Workshop #4

For this workshop we each had to compose a solo for the tune Scrapple from the Apple. While I was writing mine, I added a large amount of alterations to the dominant chords and I didn't pay much attention to phrasing at all, so the end result was mostly 8th notes with some very tricky fingerings and outside sounding melodies. In short, I couldn't play it up to speed. However, I learned from it that phrasing is just as important as the notes, and someone can make a solo with half the notes sound better.

Workshop #3

This workshop went a lot faster than the other ones did. We learned about middle ground improvisation, which deals with improvising off of the V (dominant) chord and fits in the key, in the middle of a ii V I progression, which is what jazz mostly consists of. We also dealed with the alterations of the 5 chord, including the flat 9th and 13th. Our assignment for the next workshop was to write a solo for Scrapple from the Apple and practice it at a fast tempo. This wasn't the challenge, the challenge was notating it.

Workshop #2

In this workshop we started playing actual tunes including Scrapple from the Apple and My Little Suede Shoes, both by Charlie Parker. Dave also introduced us to the 12 bar blues form, which most of us knew beforehand. I was proud of myself because Dave told me that my melodic phrasing had actually improved a little since the last workshop, and knowing that I did work on it assures me that practice does indeed help. The next thing I need to work on however are descending arpeggios and triads, and my comping style.

Workshop #1

The first workshop was just an introduction from Dave Lalama and his explanation of Jazz and theory and such. He chose a song for us to work on, "Scrapple from the Apple" by Charlie Parker, and gave us other homework as well such as scale and arpeggio excersizes. The song wont be tough for me because I already know how to play the head and blow over the A section, but I do need to refresh my memory for the B section, which is actually the B section from I Got Rhythm. What a lot of bebop musicians would do in the 40s when they wanted to play a tune without paying royalties is that they would just use the chord progression since that isnt able to be copyrighted, and make up their own melody over it. The A section of "Scrapple from the Apple" uses the chords from the A section of "Honeysuckle Rose."

The arpeggio excersizes however, will be a great workout for me because it will force me to learn new arpeggio shapes to fit in with the specific notes that Dave wants us to play. I really look forward to our next workshop on Tuesday.

Monday's presentation

First of all, I feel that I could've done much better on my book's presentation. I was unprepared for discussion, and my public speaking skills are not up to par with what they should be. However, I do feel that my book has some extremely interesting and useful pieces of information, not only the information that I mentioned in class but also the concepts that are way over my head. It's too bad, but I believe that the entire book might be way over my head as a whole at this point.

Artist's Statement

First and foremost, I'm a guitarist. I didn't think when I joined STAC that I'd be improvising, analyzing films, and even grid drawing. I didn't think I'd be able to do any of these things either. So I want to say that I'm thankful that STAC has pretty much opened me up to everything the world of art has to offer. I was exposed to jazz for the first time two years ago at STAC nite when the Girl From Ipanema was played, and even something as small as hearing that song has changed me. I'm far from the person I was two years ago; people are astonished when I tell them all the crap that I listen to and appreciate.

I do and learn about art for my own pleasure. Learning something new feels good, something I noted after sitting down and learning the building blocks of an entirely different genre of music I had no idea about. I want to continue to get this feeling in whatever I might do.

Core values and issues

I think the most prominent core value to me is the sense of hearing. Music is one of my favorite things, so it becomes obvious that this is important to me. Another value is a sense of obscurity and questioning. I'm into obscure things, such as underground music (again going with sense of hearing) abstract ideas such as science fiction as well as astronomy. If I didn't want to be a musician I would probably want to be an astronomer. I'm having a hard time thinking of a third core value, but I'm thinking it would have to do with having a close set of friends.

An issue that comes up for me fairly frequently, even in my guitar playing, is also one of my core values, obscurity. I'm always looking for obscure chord voicings, scale fingerings, and arpeggios to try out and integrate into my own playing. For example, when I first started learning jazz guitar, I learned about basic substitutions such as playing E-7 instead of Cmaj7, or playing F#7 instead of C7, a common tritone substitution. Before I started getting into this kind of music, I had no idea that these chords were even used widely, and I'm sure most "shredders" who go into guitar center or wherever have no clue about them or how to use them either. I can remember one time I went there to buy strings and I ended up testing a few different guitars. It was pretty typical, a lot of loud rock and blues players. I was playing a simple rhythm changes in Bb and slowly started to add on ornaments such as walking bass, extensions, and altered extensions and most of the store went silent. I wasn't even playing loud. I guess that's the power of obscurity.

Do over.

For me, writing is both the easiest thing and the hardest thing. When I have ideas and I know exactly what to write, it'll come out in maybe 10 minutes tops. If not, that blinking thing at the top of the page will stay there for the same amount of time. The hardest part is actually gathering all my thoughts and letting them out cohesively.

