What Would Satan Do?

Right, first off I missed a major milestone a few days back. The Project entered the final 100 days. Yes folks, were down to double digits. I need to sit down, look at what time is left and actually figure out what my goals to be achieved by New Year's Eve are. I always knew that my action plan would have to be adaptable, but in truth I've kind of left the rails on that front. Must get more rails. I'm very glad to be starting a new guitar course in under a week as I found the last one very motivational.

So, having said that... what would Satan do?

On Tuesday evening I spent a few hours trying to get back into metal music, playing through some of the Metallica that I'd quickly taught myself in preparation for the jam with the metallers a few weeks back. I was painfully [cough] aware that I needed to play catchup if I was to join in successfully this coming Sunday. About 2 hours into trying to get my droning back up to speed I felt my tendonitis start to kick in. Ow!

Smart 39 year old kid that I am I figured I'd just keep going, only stopping when the shooting pains up my right arm got too bad. Clever, eh? Mama didn't raise no fool! So, because I'm an idiot, I had to take a break from playing on Wednesday, only resuming practice last night. Pretty soon after starting in on "Master of Puppets" the pain was back with a vengeance. I tried making the "Sign of the Devil" a few times to see whether that helped. Nope. Besides, playing with a pick and doin' that hand thing isn't possible. It ends up looking more 'pinkie out' tea sipper rather than hardcore headbanger.



"Screw this," I said to myself, reverting to playing less aggressive, less right hand intensive stuff... the Allmans' "Don't Want You No More" intro riff (the first thing I ever played on Red, which had make me instantly fall in love with My Precious)... Slash/Kravitz's "Always On The Run"... "Walk This Way". Pain subsided. Joy was felt.

Wait a minute!

Joy was felt! I was enjoying playing this lightweight stuff, whereas I wasn't getting the same kick out of playing the metal tunes. Okay... soooo, let's see... I don't particularly like listening to metal and I don't enjoy playing it, not least of which because it causes me pain! I did enjoy playing it with the other guys, but that was partly because of the whole band camaraderie etc. Noise making is fun, no matter what the noise.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I may keep playing with the metal guys on and off over the next few weeks and months, I need to not lose sight of what I enjoy. Makes sense?

I was actually going to post a video of my droning speed using different pick angles, as tilting the ol' pleccie is something that significantly decreases string resistance so you can play faster. It also noticeably changes the tone, and when you accidentally [cough] clip the strings with an upstroke you get quite a cool double-time sound. BUT... that was about the same time I decided to lay metal to rest for the night, so... you, loyal reader, get nuffink.... bumpkus... RIEN DE TOUT!

"Non, rien de rien
Non, je ne regrette rien
Ni le bien qu'on m'a fait, ni le mal
Tout ca m'est bien egal"

Ah, that Edith Piaf... she knew a thing or two about nothing, eh? (Basic translation 'a la chav': "I don't regret nuffink... not the good fings wot av been done ta me or the bad... it's all the fukkin' same ta me, innit?")

What? WHAT?

Oh, I give up. I wanna rock out, but metal's not for me, not long term at least. I have a note from my doctor...

Action Plan Update... 247 Days & Counting

Yes, it's that time again. Time to revisit the ol' Action Plan.

I just looked back at the last update (here) and was surprised that not much has changed. In light of recent events, though, I'm now able to put some meat on the bones. Here we go...

1) Record Demos
I've been trying to decide which songs I want to record. My plan is to do a couple of covers and one or two originals. As and when I have them in the can I'll post them here. Hey, I also set up a MySpace page a while back, but have yet to format it. That'd be another good repository.

While I think about it, I need to maybe make a page on this blog and put a permanent link over on the right.

My current thoughts on song choice are:

"I'm Going Home" by Hootie & the Blowfish. Okay, so I'm not going to take any crap about covering Hootie. Their 1995 debut CD, "Cracked Rear View", was above average 'New South' rock. They suffered from being over-played on the radio. Once they made it onto "Friends" they were toast, any semblence of 'cool' being completely shattered. They became popular.

