tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38594531394548572602024-03-27T20:08:31.666-05:00Me and My MusicThis blog is about me and my music. My current focus is on learning piano using the Sudnow Method and guitar improvisation. I currently play guitar in a band that concentrates on playing the early rock and roll of the 50’s and 60’s. I also play guitar in a trio setting that focuses more on the jazzy side. Seemingly irrelevant posts on this blog reflect topics that are probably expressed in my music somewhere.AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.comBlogger2742125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-87235384594162888792024-03-27T20:07:00.001-05:002024-03-27T20:07:57.235-05:00BluesPlayed a little bluesy stuff, but not really a lot. A cool book arrived yesterday: “The Complete Book of Electric Blues Guitar,” by Dave Rubin. Read the first chapter on T-Bone Walker, and listening to him while I type this.AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-20498963128462491062024-03-25T21:43:00.001-05:002024-03-25T21:43:57.994-05:00Guitar … pianoPracticed the five pentatonic scale patterns as well as the five pentatonic blues scale patterns. Also started learning a blues arpeggio for dominant major chords. <div><br></div><div>Made a decision today to stop the piano lessons. Sounds maybe a little weird that although I like the sound of the piano, I hate practicing piano. I like practicing guitar, though. It probably makes sense to quit piano, when it’s looked from the perspective of what I’m best at (guitar). I’m more familiar with the guitar. So that explains some of the decision. </div><div><br></div><div>I can always go back to piano if I want.</div><div><br></div><div>I’m enjoying the learning of guitar scales. However, I’m thinking that I should start playing them more in the context of songs.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_883c_df87_dae9_da6b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1_R3MXXAR1UWntPwITrTGP1iFtHhka4Q-" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-59738413221481448922024-03-24T21:56:00.001-05:002024-03-24T21:56:05.625-05:00Guitar / Piano / visitWeekend over. Played more guitar today. Borrowing son’s Stratocaster and amp; he’s borrowing my soprano saxophone. Youngest daughter visited too. <br><div>Did a little more piano stuff today </div><div><br></div><div><br></div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-46712751540559934812024-03-23T23:14:00.001-05:002024-03-23T23:14:31.225-05:00Jesus Christ Superstar Got up early Saturday morning with the dogs, then practiced guitar this morning until it was time for Church music practice with the Church band. Got home and practiced some more. Nice this weekend having youngest daughter, son, and son’s girlfriend over. Went to see Jesus Christ Superstar with son and son’s girlfriend. It was quite cool. Saw the guitarist and keyboard player, and that was interesting. <div><br></div><div><img id="id_7f6f_baa0_466f_1360" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1QBGCKHPFBJFB_FhRBPveXDtmWrWLsIwT" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-35695659369545799272024-03-22T21:58:00.001-05:002024-03-22T21:58:01.102-05:00Pentatonic Blues ScalesKeeping on working on them !!!!!AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-15740860749326044712024-03-22T05:23:00.001-05:002024-03-22T05:23:01.274-05:00Pentatonic Blues ScalesHaven’t posted here in a little while, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been practicing! Continue to try to burn those pentatonic blues pattens into my hands. At this point I’m up to four out of five, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve mastered those four 🤓. <div><br></div><div>I go back and forth still about whether I should continue with the piano. </div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-5202943201914134412024-03-18T20:54:00.001-05:002024-03-18T20:54:01.130-05:00RegularRegular day of practice. Still trying to burn in my mind shapes 2 and 3 of the Blues Pentatonic Scale. I got shape 1. Practiced piano too. First day of practicing piano using the new method. Playing C scale with both hands. Not looking forward to going to dentist tomorrow. Having teeth cleaned, and trouble with a false tooth. AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-7770975539949275092024-03-17T20:49:00.001-05:002024-03-17T20:49:09.574-05:00BluesTrying to learn the blues scale on guitar; I am getting close to it; working on the first three patterns. Started the new piano course. I’m at the very beginner part of the program now. AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-13679134358443273162024-03-16T21:13:00.001-05:002024-03-16T21:13:03.196-05:00Guitar / PianoLearned how to turn pentatonic shapes 1 and 2 into the blues scale. Played piano at Mass tonight and I’m glad I did it; it went well. Joined a new online piano lesson site….AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-64784708130083375972024-03-13T20:05:00.001-05:002024-03-13T20:05:43.348-05:00G u I t a r p I a n oNot too thrilled with my guitar playing today. Finding it will take practice practice practice to sound like I want to. Just a tiny bit away from starting piano again.AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-42130548319270408412024-03-08T22:39:00.001-05:002024-03-08T22:39:15.234-05:00MarathonIt’s a marathon and not a sprint. Yep. That’s where I am regarding music learning. Practiced some soloing tonight in a jazz standard, and it wasn’t particularly fun… Difficult! The right notes in the pentatonic patterns, but translating them in real time to my fingers is different game. The trick too is to not just play the patterns, but to make m u s i c out of those patterns. Needless to say, I wasn’t too satisfied with what I recorded tonight trying to solo. The key is to not get too judgmental! <div><br></div><div><img id="id_86e0_21f_efb3_6216" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1Rw8hS0xocGKOogvqwF01dZOH11VDErzb" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_36e9_940_2e9a_13c3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1mXCJ3PRgZ6cuzB4Gbgaqy7fjHe4hUXM-" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-64385591140678716892024-03-05T21:52:00.001-05:002024-03-05T21:52:26.710-05:00Phygerian