Adventures of a Young Musician

My First Piano Lesson

2012-01-26T14:31:00.002-05:00

The title of this blog is a little misleading, because I took piano lessons from age 7-10. After that, I quit to concentrate on more important things, like baseball and bicycles. I just took my first piano lesson in 35 years. Although I'm plenty busy with guitar, a part time church job, and music engraving, it's important to me that I learn how to get around on the keyboard. I want to be read well enough to play church hymns and simple choral accompaniments, and I want to eventually be able to play piano or guitar on a jazz gig.

After my first lesson, I'm confident that I've found a piano teacher who can help me meet my goals. While there are certain general things I'll need to learn, he is already tailoring lessons to include classical and jazz styles.

We spent a good portion of the lesson working on posture and hand position, and I have a few basic position/relaxation exercises to perform before working on anything else.

Since one of my goals is to play hymns, I brought Unitarian hymnal and picked an easy hymn for starters. (For you curious UUs out there, I chose Spirit of Life.) For now, I'm not supposed to worry about speed or even rhythm. Instead, my teacher wants me to move slowly from chord to chord as an extension of the relaxation techniques. I'll gradually gain speed, but right now, it's more important to establish basic posture and hand position.

Finally, we worked on basic jazz voicings. I learned simple voicings for three jazz chords and played them in all keys. Just like guitar, as I work through these voicings, they'll gradually come naturally, and I'll be able to apply them to jazz songs. We'll start working through Autumn Leaves next week.

Aside from the joy of learning another instrument, I can already see how this will help my jazz guitar playing. I've always have a knack for music theory, and my knowledge has deepened as I've explored jazz guitar. The nice thing about the piano is that music theory is laid out right in front of your eyes. When I eventually move beyond basic jazz piano, I'll be able to apply any new knowledge to my guitar playing as well.

With piano lessons, my busy schedule just became busier. I already have a lot on my plate, but I can move things around and make a little more room.

Piano Lessons

2012-01-21T18:10:00.002-05:00

You'll hear very few people say "I sure am glad I quit piano lessons when I was young."

Starting from age 7, I took piano lessons for about 3 years. When I was 10, I switched to a different teacher. The music he chose for me was more demanding. When I was 10 years old, I just wasn't ready to put much extra effort into the piano when I had more important pursuits, like baseball, bicycles, and skateboards. So, I quit piano lessons.

If my parents had forced me to take lessons for another couple years, I may have eventually embraced the challenge of playing more difficult music. I might even be writing this blog as a concert or jazz pianist. 20/20 hindsight. All I can do now is plunk out a voice part…maybe two voice parts if they're in rhythmic unison. If nothing else, learning to read music at an early age gave me a head start when I joined band in 6th grade as a trombonist. (Why trombone? I wanted to play drums or trumpet, but we already had plenty of those. I was a tall boy. The band director looked at me, said "you have long arms," and so trombone it was.)

One of my goals this year is to learn to play piano. There are two main reasons I want to do this: I want to enhance my abilities to perform my church job, and I want to make myself more flexible as a performer.

My job at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation requires me to be proficient on an instrument, but it doesn't specify piano. When I provide music for services, I play the guitar. For choir, we have a paid accompanist, and we have a couple pianists in the congregation who also play for services. I don't need to play the piano at NWUUC, but learning the instrument will make me better at my job. It will be nice to have the flexibility to play hymns on either guitar or piano. Eventually, I would like to be able to play for the choir in a pinch if our paid accompanist has an emergency.

I would also like to be able to play jazz piano. First of all, it just looks like fun. From a purely mercenary point of view, it'll make me more attractive to potential clients. When most clients think of guitar, they seem to picture either folky strumming or screaming rock lead guitar. Even though I have demo recordings on my website, it takes some effort to convince some clients that what I can do is sit down with a guitar and play melodies, chords, and bass lines for a couple hours without singing a note. Once I reach a certain level of proficiency, I'm positive that I'll open myself up to a wider assortment of gigs.

This Thursday, I'll be going to my first piano lesson in 35 years. I believe I've found a teacher who is going to be a good match for my goals. He appears to be 2 parts jazz and 1 part classical. Just like the guitar, this will take some time, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

The Saga Continues

2012-01-13T13:02:00.000-05:00

Around this time last year, I was nearing my weight loss goal. I was running and following a strict but sensible diet. Around March of last year, I finally met my goal and weighed under 200 pounds. Not longer after that, I developed an overuse injury from running.

Over the past several months, I've gained a lot weight again. It happened in increments.

Long distance running is a big calorie burner, and I was able to eat quite a bit and still lose weight. Once I stopped running, I began to lose my focus, but not my appetite. Despite walking and pedaling quite a bit, I gained some weight. Late last summer, I was hired as the music director at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It suddenly seemed like I didn't have time to exercise. The job was only a 10 hour per week commitment, but that's almost the exact amount of time I had been spending exercising. In what was an already busy schedule, my exercise time was directly replaced with the music director job.

Over Thanksgiving, I decided to straighten out my priorities, start exercising again, and tighten up my diet. After some false starts, I began hitting my stride around Christmas time. I didn't have the nerve to step on the scale until last Sunday. I thought that I had maybe gained 30 pounds, so I was bracing myself for somewhere around 230. Imagine my shock when the scale read 258. Shit!

That was the jolt I needed. You can fool yourself into thinking you don't look too bad, but there's no fooling the scale. It will never lie.

I'm motivated first and foremost by the bathroom scale. Also, several people have told me that I helped motivate them to lose weight, and I don't want to disappoint them. Finally, I bought a lot of new clothes when I hit 200 pounds, and I refuse to spend money on a "big boy" wardrobe when that money could be better spent on guitars and gear!