Why choose "I'm Going Home"? Well, it's got a strong chord progression in E major and the lead guitar is textbook major pentatonic with a few colour notes thrown in. It sounds impressive but it's actually easy to play.

I'm not going to dwell on it, but yesterday was incredibly frustrating. I'd got 99% of the way through recording a decent version of the song, including vocals (which surprisingly weren't bad!) and through my own stupidity I lost the lot... well, everything except a 3 second clip. Less than impressive. Even when doing demos I have got to set up a work process that minimises the risk of losing everything and then STICK TO IT!

Rant over... move along... nothing to see here.

Other possible covers, include:
"Over & Over" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
Again, a simple chord progression and pretty basic grunge guitar. The powerful intro riff gets things rocking and from there on in you're flying.

"Walk Away" by Ben Harper
This was one of the first songs I learned by listening to the record and figuring it out myself. It's a pretty 'claw-hammer' song in G with a walking baseline. Over the weekend I was noodling around on it and had a 'eureka' moment. In the bridge there's a section where I was playing the second fret on the low E string with my index finger, then having to switch to the first fret on the B, deadening the note. By using the thumb-over-the neck technique to fret the low E I managed to get the piece to flow much better.

"Angel" by Matt Nathanson
This one's more like a nugget of a song than a real song. Blink and you'll miss it. If I can get some decent vocals going, though, it's a nice piece.

On the originals front, I was thinking about doing something bluesy, maybe an 8 bar blues (to be a little different) in a BB King stylee. I also have a pop song that I've written the music to, but have yet to figure out lyrics for. Working title: "Your Own Time".

Oh, I've also been taking Red out for a walk, which usually leads to a vamp on the E7#9 shape, moving it around the neck and adding fills. Noticed that when playing on the acoustic, letting the low E ring out isn't too much of an issue, but when overdriven on electric it muddies everything. Solution? Use the thumb again! Hit the low E to play it, but when using the moveable chord shape, make a fist to dampen the bass note. If I can get a decent recording then it'd be a good demo of the harder, funkier edge I can get. Think "Foxy Lady" for the new millenium!

Finally on the demo front, I may do some stuff on video instead of just audio. I realised that I have software which allows me to overdub, so I can actually record using a mic to get better quality sound.

Back to The Plan...

2) Find Other Musicians To Play With
I'm still processing my recent experience playing with "The Sociables". It gave me the hunger... the desire to run with a pack rather than starve at home, alone. It also taught me that practice rooms are actually accessible. I've looked up a few locally and on Saturday I visited one of them, Husky Studios, which is less than half a mile from our loft. I had a quick chat with the receptionist, took an up-to-date list of their rental equipment and checked out their notice board. I think it's a good idea to print up an advert and post it there.

Studio Lounge is also close by, and is slightly cheaper than Husky. When I get the chance I'll check them out, too. Apparently they were used to record a lot of the Stock, Aitken & Waterman stuff in the 80's. I'm not certain that's a good thing...

I've had a few responses from band websites, notably Party Sounds. We'll see where they lead.

3) Get Out There
I'm going to focus on finding other musos for a bit, but I'm still going to consider doing the open mic thing. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks I'll get to check out a couple of new ones, maybe network a bit. Items 1 and 2 are my priority right now, though.

And I'm going to add number 4 to the list:

4) Sing More... And Improve!
I've managed to convince myself that I can hold a tune well enough that it's worth trying to improve my vocals. I'm going to look into courses. In the meantime I'm going to try to sing more and record myself more, to see where I can improve.

In other news, I just finished reading "Guitar Man" by Will Hodgkinson. A most inspirational novel! Axe Victim put me onto it as it chronicles the adventures of a guy who decided one day that in 6 months time he'd be playing guitar in a band. Sound familiar? It's not great art, but it's funny and contains many 'I've been there' moments. Like Axe said, I AM Guitar Man!