Had some fun today playing this mode to a backing track of using two chords. Need some clarification though.AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-62185219957220576122024-03-05T09:15:00.001-05:002024-03-05T09:15:40.015-05:00My old school<img id="id_23b7_9e10_896b_4c49" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1v0i2bAqKRqP_K9N14M6kKiHtWKmdJ8bF" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br> AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-8071978636702089022024-03-04T22:26:00.001-05:002024-03-04T22:26:18.752-05:00GuitarPracticed soloing a bit tonight to “The Way You Look Tonight.” Went ok. Takes practice. Continue to read the Jimi Hendrix biography, and I’m enjoying it. It’s so cool how he loved his guitar. Reminds me of when I was a kid reading some of Hunter Davies book about the Beatles, how I think it was George Harrison who would practice guitar until his fingers were feeling the results. <div><br></div><div><img id="id_df2_fb79_d10c_9623" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1xOttOGieJRWM8ZJ9w0JcjQ_pzbBciwLo" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br>My first school that I attended from 1968 to 1976. Amazing… hard to believe that I was in school in the 1960’s.</div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-85730903679624937292024-03-02T06:46:00.001-05:002024-03-02T06:46:36.303-05:00EpiphoneUsed to have this Epiphone 335-Pro. Liked what I think was its coil splitting capabilities:<div><br></div><div><img id="id_c50c_e58b_868e_a6bc" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1LOHJGpgr0Tc6q0p6vK0twie_fLsFkvRI" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-19888932261112662542024-03-02T06:35:00.001-05:002024-03-02T06:35:32.367-05:00FoundFound a link to my past music:<div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.reverbnation.com/shortwaveradioband">https://www.reverbnation.com/shortwaveradioband</a></div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-86574131718046308272024-03-01T22:46:00.001-05:002024-03-01T22:46:48.245-05:00Assignment Recorded what might be the final assessment in my guitar course. My practicing for it sounded better than my actual performance! My playing needs polish, <div><br></div><div>From tonight’s recording:</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_f160_5b98_368f_96b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1FP83XyJLDQbohj6Jg95FHHG9odTzTC-s" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-43921897696543738292024-02-28T21:56:00.001-05:002024-02-28T21:56:04.535-05:00Back at itBack to practicing some guitar today. Tried a little of the blues scale, worked on improvising to a different jazz standard, and played a little to the guitar course’s jam along stuff. Reading a biography of Jimi Hendrix, and really liking it. <div><br><div><img id="id_8648_ad76_ede1_43c8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1_BHnjUn--jLBLa7zVixz7cWujIyjSuPl" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><img id="id_e68e_e65f_409f_18b3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1Ph1Jhdd814EI1gbhzo9XWVazOlIsJlQ8" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><div><br></div></div></div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-30076587529323428292024-02-25T20:48:00.001-05:002024-02-25T20:48:04.836-05:00So CoolOne gigantic eye opening musical learning experience for me was learning that major bar chord. I remember I was using a Bad Co. music book and played some bar chords to their song “Can’t Get Enough.”<div><br></div><div>Well here I am in 2024 and I had another experience like that. </div><div><br></div><div>I</div><div>Learned</div><div>How</div><div>To </div><div>Solo</div><div><br></div><div>So cool. </div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-63045309434844889992024-02-24T23:00:00.001-05:002024-02-24T23:00:07.387-05:00Fabulous Very very happy with my guitar playing these last few days. Soloing all over the place on “All of Me,” first just me playing to a canned background, and then this morning with band. Being able to solo like this is nothing short of<div><br></div><div>A</div><div><br></div><div>Dream</div><div><br></div><div>Fulfilled </div><div><br></div><div>🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸</div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-57842143472243616682024-02-21T20:08:00.001-05:002024-02-21T21:26:36.283-05:00“All Of Me”Ok, so I made my first recording tonight of me using the Pentatonic Course stuff to solo. Not perfect, but ok for a first go through.AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-62326357424278301122024-02-19T22:23:00.001-05:002024-02-19T22:23:10.800-05:00P e n t a t o n I cWorking it on a real chord progression today. Going to take work to get it to sound right. AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-20237787432079224072024-02-18T21:17:00.001-05:002024-02-18T21:17:48.776-05:00Two MoreHad group meeting with others regarding the soloing course. Looks like we have two more group meetings to go. This course is good stuff.AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-55235621988587156322024-02-17T21:03:00.001-05:002024-02-17T21:03:04.916-05:00Circa 2002<img id="id_327d_fd50_35fc_8800" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1vHT2ddYCgTxFnuMUhDMvnf8EZRIfztnX" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br> AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3859453139454857260.post-69197413012310306172024-02-17T18:53:00.001-05:002024-02-17T18:53:16.032-05:00Dud SnowstormWas supposed to get some snow, but this morning it looked like we hardly did. Visited youngest daughter today for her 22nd birthday. <div><br></div><div>Entered my guitar playing into the course’s site. Learned from it that I could do better knowing the pentatonic shapes.</div><div><br></div><div>Wife videotaped me for it. Here’s a still from it:</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_af81_3d2f_84cf_78d1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/d/1aIOpaRas5Iam99xexaBhEqAhz-EK4M7Y" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 353px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>AJ 62http://www.blogger.com/profile/12204885641920253053noreply@blogger.com0