So, the weight loss saga continues. I'm down 9 pounds since my last weigh-in and back on track.

Grateful

2012-01-12T20:27:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, not often, I find my thoughts drifting toward what I don't have. When I notice myself thinking in these negative terms, I can quickly work my way out of it by looking for the silver lining and being grateful for what I have. Here are two examples.

Last night was the NWUUC choir's first rehearsal of 2012. We only had one rehearsal before our first choir Sunday of the year, and I was ready to hit the ground running with a solid rehearsal. It turned out that some of our singers were still out of town, one had a last minute meeting, and one was sick, so the choir was half its normal size. At first, I was disappointed, but my disappointment disappeared once rehearsal was underway. Those who were there sung enthusiastically. We had a terrific rehearsal, we had fun, and we're going to sound good on Sunday. Rather than obsessing about the singers who weren't able to make it, I chose to focus on the singers who were there and give them my all. I love making music with this group. Even though only half the choir was there, I ended rehearsal feeling happy, energized, and ready for Sunday.

If my life had turned out the way I originally planned it, I would be a band director right now at either a large high school or a college, happily married with children, and ensconced in a respectable home. The band director thing fell by the wayside when I discovered that I simply didn't like it! Through a convoluted path, I've ended up living in a basement studio apartment as a divorced freelance musician. Sometimes I catch myself thinking of what could have been, or at the very least, wishing I could afford a bigger place. Lately, something happened that gives me perspective.

A couple weeks ago, I went to Maggiano's to have dinner with friends and listen to another friend, Tom Olsen, play with his jazz trio. It was a pleasant evening, and I left Maggiano's with another entire meal's worth of ravioli. Driving home, I saw a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk next to his shopping cart, surrounded by his stuff, using his fingers to lick the last vestiges of frosting from a plastic tray of cupcakes that he had found in the trash. I stopped the car, got out, and gave him my ravioli and a couple dollars. From the look on his face, you'd have thought I had given him a pot of gold. He cried and thanked me, telling me that I just proved there were still good people in the world.

As I got in my car and drove back home, my studio apartment suddenly seemed like a castle. My small income seemed like a fortune. I may not have the proverbial house and a picket fence, but I have a roof, food, and friends who care about me. In the future, when I find myself wishing I had more, I'll just need to remember that poor homeless man to regain perspective and be grateful for what I have.

Learn Tunes

2012-01-06T00:51:00.000-05:00

Joe Pass is one of my all-time favorite jazz guitarists. He was best known as a solo guitarist. His "Virtuoso" recordings are jaw dropping. My favorite recordings of Joe Pass are his duos with Ella Fitzgerald. I love the mix of solo guitar and understated, "just right" comping for Ella's singing.

Joe Pass' most famous advice for learning to be a good jazz guitarist was to "learn tunes." Many guitarists search for "secrets" of the master players. The big secret is that there is no secret. It all comes down to practice. The more you practice, the more you develop whatever talent you were born with.

While it's necessary to put in the hours, the quality of those hours is also important. This is where Joe's "learn tunes" advice comes into play. You can play technical exercises and develop fast fingers, but nobody wants to hear you play a bunch of scales. When you spend a lot of time learning tunes, you not only develop your technique, but you learn how to use your technique to serve the music and not the other way around. Joe Pass had astounding technique, but at the same time, his improvisation was approachable and melodic.

Last year, I spent too much time working on technical exercises when I should have been learning tunes. I was approaching jazz in guitar in the way I approached classical trombone. Most classical trombonists are ensemble players. They spend most of their time sitting with a handful of other trombonists in the back of a large orchestra or concert band, rarely playing solos. Back then, my job was to be able to sight-read anything you put in front of me. I spent a good portion of my practice time working on very difficult music that you would never hear outside the practice room. My philosophy was that because the exercises I was playing were so difficult, I would rarely encounter a trombone part that I couldn't read perfectly on sight.

It's different with jazz guitar. First of all, I'm a soloist. Even when I'm sitting in as a back-up player, I usually get the nod to play a solo here and there. Second, as a jazz player, I have to improvise. When you learn a lot of tunes, you gradually learn the language of jazz. If you spend a lot of time playing exercises, your improvisation will probably come out sounding like an exercise. If you spend a lot of time playing melodies, your improvisation will come out sounding more melodic.

I'm still practicing my core warm-up exercises of scales, arpeggios, fingerpicking exercises, and licks. I've scaled it back, though, sticking to just the basic exercises so that I have more time to work on tunes and increase my repertoire. It's just the first week of January, and I've already had time to write a guitar arrangement and learn a couple new vocals. I'm discovering that there's another good reason to spend less time on exercises and more time playing tunes: It's more fun!

Fighting the Urge

2012-01-02T23:40:00.000-05:00

In my last blog, I wrote that one of my goals is to weigh 185 pounds by the end of the year. Even after having to stop running due to a knee problem, I've been good about exercising. It's the diet the kills me. When I was training for half marathons, I could eat what I wanted without gaining weight. When I had to stop running, I still had a runner's appetite, and I kept on eating as if I were still burning through lots of calories.

My diet is back under control, but it's being sorely tested these first couple weeks of 2012. Like most dieters, my willpower is weakest at night. It gets even weaker after a gig or rehearsal. You can really work up an appetite performing. There's almost nothing that tastes better than Waffle House or Mexican food after a gig!

I've been rehearsing for a production of Xanadu. The next two weeks are filled with night after night of rehearsals and shows. There is an IHop, a Waffle House, Mexican restaurants, three grocery stores, and several convenience stores on the way home. The temptation to stop and grab a late night meal grows each night.