I can add one more to the summer's concert list: Jason Mraz at the Shepherds Bush Empire. Tickets went on sale on Saturday at 9am.

Last but not least, I really need to find a way to make more time. A good choice would be to change job. This morning it took me 2 hours to get into the office, which sadly isn't unusual. My average commute is about 3 hours a day. If I can get those hours back somehow, I'll be much more productive on weekdays.

Action Plan Update... 289 Days To Go!

First off, I've decided to start using people's full first names instead of commuting them to initials. If anyone doesn't like being referenced, let me know! It's simply getting too confusing as I sometimes forget to do it!

1) Get Good
Check! Or at least I reckon I'm on track. I'm much more confident playing (the inevitable stage fright notwithstanding). Getting good is a continuous process, but even if it's just strumming up a storm on rhythm, I'm there. I learnt a lot of useful stuff on the WAES course that I'm putting into practice.

There's been lots of good advice flying around about how to keep improving, including stuff on IG Blog about learning one new thing a day. With that in mind I've dug out all my back issues of "Guitar Techniques" magazine so that I can reference new licks if I get stuck for something fresh to learn.

Now that Red (my electric) is back on the team I can start playing loud and proud again.

2) Record Demos
Still haven't really started on this one. I have a few ideas for new songs and a couple of covers I'd like to do. Time to focus on this one, maybe with some outside help!

3) Look The Part
Actually, not doing badly. The gym's been paying off. The Fillmore Five Project's officially endorsed No. 1 Groupie (Hey Diana!) noticed over the weekend that I'd bulked up. Just need to stay away from beer and pizza (like that's going to happen!)

4) Get Out There
Over the past weeks I've been trying to put out feelers using 'find a band' type web pages. Not much luck on that front, mostly because of ageism. It's okay to be 18 and useless, but if you're over 21 you're OUT! In fairness, it may just be a generational thing, in that older people don't use those sites much? Dunno. I'll keep on with the websites, but I need to explore other avenues, too, possibly local newspapers, putting cards in shop windows etc.

It's looking a lot more possible for collaboration with Gayan from the WAES course, which would be cool. He's really enthusiastic about making music. What I can't tell right now is whether he's only really interested in a solo gig. I need to email him to make sure I maintain contact over the next few weeks. Collaboration's also possible with an old friend, Nigel, who's getting back into playing again after taking a sabbatical.

At some point I have to grow some cahones and front up to the open mic thing. I'm going to fall flat on my face but that's part of the process, isn't it?

So where to go from here?

I feel like I have clear blue skies and right now I can see for miles. The 'Get Good' action is now on autopilot so I can shift focus away from that. Same thing goes for the 'Look The Part' one. Any look I go for is going to evolve from where I'm 'at' musically and who I'm playing with... just no flares, okay? And no spandex!

Which pretty much means that recording demos is the next big thing. 289 days to go and my new, improved action plan now goes something like this:

1) Record Demos

2) Find Other Musicians To Play With

3) Get Out There

Everyone's A Player

I just looked at the calendar. We're up to "Day 70", almost a fifth of the way through the year. Am I 20% of the way to being a Rock God?

I don't feel ready to perform solo, but that's more to do with not having a singing voice at all. When the weather settles down, though, I plan on taking Blackie out into public places to strum and maybe pick out a tune or two.

I'm pretty confident that if I can get together with people who are already 'making music' then my playing is strong enough not to let me down. So, I figure I'm ready to get into the whole band type situation, I just have to make it happen. Surely I can do that with four fifths of the year remaining?

I've been keeping an eye on various 'join a band' websites and one of the issues I keep running into is my age. In a year and a half I'll be forty (wow!) and the mere fact of me having been on the planet soooo long seems to count against me. Most ads require applicants to be under 25, with many looking for players who are no older than 18! I figure I could pass for 30 in flattering light and youf-ful clothing, but 18? Not a chance!

I'll just have to figure out how to get round that issue... It's not going to stop me.

