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Mostly Musical Updatia
Somewhere along the way, I managed to make my way through the entirety of the Michael Hedges tune Ursa Major. I can play about half the material semi-competently, while the other half remains in the semi-incompetent stage. There is, however, hope.
I also managed to stumble across the Legend section of the Study Notes on Rootwitch.com which clearly indicates what I'm supposed to do with notes represented thusly: (9) Somehow I had missed the existence of this section - or glossed over it - while I was able to determine much of the rest of the stage directions from the individual study notes and from the MPEG tutorials. Of course, I discovered that this morning, and I played the song last night, so the twain should meet as soon as I can get a guitar in my hands. The technique here is simple: play the notes so softly that you can barely hear them; the attack of the pick is louder. Of course, for this particular tune no pick is used, so I'll have to play around - and listen to Michael play the piece - to determine exactly how to play the part.
Without any further documentation, I was able to do the tap harmonics, although they're a lot harder to produce than the slap harmonics. On the surface, they seem to be identical techniques. The slap harmonic is sounded by thwaping the strings with a finger - usually index or middle - over a fret to get the harmonic to ring out across multiple strings. The tap harmonic also involves striking over a fret, but it uses the tip of the finger instead of the length. The difficulty with the latter involves getting the note to ring out as a harmonic - it's too easy to just tap the fretted note. That's a common technique, brought to fame - although not invented - by Eddie Van Halen. Getting the quick attack needed to play the passage and combine it with the right touch - a bit softer than usual - isn't as easy as it looks.
Part two of last night's 10 minute practice section was As the World Falls Down - just the vocal melody. I've managed to learn the chorus, so now all I have left to learn are the vocals following the second chorus - essentially, more bits of chorus and ad libs. Such a simple and beautiful melody over a 3/4 waltz.
I didn't even attempt to work further on the music itself - I was half asleep when I went upstairs, and just played through the songs before lying down and drifting off. Actually, I think that's what helped with Ursa Major: I was playing quietly to avoid disturbing Rachel and Brandon, and the song benefits from a light touch.
The day before, I did realize a goof with the bass part I was working on - for the first four measures the bass clef is replaced with the treble clef and I hadn't noticed that. That changed the notes played, and because the fingering was different, helped me realize that the bit is a set of variations on the same arpeggiated chord structure used in the Police's Every Breath You Take. That realization made it easier to play, but both nearby fingerings cause some difficulty with the intro melody. That melody on its own is exceedingly easy, but the two parts just don't fit together - as written - on the same guitar neck. With one of the fingerings, I lose the signature slide if I want to hold the notes that are supposed to ring out; with the other, I'm not even able to get near the melody part. I'll still have to mess around with it and see what compromise works out the best.
~ ~ ~
This afternoon I have to take care of Justin's birthday present. We won't be giving it to him unitl his birthday - a week away - but I have to take steps to get it ready. Next year at this time we'll have to see if we have a spare car lying around. Of course, I watched him and his cousin - who drove up after dropping![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dragonflypug at the Schoolhouse with Deb and 1jadedhart - play GT3, and after seeing them bounce a Dodge Viper off wall after wall after other Viper, I'm not quite sure how he'll do on the road...
~ ~ ~
In other news, Brandon likes to go "out-ide" so we've been spending more time doing so. This can be difficult for Rachel, especially, who wants to Catch 'em AllR. Justin is generally happy to go out, provided someone is there to toss a baseball or frisbee or kick a soccer ball back and forth - which generally means "not me" because I don't like to let Brandon wander alone around the yard, more so after the close call last year with the bear. I really don't want to find out how good - or bad - I am at bear wrestling. Rachel doesn't like baseball much after she tried to catch the ball with the side of her face and then, a few days later, her wrist.
I also managed to stumble across the Legend section of the Study Notes on Rootwitch.com which clearly indicates what I'm supposed to do with notes represented thusly: (9) Somehow I had missed the existence of this section - or glossed over it - while I was able to determine much of the rest of the stage directions from the individual study notes and from the MPEG tutorials. Of course, I discovered that this morning, and I played the song last night, so the twain should meet as soon as I can get a guitar in my hands. The technique here is simple: play the notes so softly that you can barely hear them; the attack of the pick is louder. Of course, for this particular tune no pick is used, so I'll have to play around - and listen to Michael play the piece - to determine exactly how to play the part.
Without any further documentation, I was able to do the tap harmonics, although they're a lot harder to produce than the slap harmonics. On the surface, they seem to be identical techniques. The slap harmonic is sounded by thwaping the strings with a finger - usually index or middle - over a fret to get the harmonic to ring out across multiple strings. The tap harmonic also involves striking over a fret, but it uses the tip of the finger instead of the length. The difficulty with the latter involves getting the note to ring out as a harmonic - it's too easy to just tap the fretted note. That's a common technique, brought to fame - although not invented - by Eddie Van Halen. Getting the quick attack needed to play the passage and combine it with the right touch - a bit softer than usual - isn't as easy as it looks.
Part two of last night's 10 minute practice section was As the World Falls Down - just the vocal melody. I've managed to learn the chorus, so now all I have left to learn are the vocals following the second chorus - essentially, more bits of chorus and ad libs. Such a simple and beautiful melody over a 3/4 waltz.
I didn't even attempt to work further on the music itself - I was half asleep when I went upstairs, and just played through the songs before lying down and drifting off. Actually, I think that's what helped with Ursa Major: I was playing quietly to avoid disturbing Rachel and Brandon, and the song benefits from a light touch.
The day before, I did realize a goof with the bass part I was working on - for the first four measures the bass clef is replaced with the treble clef and I hadn't noticed that. That changed the notes played, and because the fingering was different, helped me realize that the bit is a set of variations on the same arpeggiated chord structure used in the Police's Every Breath You Take. That realization made it easier to play, but both nearby fingerings cause some difficulty with the intro melody. That melody on its own is exceedingly easy, but the two parts just don't fit together - as written - on the same guitar neck. With one of the fingerings, I lose the signature slide if I want to hold the notes that are supposed to ring out; with the other, I'm not even able to get near the melody part. I'll still have to mess around with it and see what compromise works out the best.
~ ~ ~
This afternoon I have to take care of Justin's birthday present. We won't be giving it to him unitl his birthday - a week away - but I have to take steps to get it ready. Next year at this time we'll have to see if we have a spare car lying around. Of course, I watched him and his cousin - who drove up after dropping
dragonflypug at the Schoolhouse with Deb and 1jadedhart - play GT3, and after seeing them bounce a Dodge Viper off wall after wall after other Viper, I'm not quite sure how he'll do on the road... ~ ~ ~
In other news, Brandon likes to go "out-ide" so we've been spending more time doing so. This can be difficult for Rachel, especially, who wants to Catch 'em AllR. Justin is generally happy to go out, provided someone is there to toss a baseball or frisbee or kick a soccer ball back and forth - which generally means "not me" because I don't like to let Brandon wander alone around the yard, more so after the close call last year with the bear. I really don't want to find out how good - or bad - I am at bear wrestling. Rachel doesn't like baseball much after she tried to catch the ball with the side of her face and then, a few days later, her wrist.