Today was awesome because I got over "the hump."
Exactly five months to the day since I started teaching myself guitar I got up on stage and played my first open mic. Yeah-- I played an open mic!!! Thanks to my friend Matt, who really encouraged me to get up there, and accompanied me on another guitar. I played rhythm and sang, Matt played lead guitar.
The songs were:
Wonderwall, in the style of Ryan Adams
Road Regrets, by Dan Mangan
It wasn't perfect. I was pretty nervous and I messed up a few words in Wonderwall, and hit the wrong chord a couple of times in Road Regrets, but by the time it was all over and I returned to my seat, I just wanted to go up and do it again!! But better!!! I'm learning to accept that it doesn't have to be perfect, screwing up is part of the learning process, and everyone is very supportive when you're a beginner.
Showing posts with label guitar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guitar. Show all posts
06 April 2011
20 March 2011
19 March 2011
Today was awesome because we super-jammed!
Katherine and Keelan are partners, whom I met at an open bluegrass jam at a café (I watched, they played.)
I met Mark on the beach as we "Walk[ed] a Mile in Her Shoes" for our mutual friend Anne. He brought along Matt.
Bill and I go WAY back to the summer of Oh-Eight, to the sudsy beaches and sandy bars of Grand Bend, Ontario. He lives about an hour and a half north from me on the island and came down for the weekend.
This is the first time I've ever tried to play with more than one other person and most of the people in the room just met, but here we are... trying to feel out a little tune and work our way through it...
For a few hours, we banged our way through an assortment of rock, folk, blues and bluegrass. It was just... so... bloody... AWESOME!!!
I'm sure of it now more than ever. One day, I'm going to be in a rock 'n roll band.
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
Katherine and Keelan are partners, whom I met at an open bluegrass jam at a café (I watched, they played.)
I met Mark on the beach as we "Walk[ed] a Mile in Her Shoes" for our mutual friend Anne. He brought along Matt.
Bill and I go WAY back to the summer of Oh-Eight, to the sudsy beaches and sandy bars of Grand Bend, Ontario. He lives about an hour and a half north from me on the island and came down for the weekend.
This is the first time I've ever tried to play with more than one other person and most of the people in the room just met, but here we are... trying to feel out a little tune and work our way through it...
For a few hours, we banged our way through an assortment of rock, folk, blues and bluegrass. It was just... so... bloody... AWESOME!!!
I'm sure of it now more than ever. One day, I'm going to be in a rock 'n roll band.
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
19 March 2011
18 March 2011
Today was awesome because I made up music!
My ol' buddy Bill is in town for the weekend and he brought along his djembe. After running through a few cover songs on guitar with Bill providing the beat I took a break. Bill continued tapping, slapping and rolling on the top of his hand-carved drum. I started to recognize a pattern and began inserting chords as he beat. Wouldn't you know it, we all of the sudden had a little groove going.
I'm so new to this music game every day is like a new experience for me. And today was the first time I really experienced "making it up as you go." Pretty awesome.
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
My ol' buddy Bill is in town for the weekend and he brought along his djembe. After running through a few cover songs on guitar with Bill providing the beat I took a break. Bill continued tapping, slapping and rolling on the top of his hand-carved drum. I started to recognize a pattern and began inserting chords as he beat. Wouldn't you know it, we all of the sudden had a little groove going.
I'm so new to this music game every day is like a new experience for me. And today was the first time I really experienced "making it up as you go." Pretty awesome.
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
12 March 2011
11 March 2011
Today was awesome because I had nothing to do.
And I took full advantage of it! For lunch I had Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Quite possibly my favourite food of all time, and a staple of my diet since about age nine. I half-seriously consider myself a Grilled Cheese Sandwich connoisseur, having experimented with ingredients and preparation methods for over a decade. I'm also the only person I know who always spells Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with capital letters. Having been on the move for most of February, it had been over a month since I had bitten into the light crunch of the golden-brown bread, releasing the melted cheese from it's whole-wheat tomb. Dipped in ketchup, of course.
