SUNRISE - February 8, 2011

“You don't need somebody to interpret for you what a beautiful sunrise it is.” -  Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh 

Tuesday.  Music lesson day.  A half hour is not enough.  Am contemplating  extending it to an hour each week.  Regardless of how much I practice alone during the week, jamming with my teacher and learning little tips about rhythm and technique is amazing.  Practicing something not quite correct for hours and days doesn't add up to much progress at the end of the week.  I brought my video camera with me today, aimed at the neck of my guitar, to record my technique and the sound (and the corrections - ha).

Mostly worked on "Some Kind of Wonderful" tonight.  We updated the music notes to reflect a few little nuances we hadn't put into the original tabs. Sounding better. As a wanna-be Rock  Star I was blown away by this included You Tube clip of Grand Funk.  Tell me true, is that not me on the bass in the opening of this punky home concert video from 1998?  Same build, glasses, and for God's sake, that's my pony tail.

This is definitely an omen (An omen (also called portent or presage) is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change.) .

Also worked a bit on "Smoke on the Water"...tonight I couldn't remember the name of the song for the life of me...only could conjure up 'Snake on the River'...almost right...ha.  Practiced all week - got pretty good, except the rhythm was wrong.  Like baking a cake and discovering you used a half cup of salt instead of half a teaspoon.  Toss it out and start over.   This version is Deep Purple with the London Symphony which shows that Sarah (cello), Lise (violin)  and I (electric bass) could actually play on the same stage...ha.

 To testify that I am not just caught up in the imaginary Rock Star image and to further prove that getting at up at 0-dark-30 in the morning to witness the grandeur of the daily sunrise has made me more of a Renaissance Man, I thoughtfully submit this alternative classic orchestral version of Smoke on the  Water that only my sister could appreciate, all the while dancing with her golden boots.  

 Smoke on the Water clip #2 (I defy you to):

a.   watch the whole thing

b.   stay straight-faced

c.    not think of Monty Python

d.    not think of Austin Powers

e.    not thank God we didn't experience the 70's in Sweden.

f.     wonder how the hell did these guys get a professional orchestra to play with them and stay serious...

 

rlw