I know that I'm not alone in craving foods at night, and that, like me, some of you may also have unusual schedules and find yourself traveling in the evenings.

You may have your own strategies. The way I deal with it is to plan ahead. First of all, as I'm watching my diet, I plan my meals for the day. Rather than obsess about what I can't eat, I focus on what I'm going to eat. If I have an evening show, timing is a factor. I'll usually eat dinner about 60 minutes before a show (90 minutes if I'm singing). I'm still hungry after a show, but not as hungry as I would be if I had eaten dinner earlier.

I'm also diligent about choosing restaurants. I prefer to eat dinner near the theater to avoid rush hour traffic and the potential of being late (my biggest pet peeve). It's easy to blow your diet when you're eating out. I always choose a restaurant before I even leave, otherwise my stomach will steer me toward Mellow Mushroom Pizza or Five Guys. I'll usually go with Subway or someplace I can order soup and salad.

I steel myself before each rehearsal or show, knowing that someone usually bakes cookies or brings treats. Today I succumbed and accepted a cupcake (yum!). After the show, I do my best to resist the urge to stop for food. I'm not beating myself up over that cupcake, I resisted Waffle House on the way home, and I pedaled 60 minutes today, so I'd say it was a good day overall. Tomorrow is another day and another rehearsal, so I'll be doing this all again…minus the cupcake.

New Year, New Goals

2011-12-29T09:28:00.000-05:00

At the end of each year, I like to sit down and make a list of goals for the new year. I have a list of overall goals that I'd like to meet by 2016, which will mark my 10th year of playing guitar. Each of those goals is broken up into smaller yearly goals.

I didn't do as well at meeting my goals in 2011 as I would have liked. Circumstances changed that made it nearly impossible to meet a long list of goals that was already challenging. Fortunately, these were positive developments. One was becoming the regular guitarist for Act3 Productions, and the other was becoming Director of Music at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation.

Some of the goals I did not meet included recruiting 20 guitar students, memorizing 50 vocals, recording several backing tracks, and arranging several guitar solos. I found that I simply didn't have the time or energy to meet those goals. The music director job is only a quarter time position, but when I added it to an already busy schedule, my time was stretched pretty thin. It looks like I'll be playing 3-4 musicals a year for Act3 Productions. At my current skill level, it takes a while to learn an entire guitar book for these musicals. In the couple months before a musical, I'll often spend 2-3 hours a day learning my part, so I don't have those 2-3 hours to spend arranging or recording. On the other hand, my guitar playing continues to improve, partially as a result of learning those musicals. I'm finding that it's gradually taking less and less time to prepare for musicals, which gradually allows for more and more time to focus on my own repertoire.

As far as guitar students, I enjoy teaching, but my schedule is filled with music engraving, the church job, practicing, and gigging. If I hadn't landed the church job, I would almost certainly have my 20 students, but I'm not advertising as a teacher these days. If a student approaches me about lessons, I'll teach, but for now, I'm not actively recruiting. If the church job went away, or if music engraving suddenly dried up, I would start looking for students again.

On the plus side, I met my weight goal, I've improved at solo improv without accompaniment, I've written a few arrangements (just not as many as planned), and I've finally become comfortable standing and playing guitar. In fact, now I prefer standing over sitting, unless it's a background music gig.

I'm not making excuses for not meeting some goals. It's just that life happens, things change, and you have to adapt.

In past years, my goals have been centered around guitar or fitness. I'm really enjoying the music director job at NWUUC, which factors into my 2012 goals. Here's my list of goals for 2012:

Improve my fingerstyle playing. I started out mainly as a fingerstyle player. Lately, I've been playing mostly with a pick, but I've been watching a lot of Tommy Emmanuel and Martin Taylor videos, and I'd like to get start getting more creative with my fingerstyle playing.
Weigh 185 pounds. I've gained weight over the holidays, and I'm not very happy with that. I've been good about exercising, but it's time to get my diet back on track. At least I don't have to lose over 100 pounds this time.
Attend a choral conducting workshop. I feel that I'm doing well as a choir director, but my formal training was almost exclusively for band and orchestra. I've spent the first few months of the job getting my bearings, but to be a better music director, I feel it's important to start participating in workshops and clinics.
Start piano lessons. Last year, when I almost won a job at another church, I considered taking piano lessons. When I didn't get the job, I dropped the idea. Now that I do have a music director job, I would like to start developing some piano skills.
Find one more steady music engraving client. A few years ago, I dropped a few clients so I would have more time to focus on guitar. Unfortunately, I went overboard. One more steady client won't affect my overall schedule that much, and I'll be in a better financial position. As a guitarist, I'm still a little fish in a very big sea. As a music engraver, I'm a shark! In my ideal world, I would spend all my time practicing and gigging while money rains down from the sky. For now, most of my money will still be coming in from music engraving, and I'm fine with that.

Playing Sick

2011-12-22T20:38:00.000-05:00

Wow, it sure has been a while since I've blogged. 'Tis the season for performing, and I just haven't had much time for blogging. Fortunately, after this week, I have a little break before a two-week run of Xanadu.

This weekend, I'll be busy leading the music at NWUUC for both the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services, as well as the New Year's Day service in another week. Unfortunately, my body decided to catch a cold yesterday. I don't feel any better today, but I don't feel worse, either. I'm hoping this means I'm already on the mend, and that I haven't caught a slow, long-acting bug.

