things twice

It’s been said about guitar playing that the left hand is the craftsman, but the right hand is the artist. I first read that when I was a kid, struggling with some classical guitar etudes or whatever, and I thought it was a great quote — only whoever said it must have gotten the hands mixed up. Surely, the left hand must be the artist?

But no: even though most of the rehearsal time — at least as a classical guitarist — is spent on figuring out fingerings and practicing transitions between chords, that’s “just” craftsmanship. It’s the right hand that makes the music. Rhythm, as we discussed yesterday, is of course the main right-hand task. But also the sound quality …

My original idea was to write a post in this series each day for two weeks. Obviously, I won’t be able to keep up that speed, but I’m sure you can find things to practice on even on days without a new post.

One of the reasons why it takes longer than planned is of course that I can’t keep from blabbering on about theory and such. It’s an occupational injury I have, but I also happen to think it’s a good thing to know why things are the way they are.

You can take it or leave it. I try to separate the theory from the practical contents, so that if you just want the chord shapes and the hints on …

LinuxPlanet – Opinions – The Learned Helplessness of Windows – Where are the Pliers?

I don’t think I’ve written a single dedicated pro-linux post on this blog so far — not because I don’t think that way, but because I haven’t really had anything I have needed to communicate about, beyond the obvious.

This article from LinuxPlanet, however (in two parts 1 | 2), is the best presentation I’ve seen in a long time of the fundamental problem with Windows.

The post is “based on a true story”, as it’s called: Woman has a jammed garage door. Friendly Neighbour comes by and offers to fix it if she gets him a pair of pliers.
She told me her husband …

You didn’t really think you were going to learn to play the guitar in two weeks, did you? If you did, I apologize for having deceived you. It takes a little more time.

And yet, in a way it is true: the guitar is not a very difficult instrument to get a decent sound from. It has a learning curve that is quite shallow in the beginning, and it really doesn’t get steep until it is time to pass from “intermediate” to “advanced”. Compare that with e.g. the violin, which will not sound good until you’ve played it for a couple of years and reached “intermediate”, or the recorder, which is very easy to produce sounds on once you manage to …

So why is, then, that D is such a boring chord? To answer that, I’ll have to give you some theory. You probably don’t mind, since you’re going to rest your fingers a little while longer anyway.
“Grau ist alle Theorie”
If you think theory is boring, think again. Think of it, not as something you have to know in order to do something right (as most schools teach grammar, e.g.), but as a way of explaining what it is that you already know.

All chords belong together in families — the famous three chords, plus relatives and friends. Every song, at least in the popular music repertory, has a keynote (also called the ‘tonic’, hence abbreviated T), the main tone or chord …

So you want to be a guitar hero? Here’s how:
Day 1
Go to your local instrument dealer and buy the following items:

A tuner. It’s essential to have an instrument in tune, otherwise it will sound bad no matter how well you play it. You will think it’s your fault (and so will your girlfriend), and you will give up on the whole enterprise after day 5 or so. You play with your ears just as much as with your fingers, so you might as well get good habits from the start.
You can get a good tuner for very little money. Make sure you get one where you can choose which tones to tune to, and not just to the standard …

I love this album. It’s a perfect follow-up, not to Dylan’s trilogy of albums vacuum-cleaning the American song tradition for inspiration, but to his Theme Time Radio Hour. (And for the record, my negative evaluation of his latest studio albums does not stem from indignation over ‘theft’, should anyone have gotten that impression, but from a number of lacklustre performances of material of declining quality.)

It’s hilarious. Finally, the ‘wolfman’ voice has found a home where it belongs: as a counterweight to the saccharine, a way to scare the living soul out of the unsuspecting innocent, and perhaps – just perhaps – blow some meaning into these songs again.

Because surely it’s hilarious. But that’s not the main reason why …

While there is general agreement that no matter what one thinks about the lyrics on Slow Train Coming, musically it is one of Dylan’s strongest, the general verdict is not equally lenient with Saved. With its ghastly cover — rivalled in tackiness only by Shot of Love — and its unequivocal title, it has proved to be an even bitterer pill to swallow than the precursor.

Which is understandable, but not quite fair. Saved is an excellent album, provided one can endure the obnoxious born-again evangelization. It may be a far cry from Slow Train Coming in the areas of polish and commercial appeal, but it has an energy, a punch, and a new approach to communication and message that …

… or at least his little helper. You know, the little guy who sneaks in when Mr Frost has gone for lunch, and turns knobs that are best left alone. His intentions may be the noblest, but as we all know, Satan sometimes comes as a Man of Peace.

Frost, who also goes by the name of Bob Dylan, has produced a number of said artist’s records, and one would suspect that he, of all people, would agree with Dylan’s harsh verdict in a recent Rolling Stone interview on the sound quality of records today:
You listen to these modern records, they’re atrocious, they have sound all over them. There’s no definition of nothing, no vocal, no nothing, just like — …