Almost everything I've done since the last do over has been college related. I finished my PiG paper, which allows me to graduate, and I've auditioned for Hofstra and just auditioned for Adelphi today, both on classical guitar. Now that auditions are almost over, I want to start focusing on jazz again. I bought a jazz chord book from Berklee, so I want to learn all the altered dominant voicings and inversions in there, then crack open my Real Book and just go through and play every song in there. This may or may not qualify as doing something "amazing," as most professional jazz musicians know pretty much all the songs in any given Real Book. This is just something for me to think about doing.

Again I'm sitting here with that thing just blinking at me from the screen, trying to think of what to write next. I have very little to do this upcoming semester, so my idea presented before should keep me busy for a while. Also, I know I've been neglecting this blog a lot, and I'm going to try to blog at least once or twice a week.

I'm going to end this post with a video of my jazz inspiration Joe Pass. There was a 6 part post on youtube of one of his instructional DVD's that taught me everything about jazz when I was starting it at the end of last year, and unfortunately the only part of it left is the intro:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFqiDcvRW2Y

wishful drinking?

To end a really lazy vacation that pretty much consisted of me playing guitar every day for a few hours, eating, and going to sleep, me and my family went to see Carrie Fisher on Broadway. For people reading who don't know, she was Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, and daughter of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. The tickets were ten dollars a seat, which was actually a pretty good deal considering all four of us are Carrie Fisher and Star Wars fans.

The production started with her singing, and the rest of it was pretty much just a stand up routine. She detailed her parent's life and affairs, joking that her daughter and one of her friends might actually be related just "by scandal." Other topics covered included her bipolar disorder, addiction to codeine and alcohol, and that's pretty much it. For ten dollars a ticket, it was worth it, but any higher and I wouldn't see it unless I was a die hard Carrie Fisher fan.

workshop #2

On Friday we started out with finishing up the discussion about Zach's script. The next one was Elisa's which opened up really effectively by establishing a close friendship.
Mine was next, which was about two guitarists in a band, one a nervous wreck and another one pretty much normal. The nervous one eventually snaps, violently blows up a bus, blames it on a "guy with a leather jacket and hood" (Kontroll reference, heh) and then finally confesses to his friend. While I was writing it, I really wasn't paying attention to whether or not it would be shootable.
What I took from the workshop is that something much less drastic could have the same effect, such as smashing a guitar instead of a bus. This would be much more personal and effect the audience much more than an exploding bus, which is completely impersonal, not to mention very expensive to shoot. I'm currently re-writing it, with much better choices in shots.

workshop #1

Really interesting workshop. The focus wasnt on plot points as much as it was on changing and refining what was already written. Of the scripts that were read on Tuesday, I'd say my favorite was Cassie's. In my opinion it could make a really cool short film. I think her script is cool mostly because it could work with any two actors of any age group. Because it isn't specified, it could be two teenagers, two adults, or even two senior citizens. It involves two people who are presumed to be involved with each other, in a race. One of them wins (I forgot which one) and then they kiss, and it ends.
We ran out of time just after reading Zach's script. It was also about love, but this time it is much more direct. The main character accuses his friends of conspiring against him in order to win over his ex girlfriend. All in all, I didn't get as much from this workshop as I did Friday's.

Hmm

I've come to realize something: when formally trained musicians get together to make heavy metal music, it will always suck, or it will be amazing. There is no middle ground. The bands are either focused so much on the individual parts that the virtuosity of the single members does not add up to the whole that it technically should be. On the other hand, bands with high skill levels of composition will look past single instruments and solos and realize that composition is key.

Let's start with the bad: Dream Theater. While they're not the worst band I've ever heard, (and I'll openly admit to liking their album Metropolis II: Scenes) they're an example of how NOT to write songs. Pretty much every member has some form of formal music training, such as the guitarist and bassist, who both went to Berklee College of music, but it simply doesnt add up. What you get is 10-20 minute songs with emphasis on showing off and flashy soloing. While this may be somewhat interesting for the first couple of times listening to them, to me they are superficial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkF4JD2rO3Q

On the other hand, there are bands who's level of composition is so high that there isnt really any room for them to be showing off much. Swedish band Spawn of Possession is a pretty good example of the good side. With most of the members being formally trained, they are naturally more influenced by ensemble music such as Shostakovich and Bach than they are by death metal, although it definitely shows through. They make knowing use of counterpoint and compositional technique such as fugues. Contrasting with the metal makes them quite interesting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA7lBgn8Ukc

The German band Defeated Sanity is similar to the previous example in that they work together to form a cohesive unit. However, with them, the focus has moved away from melody and instead has moved to texture and sound. The bassist (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJEMHyFxUB4) and the drummer are both classically trained, yet from hearing them you probably would never guess. They are death metal of the heaviest kind, but they are so much better than pretty much all others. When trying to write this kind of music, a lot of bands just go for random notes and powerchords, but Defeated Sanity found a way to actually write it musically: Arnold Schoenberg's 12 tone technique. Combining this with very lucid knowledge of rhythm and syncopation yields some interesting results. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awlUcEQ8qt8&feature=related)

Magazine/film

The thing I thing I could do to contribute the most to the magazine project would be to write reviews of music CDs, whether new or old. I think the best way for that to work would be for the people in STAC to vote on CDs they want to see reviewed, and the one which gets the most votes will get a passage written about it. I would prefer it to be a CD that I haven't heard before so it could be as unbiased as possible.