There's never a good time to catch a cold, but some times are worse than others. For example, if you're a church musician doing a lot of singing for three upcoming services, it's a terrible time to catch a cold! If I were just playing guitar, it would be miserable but doable. Singing with a cold is something else.

So if you have a cold, is it okay to sing? It's a judgement call for me. In my case, my cold seems to be staying in my head and hasn't affected my throat or chest (knock on wood). For me, this means that I should be okay to sing. If my cold travels south, I'll have rethink things.

I'm not a heavy singer. For my style of singing, I use a microphone and don't need to generate the power and projection of a classical singer, so I feel like I can get away with singing with a cold now and then. If I had several performance dates in a row, I would definitely back off. Most likely, I would just play the guitar and bring in another singer.

Not that I enjoy being sick, but I practice more efficiently when I have a cold. Normally, if I have a public appearance coming up, I'll practice my music to death, even if I'm just playing hymns for church. With a cold, I don't have the energy or voice to be able to do that, so I'll practice exactly the amount needed and no more.

The funny thing about music is that, for a brief time, I'll get wrapped up in the music and forget that I'm sick. Last night after choir practice, one of my singers told me that I appeared energetic and not sick at all. I was miserable just before rehearsal, and I was miserable as soon as rehearsal was finished, but during rehearsal, the music gave me an energy boost. The same thing happened today while practicing guitar. It was hard to get started. I just didn't feel like doing anything. I was so involved with pushing my technique, perfecting a solo, and learning my Xanadu part, that I didn't even think about my cold.

Of course, now that I'm finished practicing, I'm tired all over again. I'll be hitting the sack early tonight, hoping I feel a little better tomorrow than I did today.

Never Bored

2011-11-17T22:47:00.001-05:00

A few years ago, when I was living in Chicago and engraving music full time, my schedule was simple: Wake up and engrave until noon. Walk to my favorite sandwich shop (every day) and have lunch. Walk home and engrave until 5 or 6. Have dinner. Read a book, watch TV, or play a computer game. Go to bed. Wake up and do it all again. Wednesdays were a little different, because I volunteered at the Old Town School of Folk music in the afternoon, archiving old concerts by transferring them from DAT to CD. I even worked half days most weekends.

It was a predictable, boring existence, but that changed once I started playing the guitar.

At first, the only difference was that I practiced an hour or two a day. Then I started taking lessons and eventually worked up the nerve to start playing in public…in nursing homes and church, then restaurants, coffee shops, and paid gigs. I knew playing the guitar would add variety to my schedule, but I had no idea!

I started playing with the intention of becoming a fancy fingerpicker of American folk and Celtic music. Then I veered off into jazz and started dabbling in other styles with InTown Band. These days, I have to stay on top of a lot of different things at once. This week is a perfect example. I just finished playing Rent, I'm preparing Christmas music with Tea for Two, I'm performing jazz standards at solo show tomorrow, InTown Band plays a three hour show on Saturday, and I'm conducting a church choir on Sunday! So much for becoming a folk music specialist.

I'm putting a lot of things together – music engraving, teaching lessons, performing, and working as a part time church music director. I haven't talked to other musicians about this, but I suspect that most other freelancers are also putting together a lot of different projects to make it all work.

While I enjoy the variety, sometimes I long for more simplicity. I'm not sure I could handle all my current projects indefinitely. What I think is going to happen is that eventually two or three of my projects will outstrip the others. One of my bands may really start to take off, the part time church job may expand, or I may decide to make a stronger effort to recruit a lot of private students. At that point, I would have to make some hard decisions about which projects to keep or drop. Even then, I'll always have enough going on that I'll never be bored again.

Late!

2011-11-13T19:55:00.001-05:00

Today was the final performance of Rent at Act3 Productions. It was a terrific show, and I'm looking forward to the next one. In January, I'll be playing guitar in Xanadu, and the cast will be on roller skates!

Although this last show went very well, it was marred by one cast member who was 15 minutes late. The audience patiently waited for this key cast member to arrive. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened at Act3 Productions, and I suspect the director will be taking steps to make sure it's the last time it ever happens. It would be one thing if this person had a legitimate excuse for a one time offense, but tardiness was a pattern of his throughout rehearsals. It's safe to say that this person won't be cast in any future Act3 shows. It's really too bad, because he is a talented young performer, but there are other performers out there who are equally talented – and who show up on time.

Many years ago, when I was an undergrad at the University of Illinois, I fired a musician for constantly being late to rehearsals. I was music director for a campus production of The Wiz. There were two violinists. One was okay, and one was really good. The one who was really good was late to every single rehearsal. I fired him because, as great as he sounded, it wasn't fair to the other musicians who showed up on time, and it affected group cohesion. I started to see eyes roll every time he came in late. When I announced that he was no longer part of the orchestra, the sense of relief from the entire group was overwhelming. I never thought I would receive applause for firing someone.

Anyone who has worked with me can tell you that my pet peeve is punctuality. If it's a gig, I'll be there at least an hour beforehand. If it's a rehearsal, I like to arrive at least 30 minutes early. My idea of being late is arriving 5 minutes early. Most people don't realize I'm serious when I say that there's probably an emergency if I'm not there 10 minutes before report time. I've started playing guitar too late in life to ever be the most talented guitarist in town (unless it's a really small town), but my dependability will continue to help me open doors and build trusting relationships with key players.

While I don't expect others to be as chronically early as I am, I do expect people to show up at the time we've all agreed to meet. To me, there are some important reasons to show up on time.

