jimi called them Randy California and Randy Texas. The moniker stuck (and when Are You Experienced came out, 15-year-old RC was surprised to learn Jimi’s last name wasn’t James).

3. I gave away my copy of ‘Hendrix in the West’ to my highschool friend and Hendrix fan Tripp Anderson way back when; I hope you got lots of listens out of that disk Tripp! Regards whereever you are.

4. Who would have guessed that I’d end up living in Hendrix’s hometown umpteen years later?