The Stormcock Community

I was pleased to see eight of us signed up for the class, including a female. As I play mostly by ear (with my fingers) I felt a little slow getting up to speed, even though I understood everything in the lessons given us to practice for next week. Five pages with variations on typical/classic blues lines. Marty kept mentioning Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn with a sprinkling of BB KING. Most of the lessons echo SRV.

My problem is I think I stink until I figure out how, or am able to play something, then I think it's so easy I must not be very good. I need to review my SRV to see if I can hear how certain parts should sound (i.e. how much "swing" or what I think Marty called "hoppy-ness," as the six-line notation/tabs has very little of that).

My style has developed over the years from being almost entirely self-taught (if you don't count all the lifts I've gotten from various live videos). In third grade I had 5-6 months of violin. Seventh Grade I had three guitar lessons where I learned the "E" and "A" major chords, also how to strum (a no-brainer). A year of Piano lessons in Eighth Grade taught me how to read music, but I was so mediocre my teacher moved away. Had plenty of experience in school and church Singing (my best instrument). I have an excellent vocal range (when I practice) and can sing/hum/whistle almost any tune I hear (which, I understand is the true definition of "perfect pitch").

I picked up guitar again in College after my two main girlfriends (one at a time) both played and wrote their own songs. I had recorded an idea for a song with only vocals (two cassette recorders). I bought a used electric guitar from a younger classmate, Jim Trippe (grandson of Pan Am founder Juan Trippe, played by Alec Baldwin in "The Aviator") who had his own four-track recorder and also wrote his own songs. I had lyrics and melody for a theme song for my screenplay "The Shuffle" in a matter of hours, but took a couple years to figure out accompaniment.

My guitar playing up to now has been almost entirely dictated by my interest in song writing (melodies and lyrics come from my head). I can play five ZEP tunes fairly well as I sing the lyrics, a couple jazz tunes and a few others. I write for guitar when I'm experimenting or learning a skill or looking for accompaniment (60-70% the lyric comes second). The secret to writing good music (like creating good art) is to do a lot of it, and only play the really good stuff. Often times, a good riff is hard to recall the next day, unless it infects you, grows and/or has lyrics. I have hundreds of rejected lyrics.

Back to the class--I play with my fingers, so Marty didn't like my trying the "rakes" without a pick. I then tried my pick, but when I got home, I tried imitating the sound with my thumbnail and it sounded pretty good (for something that is more noise than music). The drawback to playing with fingers and nails is you don't get the same sound--not as much attack, not as loud, not as clear. The advantages of playing with fingers is you have five of them and can use them in more different ways than a pick. For me, it's much easier to find the right string with my fingers feeling around. How Jimmy Page plays some bits with a pick and three fingers independently at the same time is amazing. I agree with Roy's high praise for Jimmy. I love it when I catch the amazing riffs thrown in by other guitar "gods" too.

I wonder if I'm really supposed to do certain parts with a hammer-on, and I do one bit with pull-offs that Marty didn't indicate. It's funny how some bits I play are comparatively easy to parts I've written myself, yet I'm having more trouble mastering them for two reasons -- I'm trying to interpret another's piece, and some finger spacings/positions are different than I'm used to. Third reason, I'm trying to learn five pages in one week. For myself, I play fast bits with a lot of hammer-ons, pull-offs, slide- and bend-ups (and downs), but I get to decide how I want to play them/how they should sound.

Anyway, I was inspired to take a class by the podcast. I think it was Matt Churchill who said he took a class, even though he's already an accomplished guitarist. Any excuse to swallow my pride...

Three more classes to go, but it will probably continue. Wish me luck!