It allows space to prepare yourself mentally and physically for a rehearsal or show.
It shows a respect for the other members of a group. If a rehearsal starts late, I often become resentful, thinking that I could be reading, getting some extra work done, or just taking a little extra time at dinner instead of rushing off to a rehearsal that ended up starting late anyway.
It shows professionalism. When, in contrast to many musicians, you have a track record of showing up when you say you're going to show up, that's a big plus in developing a good relationship with a venue owner or a booking agent. Also, it may cost you money to be late if you've signed a contract that says you'll arrive at the gig site at a certain time.

I hope that today's tardy young performer learns from this experience. He won't be cast in an Act3 Productions show again, but he's young, and there will be other opportunities. If he takes this lesson to heart, he'll become as reliable as he is talented.

Cube-80XL Review

2011-11-10T13:55:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago I blogged about an old friend unexpectedly buying me an amp to return a favor from many years ago. This is a review of that amp, the Roland Cube-80XL. This is not an exhaustive review. The way I use the Cube80 is influenced by my style of play, so there are some features I don't use. If you want to learn everything about this amp, you can check out the Roland website.

The 80XL replaces my Cube-60, which is a terrific amp. I've used the Cube-60 for jazz and with my original group InTown Band, which blends several styles (rock, jazz, blues, reggae, soul, gospel, and whatever else we decide to throw into the mix). I still love the 60. In fact, I'm using it for a current pit gig, leaving it in the theater for the duration of the run while simultaneously using the 80XL for other shows.

I absolutely love the Cube-80XL. The best thing about it is that it just plain sounds great, and for the small to medium venues I play, I have all the volume I'll ever need. It has three channels: JC Clean, Lead, and Solo. The clean channel is modeled after the JC120 (Jazz Chorus 120). The lead channel has an impressive array of amp models. The clean and lead channels each have their own volume control. The solo channel allows you to save settings from both the clean and lead channels, including onboard effects. I've messed around with the various amp models from the lead channel, and they're fun, but with my style of play, the clean channel is all I use.

It has some nice effects on it, including chorus, flanger, phaser, and heavy octave. I especially like the chorus effect. I usually use a chorus pedal, but the onboard chorus sounds great and will do in a pinch. The heavy octave is fun. With this effect on, the amp simultaneously generates an octave below whatever note(s) you're playing. This is no substitute for being able to play octaves the real way, a la Wes Montgomery, but it's fun to turn on the effect and play fast runs in octaves.

You have a choice of spring or plate reverb. I don't use a lot of reverb, but I do like to add a touch of plate reverb. Although the delay effect is nice to have, I prefer to use a delay pedal for more control over the delay effect.

The 80XL has an aux in, allowing me to amplify an MP3 player. This is handy for background gigs where I need to provide music while I'm taking a break. I simply plug in my iPhone, call up one of my playlists, and I've got recorded background music while I saunter over to the buffet table.

You can use foot pedals (not included) to switch all these effects on and off, and you can also use a pedal to switch back and forth between clean and lead channels. The onboard tuner is handy, too.

Aside from the terrific sound quality from the clean channel, my favorite feature is the onboard looper, which allows you to loop 80 seconds of music. You can start recording a phrase by pressing a foot pedal, and you can overdub. The only thing I don't like about the looper is that you can't turn the loop off with the foot pedal (or possibly I have the wrong kind of pedal). This makes it impractical for live performance, but that doesn't matter, since I already own an RC-50 looper. It does come in handy for practicing at home. For example, I can loop some chords ad nauseum while I practice a new lick. I originally intended to only use the Cube 80 for performances and recording while using the Cube 60 as a back-up, but I've found the onboard looper to be so handy that the new amp has become a useful practice tool.

The Roland Cube-80XL is a terrific amp. Between this amp and my old Cube-60, I don't see myself needing another amp for a long time to come.

No Do Overs

2011-11-05T15:52:00.000-04:00

Last night was Act3 Productions' opening night of Rent. The show went very well. This is my third show as a guitarist with Act3. I continue to be impressed that a community theater with mostly teenage singers and actors puts on such amazingly good performances. Act3 won several categories for their recent production of Once on This Island at the Metro Atlanta Theater Awards. This was the first time Act3 had been entered in these awards, and they cleaned house! Act3 Productions has only been existence for about a year and a half. To be putting on such quality performances and winning awards so quickly is impressive. I am grateful to have become Act3's guitarist. I feel like Act3 has a bright future, and I'm lucky to have gotten in on the ground floor.

One thing I love about live performance is the spontaneity. Even when you're in a situation where the show is blocked and the lines are memorized, there are glitches. When you are recording in the studio or filming a movie, you have the luxury of going through multiple takes until you get it right…not so with live performance. There are no do overs. Last night was a case in point, and it was also a perfect example of professionalism and quick thinking on the part of Act3 talented performers.

For one of the numbers, they decided to go with a pre-recorded track instead of the orchestra. (I have no idea why.) It was a solo number for the character "Angel." (Check out the YouTube clip from the movie version.) About a third of the way into the song, the recorded track cut out, and Angel was left singing a cappella. Literally not missing a beat, the other onstage characters started clapping and beat boxing, and then the orchestra joined in, improvising an accompaniment.

After the show, it was decided that the orchestra would be backing the singer, and we wouldn't use the recorded track again. (This was a perfect example of why live performers, mistakes and all, are superior to backing tracks.) Except for the keyboard, all the other parts are marked tacet (which means don't play), so today's assignment was to listen to the track at home and come up with a part to play. Tonight, we'll meet early to rehearse the number. I'm 100% sure that we'll sound great come showtime.

Getting There

2011-11-04T15:16:00.000-04:00

There is an Ira Glass quote that has surfaced recently on Facebook. The quote is condensed from a video that Ira made about storytelling. I've copied this quote from the blog, Design Talk, by John McWade.