On Sunday night we were out at a bar in the Old Truman Brewery area of Shoreditch when we spotted our next door neighbours at one of the tables. They moved into our building a few months back and we don't really know them. I'd had a couple of glasses of wine and I figured I'd go over, say hi and apologise for the noise. With Tim away I hadn't really been showing much restraint in the volume department. They said that they didn't mind at all (they kind of look like they're rockers, anyway) and that they were really impressed as I have 'great tone'!

!!!!!

Turns out that the guy (as opposed to the gal) plays a little guitar, but doesn't have an amp at the moment. I let him know that he's welcome to borrow my Marshall any time he wants. Hopefully I won't live to regret that offer... his eyes lit up when I told him it dishes out 100W...

Day 50...

Action plan review time. Let's see how I'm doing...

1) Get Good
You know what, I actually feel like I'm doing okay on Action Plan Bullet Point Number 1. I've been really focussed during practice sessions and I feeling really plugged into the guitar right now. That's obviously more true for Blackie, the Ovation. I've been concentrating on the acoustic for the past few weeks because of the WAES course I'm on. I pull Red (the Les Paul) out from time to time, but I try not to practice too much on it as Teacher-Man says NO! I think the emphasis on the acoustic will pay dividends in the long run as my technique and tone are really improving. It's much easier to go from acoustic to electric rather than the other way around.

2) Record Demos
I have yet to start on Number 2, but my original plan was to work on 1 through to the end of February, so I'm not too bothered.

According to my schedule I have the weekend of the 8th March all to myself as Tim's on a residential course from Friday through Sunday. Probably a good opportunity to work on some tracks. I have a few ideas for songs but I need time to 'woodshed' them, record rough backing tracks and so on. Note to self: collect delivery food flyers and fill refrigerator with beer!

Hey, and I'm not doing too badly learning "Taylor" so I can always record a version of that! Just need to get Tim to stand still long enough to do the vocals, unless I can find someone off the internet to collaborate with.

3) Look The Part
Look, I've not invested in a make-over, but hey, as long as I have my Merrell shoes, baggies and a fistful of hair gel I figure I can fake it...

Okay, maybe I do need to work on this more... I know one thing for sure, I'm NOT going to start back-combing my hair like the guy in the Southwark Tavern the other night. That look was so retro it was WAY ahead of its time.

4) Get Out There
I started off the year going along to a lot of open mic stuff. Didn't network much, but hey, at least I was going. Recently I've not had the time, BUT I have been going to the Guitar Improvers class, which has to count for something. It'd be neat to try to keep in touch with the other WAES students. None of them seem like freaks (at least not from my perspective!) I'm going to push for a continuation course to be run, but something tells me that there may not be sufficient interest.

Tim and I are supposed to be meeting up with an ex-work colleague of his who had his own band but who's now playing second guitar for someone else. He says he's keen to start playing drums again and seemed to be suggesting that I join in the fun. We'll see what comes of that. At least it'd be good to see him and his new band play, hang out with them etc. The only challenge is that his preferred style of music is a world apart from mine, so we may well start off headed in opposite directions.

I still have to set up MySpace pages etc, too, so that I can get some proper internet presence going to link to on 'band finder' websites. Nothing fancy, just songs, a few photos etc.

Action Plan Update

Okay, so I'm 16 days into 2008. It's a bit early to lay out my whole action plan, but I do have 3 steps. In reality some of these steps will overlap, but I think it's valuable to lay them out so that I have something to focus my efforts.

1) Get Good
As before, I need to start off this year with practice, practice, practice. If I'm not ready to jam with other people and actually sound credible then I'm not going to get anywhere.