Much of the afternoon was spent reading, practicing the guitar, and completing a crossword puzzle, catered with several cups of tea. I went for a walk in the early evening and browsed the local outdoorsman stores for supplies I'll need if I go camping this weekend. Really though, I just went for a walk to stretch my legs, breathe the fresh air, and observe the world around me. Victoria is such a vibrant world.
Before bed I finished The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. I've wanted to read Kerouac for a long time. Last summer I visited every used-book store in London, Ontario in search of his spontaneous prose, but each clerk informed me that they never manage to keep his books on the shelf very long.
I believe things are presented to you at the right time. The time you need it most. Or the time it's most useful. Or the time you are ready for it. Et cetera. My housemate Darryl offered me his copy of The Dharma Bums this week. "Ti Jean" Kerouac came to me at the right time.
And I took full advantage of it! For lunch I had Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Quite possibly my favourite food of all time, and a staple of my diet since about age nine. I half-seriously consider myself a Grilled Cheese Sandwich connoisseur, having experimented with ingredients and preparation methods for over a decade. I'm also the only person I know who always spells Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with capital letters. Having been on the move for most of February, it had been over a month since I had bitten into the light crunch of the golden-brown bread, releasing the melted cheese from it's whole-wheat tomb. Dipped in ketchup, of course.
Much of the afternoon was spent reading, practicing the guitar, and completing a crossword puzzle, catered with several cups of tea. I went for a walk in the early evening and browsed the local outdoorsman stores for supplies I'll need if I go camping this weekend. Really though, I just went for a walk to stretch my legs, breathe the fresh air, and observe the world around me. Victoria is such a vibrant world.
Before bed I finished The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. I've wanted to read Kerouac for a long time. Last summer I visited every used-book store in London, Ontario in search of his spontaneous prose, but each clerk informed me that they never manage to keep his books on the shelf very long.
I believe things are presented to you at the right time. The time you need it most. Or the time it's most useful. Or the time you are ready for it. Et cetera. My housemate Darryl offered me his copy of The Dharma Bums this week. "Ti Jean" Kerouac came to me at the right time.
"...see the whole thing is a world full of rucksack wanderers,
Dharma Bums refusing to subscribe to the general demand that
they consume production and therefore have to work for the privilege
of consuming, all that crap they didn't really want anyway
such as refrigerators, TV sets, cars, at least new fancy cars,
certain hair oils and deodorants and general junk you finally always
see a week later in the garbage anyway, all of them imprisoned in a
system or work, produce, consume, work, produce, consume,
I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution thousands or even millions
of young Americans wandering around with rucksacks, going up to
mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad,
making young girls happy and old girls happier,
all of 'em Zen Lunatics who go about writing poems that happen
to appear in their heads for no reason and also by being kind
and also by strange unexpected acts keep giving visions of
eternal freedom to everybody and to all living creatures..."
- Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums
How awesome is that!
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
08 March 2011
07 March 2011
Today was awesome because our landlord replaced all the windows on our house.
Two weeks ago I moved into a really lovely character home in Victoria, British Columbia. I'm subletting for two months while one of the occupants is traveling through Thailand. My housemates are Darryl and Lacey. They are both friendly, positive spirits and right from day one they've made me feel like this is my home too, even though I'm only here temporarily.
Darryl is a brilliant guitarist and lately he's been branching out to other instruments and genres of music. In the basement, Darryl has set up a little Jam Room with a drum kit, synth, electric bass, and glockenspiel. I've added a harmonica, some shakers and bells, and a ukulele. We both have acoustic guitars. Paradise.
We're only a ten-minute walk from downtown and twenty minutes to the sea. Paradise.
ANYWAY... the old windows, although charming, were only single-paned and full of long, crooked cracks (the ones in my bedroom, especially). The new windows are double-paned and have screens, so we can actually open our windows now during the day. In the evening, it's clearly a couple of degrees warmer inside and I'll be able to sleep with one less blanket tonight.