"What nobody tells people who are beginners – and I really wish someone had told this to me – is that all of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years, you make stuff, and it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase. They quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know it's normal, and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only be going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambition. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It's gonna take a while. It's normal to take a while. You've just gotta fight your way through it."

Ira Glass is right on the money. There is a definite gap between where I am now as guitarist and where I want to be. Day by day, I'm closing the gap. It will take years to get there, and I'm fine with that. As a musician, I've had my nose to the grindstone in recent years. I try not to compare myself to the musician I will eventually become. Instead, I focus on the here and now, challenging myself with new concepts and increasingly difficult material. Sometimes I look up from the grindstone long enough to realize that I've made some important steps. Little epiphanies here and there have helped me realize that, while I'm not yet where I want to be, I'm getting there. I'm able to play my daily scale routine faster, more fluidly, and more consistently. I'm able to learn new licks and songs more quickly. I was pleasantly surprised at how much more quickly I was able to learn the Rent guitar book compared to how long it took to learn parts for other musicals I've played recently. So, again, I'm not there yet, but I'm making progress. The key has been, and will continue to be, to just play and play and play. Practice at home. Play in public as often as possible, even if it's just for tips and food. Get on a sub list and sit in with other bands. Play wherever and whenever you can.

Our taste guides us in our quest for artistic excellence. There are so many great jazz guitarists out there, and they all serve as my guides to a certain extent. My favorite jazz guitarists from the past include Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery. Some of today's finest guitarists include Tommy Emmanuel, Pat Metheny, Martin Taylor, and Frank Vignola. If I had to pick a living guitarist who most closely matches my own aesthetic, I would have to pick Russell Malone. He has amazing technique, but he often reigns it in and plays some of the most beautiful ballads I've heard on the guitar. Even when he's burning through a solo, he plays melodically and with intention.

Here are a few videos of Russell Malone that represent the future musician I would like to be. In the first video, he's accompanying Diana Krall. His low key comping is masterful, and he plays a beautiful solo. The second clip, Mugshot, shows off his funkier side, and in the third video, he plays a tasty solo guitar version of How Deep Is Your Love (yes, the Bee Gees song).

Balancing Act

2011-10-22T11:53:00.002-04:00

Last month I blogged about relapsing back to my old dietary ways, snuggling up at night with some chips and my two best friends, Ben and Jerry. After some recent struggle, I feel like I'm getting my weight under control again.

These last couple months have been about regaining balance. This past summer, I was exercising a lot, and I mean a lot! Pedaling the stationary bike for up to two hours some days, and walking 10-12 miles, I had it in my head that I would try ultra-marathoning at some point. (Frankly, this still sounds like a cool idea.) The problem was that when I took a church music director job, I didn't have time for this amount of exercise when you also factor in music engraving, practicing, and hustling up gigs.

Suddenly, I felt like I didn't have time to exercise at all. The music director job is only a 10 hour per week commitment, but that's about how much time I was exercising each week. In many respects, I'm an all or nothing kind of guy. Sometimes that plays to my advantage, but this time it got me in trouble. I just stopped exercising, thinking somewhere in my all or nothing brain that if I couldn't exercise for hours at a time, I couldn't exercise at all.

This was wrong, of course, and I've finally found my balance. I may not have time to plop on the stationary bike and pedal for two hours, but I have 30-40 minutes. If I have time to mess around on Facebook or write a blog, I have time to exercise. I can't eat as much as I did when I was working out 90-120 minutes at a time, which is a crying shame, so I've had to regain my balance there, too. It was hard to give up the Ben and Jerry's (again!), but I feel a lot better now that all the sugar is out of my system.

At this point, my newest "skinny clothes" are too tight, but give me a couple months and I'll be wearing them in style again!

Good Karma

2011-10-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

This week, straight out of nowhere, an old friend helped me out in a big way.

This story begins a couple weeks ago, when my amp blew out just before playing a set with Tea for Two at the Oakhurst Arts and Music Festival. The sound man told us that there had been problems with the power all morning. My amp sounded fine until there was a power surge. It emitted a loud POP! and then went dead. The sound man solved the immediate problem by plugging me directly into the system, but after the show, I had to get my broken amp fixed.

Did I say this story begins a couple weeks ago? Sorry, my mistake. This story begins over 15 years ago, when I was a trombone player in an Air Force band. Kurt, a bass player friend, stayed at my apartment for a few weeks while he was going through a particularly nasty divorce. I didn't think anything of it. It's just something that a friend does for a friend, and I enjoyed his company. I'm happy to report that Kurt is happily remarried, and it seems like he's got a great family and is enjoying life.

Fast forward to last week. Kurt and I are Facebook friends. We haven't seen each other since I left the Air Force. We'll write a note to each other occasionally, but for the most part, we do the usual Facebook thing and comment on or "like" each other's status updates, pictures, etc. About a week ago, Kurt sent me a message. He had seen a couple status updates about my ailing amp. He wanted to buy me a new amp, and I wasn't allowed to say no, because it was payback for the time he spent sleeping in my apartment during his divorce. He knew that I would eventually get my broken amp back, but he still wanted to buy me a new amp so that I could have a back-up. I sent a link to the amp that would replace the Cube 60, to give him a clear idea of what I would get, and also to give him an opportunity to back out if it seemed to pricey. (For you gear heads out there, I chose the Cube 80, which is like the Cube 60 on steroids, yet is actually a little less expensive than the Cube 60 was when I bought it a few years ago. Go figure.)

Who was I to refuse this offer?