From Wedneday until Friday was an eye opening experience for me, mainly because I had never worked on a film where no editing whatsoever is allowed. Everything had to be not perfect, but still completely correct at the same time. Right before we shot a scene, we had our lines/actions completely memorized, and some of our mistakes show through, such as me laughing in the car before the camera moves into the car. In the end I think that movies this way could actually turn out with a better storyline than an amateur film that did use editing. It's choppier but at the same time less choppy, because of the continuity of the filming. I look forward to making more of these films in the future.

Blindness, and Wagner's Lohengrin.

First of all, I want to say that the time at the community center on Friday was very entertaining. Being led around the building with a blindfold on required a large amount of trust for the person leading you because they could obviously do things to (unintentionally) injure you or make you uncomfortable. That being said, the experience of being blindfolded and being led around was quite similar to one of those amusement park attractions with names such as "Haunted House" or something similar. I felt like I knew what was going on around me, yet there were other times when I was completely uncertain. Going down/up stairs was also completely frightening.

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Richard Wagner, born in 1813 on May 22nd, was a German composer and conductor. He was known mostly for his Operas, which have been a large influence on many composers later on. It is said that his potential as a conductor was not shown until his middle period, when works such as Lohengrin were composed.

Lohengrin is an opera in 3 parts, which takes it's story from a famous German medieval epic poem called "Parzival," and it's sequel "Lohengrin." The opera seems to carry a theme of xenophobia, which is reflected on by Wagner's anti-Semitism.

The instrumentation of the opera was quite large for the time period. Taken from http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/music/kamien/student/olc/33.htm, the instrumentation includes: flutes (3), oboes (3), clarinets (3), bassoons (3), French horns (4), trumpets (3), trombones (3), bass tuba, timpani, triangle, cymbals, tambourine, strings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7prUFflX0_E
The prelude seems to be predominantly in a major key, with a very powerful climax near the end. I will certainly be listening to more of Wagner's works in the near future.

For Hans Carossa

Change and forgotten memories dwell within the fortress of transformation.
loss is our own, yet resides there as well
within it's stone walls and dazzling tapestry.

This place doesn't keep anything to itself.
like a missile fired from a catapult in it's bastion
memories spiral and sputter out of control

and land around us
in it's perfect circle


Original poem:
Losing too is still ours; and even forgettingstill has a shape in the kindgdom of transformation.
When something's let go of, it circles;
and though we arerarely the centerof the circle, it draws around us its unbroken, marvelous curve.

Mairead Salad

A very exotic dish with no actual name, known to be consumed by the natives of the far off island of Kellegheria. These natives put in their salad, in addition to the usual lettuce and croutons, put in chunks of meat of their fellow Kellegherians and small slices of cheesecake. A small serving for 4 people consists of the following ingredients:
3 cups of lettuce
1/2 cup croutons
3 oz. Kellegerian thigh
4 slices of cheesecake
Served with Italian dressing.

First assignment, yay!

Dina's plotting to take over the UNIVERSE! or maybe just STAC.
No fear!!!
Looks like someone took a real picture and she didnt know until after it was taken
Michelle looks so embarrassed here, hahahah
All the other ones looked staged, but Molly looks like she's answering a question here.
Very good portrait.
Very hard to pick from these. This one had the most natural feeling to me.
If you know Nick, you know that he always makes all of the other faces he made in other pics. This is the first time I've seen this one from him.
The best smile out of all his other pictures.
Very helpful looking. Must be the shirt, haha.
Very natural looking, not planned at all. Nice.
Jess looks very helpful here.
Bobby's in his own little world here.
Genuine laugh.
Fonzie!!!!
No idea what could possibly make Megan make this face. A face like this is possibly encountered once or twice every year. Good to see it was captured on camera!
"It was THIS BIG!!!!"
I like this one 'cause it's the only side portrait.
"NOOO! IT's IMPOSSIBLE!"
No Doug, the triforce power of wisdom won't help you do good on the SAT's.
Again, very hard to choose a picture. This one looks natural.
Cassie looks like she has the best idea in the world right here.
In my opinion, the best portraits are the ones which are spontaneous, and aren't necessarily planned.
Again, not much else to say. Just a really nice pic.
Best pic, nice smile.
"No no, do it this way." Great stuff Becky.
It was hard to pick one for Ashley because they were all very similar, but I thought this one captured the most genuine smile/laugh
Very nice smile, Nicole!
Great first day, no fear! haha!

Leah has a very specific kind of smirk here, as if she just exclaimed "Ohhh, yeah I know about that" or something like that.