Here are a few photos of this awesome house!:
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
Two weeks ago I moved into a really lovely character home in Victoria, British Columbia. I'm subletting for two months while one of the occupants is traveling through Thailand. My housemates are Darryl and Lacey. They are both friendly, positive spirits and right from day one they've made me feel like this is my home too, even though I'm only here temporarily.
Darryl is a brilliant guitarist and lately he's been branching out to other instruments and genres of music. In the basement, Darryl has set up a little Jam Room with a drum kit, synth, electric bass, and glockenspiel. I've added a harmonica, some shakers and bells, and a ukulele. We both have acoustic guitars. Paradise.
We're only a ten-minute walk from downtown and twenty minutes to the sea. Paradise.
ANYWAY... the old windows, although charming, were only single-paned and full of long, crooked cracks (the ones in my bedroom, especially). The new windows are double-paned and have screens, so we can actually open our windows now during the day. In the evening, it's clearly a couple of degrees warmer inside and I'll be able to sleep with one less blanket tonight.
Here are a few photos of this awesome house!:
My minimalist bedroom.
Living space, complete with fireplace and dog.
Basement chill room.
The Jam Room.
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
07 March 2011
06 March 2011
Today was awesome because it was a healthy day for mind and body.
My mobile phone alarm clock woke me up at precisely 9:27am. For no reason whatsoever, I have avoided setting any alarm for any time that ends in zero or five since I was a child. At 9:28 a miniature version of myself in a devil costume appeared on my left shoulder and whispered that it would be alright to go back to sleep. Tempted, I remembered my commitment to my new friend Ella, so I summoned the strength to sit up, swing my legs over the edge of the bed, stand, and walk to the toilet.
Running late, I skipped breakfast, borrowed a bicycle from my housemate Darryl, and greeted the morning sun. At my first intersection I discovered the lack of functioning breaks on this particular Raleigh. Still running late, no time to turn back. I pedaled the brakeless bike to Ogden Point where Ella and friends were waiting. After a few "pleased to make your acquaintances" we started pounding pavement. Ella brought us together to support Walk in Her Shoes. Every step will empower women and girls to fight poverty. Over 8,000 seaside steps were taken by each of us. I saw a starfish in the water! I didn't know we had starfish in Canada. We found a dead stingray washed up on the beach! I didn't know we had stingrays in Canada.
The rest of my Sunday was spent the way Sundays should be; moving at a slightly slower pace that usual. I practiced guitar, I wrote in the fresh-paper scented pages of my new treeless notebook, and I started reading a new book. Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. Long has it been on my "must read" list and forty-two pages in it has not disappointed.
Today, I got a little exercise in support of an important issue in the morning, and spent the remainder of the day exercising and resting my brain. And today was awesome.
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
My mobile phone alarm clock woke me up at precisely 9:27am. For no reason whatsoever, I have avoided setting any alarm for any time that ends in zero or five since I was a child. At 9:28 a miniature version of myself in a devil costume appeared on my left shoulder and whispered that it would be alright to go back to sleep. Tempted, I remembered my commitment to my new friend Ella, so I summoned the strength to sit up, swing my legs over the edge of the bed, stand, and walk to the toilet.
Running late, I skipped breakfast, borrowed a bicycle from my housemate Darryl, and greeted the morning sun. At my first intersection I discovered the lack of functioning breaks on this particular Raleigh. Still running late, no time to turn back. I pedaled the brakeless bike to Ogden Point where Ella and friends were waiting. After a few "pleased to make your acquaintances" we started pounding pavement. Ella brought us together to support Walk in Her Shoes. Every step will empower women and girls to fight poverty. Over 8,000 seaside steps were taken by each of us. I saw a starfish in the water! I didn't know we had starfish in Canada. We found a dead stingray washed up on the beach! I didn't know we had stingrays in Canada.
The rest of my Sunday was spent the way Sundays should be; moving at a slightly slower pace that usual. I practiced guitar, I wrote in the fresh-paper scented pages of my new treeless notebook, and I started reading a new book. Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. Long has it been on my "must read" list and forty-two pages in it has not disappointed.