I thought Kurt was sending a check to cover the cost of the amp. Imagine my surprise when FedEx left an actual amp on my doorstep this afternoon! I'll be putting this new amp to good use in the next few weeks as I play a show with InTown Band, followed by two weeks of Rent, and I can rest easy knowing I have a good back-up amp.

I am incredibly grateful to Kurt for helping me out. It's a real testament to his character that he would offer this kind of support, unsolicited, for giving him a place to crash so many years ago.

Successful Experiment

2011-10-16T00:49:00.000-04:00

Earlier tonight, Tea for Two took a chance and played a special Jazz by Candlelight concert at Zen Tea. We play once a month at Zen Tea, and like most other acts, we play for tips in the dining area. It's obviously not a lucrative gig, but it's a nice place to play. The staff treats us like gold, and it's a beautiful space. I don't play many free gigs anymore, but I enjoy playing at Zen Tea to stay sharp and work on new material.

Zen Tea has a multipurpose back room that is used for meditation, Tai Chi, yoga, and other classes. We store our cases there when we perform. A couple months ago, I was in back with Connie, the owner. I looked around and said, "Have you ever had music back here?" Connie perked up at the idea, and we decided to go for it.

Tea for Two

We were quite persistent with our marketing, putting up posters, energizing our small but growing fan base, sending out emails, and posting on Facebook, etc. Normally, the dining area gig is a "rehearsal gig," but since this was the first show at Zen Tea for which we were selling tickets, we wanted to add some extra polish. We picked our set list early and rehearsed a couple times with Bruce Gilbert, whom we added especially for this show.

The weeks leading up to the show were a little nerve wracking for me. I knew we were going to sound good, but I was a little worried about ticket sales. This was my first experience creating and promoting my own show, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I would have loved for the tickets to sell out the first day, but we're not exactly the Beatles. After the first week, we sold five tickets. After the second week, we sold eight. I was bracing myself for a minuscule showing, but this afternoon, Connie called to tell me we had sold out. As a matter of fact, people were still calling today, and Connie had to inform the callers that there were no more seats available. Full disclosure: With tables added for ambience, the small room held 22 audience members, so we didn't suddenly sell 100 tickets overnight. For our current fan base, this room was just right. As our number of fans grows, we'll gradually be able to fill larger rooms.

Bruce Gilbert

Numbers aside, our show went very well. I was pleased with how we sounded from beginning to end. I was a little nervous at the beginning of the show. I play so often as a background musician that at first it was disconcerting to have people actually listening to us! I settled in and found a groove after the first couple songs. Lynnette's vocals sounded great, and I was satisfied with my own vocals and guitar playing. Jeff was solid as usual on bass, and I was so happy that we had pianist Bruce Gilbert joining us. We normally play as a trio (flute/guitar/bass), and we sound good that way, but the piano added a whole new dimension to our sound and made us a more flexible group. As a bonus, Bruce sang a few of his original songs. He sounded terrific on his solo material, and he was a beautiful addition to the Tea for Two sound. We had someone shooting video. I'll go through the footage in the next day or two and post a few selections on YouTube.

This little experiment was a resounding success, and now we have a model that we can use to create similar gigs. At Zen Tea, we'll still be playing mostly freebie shows in the main area, but we're going to put on special shows in the back room now and then. Connie and I are talking about a Christmas show, and we'll probably put on a Valentine's Day show as well. We'll also be looking around for other places to play…places that may have a little used back room, as well as less traditional venues. Aside from Zen Tea, I'm not interested in the idea of playing in coffee shops anymore. The coffee shops and similar venues are saturated with musicians who play for tips only. Owners are understandably unwilling to pay for music when there are dozens of musicians who will play at no cost.

Rather than go where all the musicians are, I'm going to start creating opportunities by going where the musicians aren't. I think there are plenty of places in Atlanta that will be willing to host a concert, do their part in promoting the show, and share in ticket sales. We'll start small, targeting similar sized rooms and seeking larger and larger venues as demand grows. I already have some venue ideas, but I'm not ready to spill the beans until I've booked a few places!

Weekend Full of Music

2011-10-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

As the title of this post subtly implies, this weekend has been full of music.

Last night I played a gig at 2 Rules Fine Art on Marietta Square. This was for a gallery opening coinciding with the First Friday Marietta Square Art Walk. Because of the Art Walk, there was a steady stream of art lovers walking through the door, and there were several music lovers in the crowd. There were also some awesome cookies from a local bakery. I've been much better about watching my diet lately, but I have to admit those cookies were irresistible. I had waaaay too much sugar last night!

I was also pleased to play with Tom Olsen, a terrific jazz pianist and a super nice guy. I don't often work with Tom, but not for lack of trying. We're both busy musicians, and our schedules don't often coincide. The planets aligned this weekend, though, and we were able to play not one, but two gigs together.

This morning, Tea for Two played at the Oakhurst Arts and Music Festival, and Tom Olsen was able to join us. The art gallery gig was last night, and the festival gig was in the morning, so this almost felt like one really long gig with a sleeping break. I brought the Tea for Two book to last night's art gallery gig, so we were able to simultaneously play one gig while rehearsing for the next. We were able to pull off this morning's festival gig with a 30 minute rehearsal with the full group. No problem!