2) Record Demos
I've recorded stuff before but I always tend to focus on the detail rather than the big picture. Take the embedded mp3 test file I posted last week for example. It started off as a jam track for me to practice guitar over and I ended up spending hours recording harmonica parts. What I need to do is take a step back and realise that all I need to do is set up a SIMPLE repeating drum loop, add sparse rhythm and then practice/record lead over that. That way I'll actually be spending time refining my guitar playing rather than wasting hours piddling around on the computer. The other side of that is that I fall into the trap of recording what's meant to be a backing track then jump straight into trying to tape the lead on top, usually in piecemeal fashion. What I should do is burn the backing track then go away and spend time polishing the lead performance in its entirity.

3) Get Out There
I'm already on a number of 'find a band' type websites and have been to some open mic's etc but once I've got some material to showcase I need to get it out there and get myself out there more. How? I'll probably set up a MySpace page for 'The Band', but also maybe hand out cards at open mic's..? Find a local music store and put up a notice? Obviously I haven't worked out the details of how to become visible, but it's gotta happen.

Running in parallel with the other action plan steps is another task. I need to get myself an image. Even at the open mic's I noticed that each performer went to the effort of making sure they looked distinctive (with the exception of the blind guy, who obviously got some dodgy pointers from somewhere... possibly a partially sighted or colourblind friend?). Creating an image is going to be a two step process.

First off I have to 'Look Good Naked', that is that I need to lose a few pounds. I'm not at all unhappy with the 210lbs of solid muscle that I cart around each day; it's the additional 20lbs of loose fat gained over the holiday season that's weighing me down. Since coming back to work I've swapped my high-fat, overstuffed foccacia roll lunches for lean turkey sandwiches and fruit. I'm already noticing the difference, much to my surprise. I just have to keep it up to keep it off. I'd settle for the Kenski of 9 months ago on Mykonos island...




The flip side of the coin is that my wardrobe doesn't exactly say 'Rock Star'... it says 'Bloke'. Y'know I could just play stripped to the waist (with the guitar covering my burgeoning midriff) and back-comb my hair, but I think at close to 40 that might not be a good look for me. I ain't Iggy Pop!

Maybe I should start with a new 'do. Something office-friendly by day, cutting edge by night...

Action Plan, Part 1

Okay, so I've set myself the goal of going from being a bedroom noodler to a guitar god with a band (preferably a gigging band) before the end of 2008. The question is, how to I go from zero to hero in 12 short months. I figure what I really need is an action plan, broken down into small achievable chunks.

Step 1: Get Good

Since being credible is a fundamental requirement for convincing other people to play in a band with me, I need to spend some time nailing down the basics. At this time I'm not a bad guitarist per se, but I definitely need to get grooved and find some kind of focus.

I need to commit myself to practicing every single day, no matter what. That's easy when you're young, free and single. Not so easy when you don't fit into any of those boxes. I'm 38, need to work hard to make ends meet and have a husband, TT, whose schedule often conflicts with mine. Over the coming year, though, I hope to have a reasonable amount of free time as TT will be studying for his second Masters degree! TT doesn't know about the Fillmore Five Project... shhhh! Don't tell him! It's a surprise!

Getting good is also a confidence thing. Right now I don't feel ready to put myself out there, even if it's just to jam with other people. I know I probably am ready, but I want to be in the zone.

So, that's Step 1. I'm giving myself until the end of February to get good enough to start looking for other players.

The Continental Divide

Musically speaking I've drawn a blank so far this year, but that's not surprising as I've been in the US for the past two and a half weeks visiting in-laws and friends over Christmas and New Year's respectively. Our travels took us from Kansas City to Springfield MO, then Houston TX and back again.

For me, the highlight of the trip came on our last proper night out. We'd arranged to hook up with a friend of ours from London who was visiting friends of his in Kansas City. Cutting an extremely long and event-filled story short, one of his friends turned out to be into music, too. We spent a while talking shop, getting liquored up and trading shirts... as you do. He seemed like a real fun dude (there's a joke in there, for the initiated!) Hopefully we can stay in touch with him... He did send us a message suggesting that he might try to make his way over to London some day. Sounds like a good time to me.

Anyway, here I am at the start of 2008, starting from zero. What I really need is some kind of action plan to help me get from the gutter to the stars.