Today, I got a little exercise in support of an important issue in the morning, and spent the remainder of the day exercising and resting my brain. And today was awesome.
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
06 March 2011
05 March 2011
Today was awesome because I went for a walk.
I threw my guitar on my back and headed for the beach. I decided to follow Cook Street all the way to the ocean because I had never gone that way before. It was a good choice, because I passed through a very cute, little area called Cook St. Village, where there's wonderful looking cafés, a British pub called The Beagle, and everybody smiles back. At the beach, I found my own little, private spot amongst the driftwood to strum a few tunes. I've been working on barre chords ever since I had the action on my guitar adjusted in Vancouver a few weeks back. Honestly, I was still having a bit of trouble with it just a couple of nights ago... but all of the sudden, on this beach, with the ocean as my audience, I'm throwing down F's and B minors like it's my job! It really felt great to know I'm making progress.
After a while, my hands started getting a little chilly, so I decided to walk down the beach for a bit and give them a chance to warm up in my pockets. A little ways down, I came across a couple of guys, one was putting the finishing touches on a true work of art. I introduced myself to José, the artist, and Tim, the friend, and told them how incredible I thought the installation was. José creates art using whatever he comes across in nature. Today, he had collected dozens of small pieces of driftwood and, amazingly, was able to use balance and weight distribution to weave them together in an almost basket-like sculpture. Then he balanced a big, long piece of driftwood across the top, without toppling the whole thing, and started stacking stones on either end!
It looked like this:
About 3 minutes later, it looked like this:
And you know what the best part was? After José inadvertently destroyed something he had spent over four hours on, he laughed. Wasn't bothered at all. He reminded me of Tibetan Buddhist monks, who create beautiful works of art using coloured sand called, dul-tson-kyil-khor (mandala of coloured powders). The monks spend days on their sand mandalas, only to have them swept or blown away shortly after their completion. It's a great lesson in impermanence; don't get too attached to anything!
Today, I went for a walk.
And I started to master a few new chords.
And I met an artist with Buddhist tendencies who creates art from nature.
And today was awesome.
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
I threw my guitar on my back and headed for the beach. I decided to follow Cook Street all the way to the ocean because I had never gone that way before. It was a good choice, because I passed through a very cute, little area called Cook St. Village, where there's wonderful looking cafés, a British pub called The Beagle, and everybody smiles back. At the beach, I found my own little, private spot amongst the driftwood to strum a few tunes. I've been working on barre chords ever since I had the action on my guitar adjusted in Vancouver a few weeks back. Honestly, I was still having a bit of trouble with it just a couple of nights ago... but all of the sudden, on this beach, with the ocean as my audience, I'm throwing down F's and B minors like it's my job! It really felt great to know I'm making progress.
After a while, my hands started getting a little chilly, so I decided to walk down the beach for a bit and give them a chance to warm up in my pockets. A little ways down, I came across a couple of guys, one was putting the finishing touches on a true work of art. I introduced myself to José, the artist, and Tim, the friend, and told them how incredible I thought the installation was. José creates art using whatever he comes across in nature. Today, he had collected dozens of small pieces of driftwood and, amazingly, was able to use balance and weight distribution to weave them together in an almost basket-like sculpture. Then he balanced a big, long piece of driftwood across the top, without toppling the whole thing, and started stacking stones on either end!
It looked like this:
About 3 minutes later, it looked like this:
And you know what the best part was? After José inadvertently destroyed something he had spent over four hours on, he laughed. Wasn't bothered at all. He reminded me of Tibetan Buddhist monks, who create beautiful works of art using coloured sand called, dul-tson-kyil-khor (mandala of coloured powders). The monks spend days on their sand mandalas, only to have them swept or blown away shortly after their completion. It's a great lesson in impermanence; don't get too attached to anything!
Today, I went for a walk.
And I started to master a few new chords.
And I met an artist with Buddhist tendencies who creates art from nature.
And today was awesome.
(What made your day awesome? Tell me in the comments section below. I'd love to hear about it!)
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