The Oakhurst festival gig was fun, but there was a poltergeist in the electrical power supply. We were first informed that they weren't able to get power to the monitors, which would have made singing difficult. When you can't hear yourself in the monitors, you think you're singing too softly. It's easy to overcompensate and start singing too forcefully. Fortunately, the monitor problem was solved minutes before we started. Tom's keyboard amp sounded horrible, like someone was adding a distortion effect. The sound man switched to a different power source. The problem went away, but returned about halfway through the set. There was nothing to be done at that point, so we soldiered on. Meanwhile, I was experiencing no problems whatsoever until my amp blew just as the emcee was introducing us…literally seconds before we were to start! There must have been a power surge. My amp emitted a loud pop and then went dead. I sang the first song with just the piano to back me up. The sound man motioned for me to keep playing, and he ran around, took my cord, and plugged me directly into the system. We were finally able to hear my guitar about halfway through the first piano solo. My amp is sitting in the shop now, and I hope it's nothing more than a blown fuse. The City of Decatur is going to reimburse the cost of the repair.

In spite of the technical problems, we enjoyed the festival gig, and we heard good comments. I was especially pleased that the emcee and the sound guy were both very complimentary in talking with us after the set. We kept our heads through the technical challenges and didn't freak out on the sound man. (Rule #1: Don't piss off the sound man.) While I would have preferred not to have to deal with those problems at all, in a way, I was glad we experienced them, because it demonstrated to me that the people I'm working with are real pros who can keep their cool in challenging situations.

I'm not playing any more gigs this weekend, but I'm still enjoying plenty of music. Tonight I attended a concert of German lieder performed by some stunningly good classical singers who were accompanied by Erin Palmer, the former accompanist at NWUUC. Tomorrow morning I'll run the sound board while Ken Sizemore leads a special music service at NWUUC called "Songs of Protest and Change," and in the afternoon I'll be heading to Anthony's Pizza to hear live bands all afternoon.

This weekend is more music-filled than most, but as I look at my weekly schedule, every day is filled with music in some form…gigs, rehearsals, practicing, jam sessions…it's all good. I'm one of the fortunate few who can honestly say that my way of making a living makes me feel alive.

In a Jam

2011-10-01T09:42:00.001-04:00

Last night I had no gig scheduled. This turned out to be a good thing. I went to a friend's birthday dinner at Burnt Fork, a new BBQ place in town. Delicious! We all chipped in to buy dinner for Allison, the birthday girl. Humor ranged from physics jokes to adolescent snickering while others talked about rolfing.

Not surprisingly, everyone at the table was a musician, and Allison invited us to her place for an impromptu jam. Before we started, we ate some of Allison's birthday cake, which was baked "from scraps" by her 6 year old neighbor, Ben. We all wrote a thank you letter to Ben, and then commenced with the music making.

It's easy to have a good jam session when you're with Allison Adams, Cyndi Craven, Billy Gewin, Ashley Filip, Rick Diamond, and Lindsay Petsch from Maple Street Guitars. There was also a "new guy" who recently moved from Colorado. I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember his name, but he's a terrific player and a first class songwriter. He's been going to the Tuesday Night String Club at Java Monkey on Tuesday nights. I've missed the past two String Clubs, so last night was the first time I met him.

All these folks, in fact, play at the Tuesday Night String Club. The difference is that the String Club is more open mic-ish, with short sets of 15-20 minutes. Last night was a sit in the kitchen, round robin sort of affair. It reminded me why I moved to Decatur in the first place – to be around more musicians. When I first moved to Decatur 3 years ago, I started going to a Sunday jam at Kavarna, where I met many of last night's friends.

There's a strange phenomenon in most jam sessions. You know your turn is coming. Five people went before you, and you have plenty of time to decide what to play, but when it comes around to you, you inevitably draw a blank. Luckily, when it was my turn to lead, Billy made it easy for me. He had been looking through my songbook and lit up when he spotted All of Me. For once, I knew what I was going to sing when it was my turn.

I only played the one song last night, but that's okay. I got the nod to play a few solos on others' songs. When I'm waiting to play at the Tuesday Night String Club, I like to figure out the chords while other musicians are performing, so I've secretly learned some of my friends' music and was able to play along. (I was so happy to finally be able to play along, out loud, with I Wanna Be Like You.) I was able to find some riffs that supported the other singers, and if I was too lazy to figure out the chords, I just enjoyed listening to my friends while I pet Allison's pooch, Caleb, who was very happy to see everyone.

We all had a great time celebrating Allison's big day. She should have birthdays more often!

Getting There

2011-09-27T22:44:00.000-04:00

I'm beginning to feel like I'm starting to get somewhere with my music career. This is old news to those who follow my blog, but to recap: I started out as a trombone player. While I was a musician in the Air Force, I injured my lip to the point where I couldn't play anymore. After the Air Force, I started freelance music engraving, building my clientele to the point where I was doing quite well. Financially, I was raking it in, but I wasn't very happy. About 7 years ago, I started learning to play guitar, and this reignited the fire. I just knew I had to be a musician again. I soon started cutting back on music engraving so that I could spend more time practicing the guitar. While my guitar playing improved rapidly, my finances suffered greatly. Among other factors, my dedication to the guitar and curtailed income contributed to a failed marriage.

The past few years have been musically satisfying but financially lean. I've had to borrow money for groceries, and I've literally been down to my last dollar more than once. I'm fortunate to have a landlady who understands my situation. I've been two months late on rent, but at least I've always been able to catch up. Still, I understand that even her patience will only go so far.

Fortunately, things are looking up. I'm starting to get better gigs, I have enough music engraving work to keep me busy (but not too busy), and my music director position at NWUUC is just what I need – a steady job that is personally satisfying, and not so time consuming that it detracts from my performance aspirations.

I'm not getting rich from all of this (at least monetarily), but I've managed to right the ship, and I'm finally to a point where I'm not so stressed about my bills. I've had doubts about my path over the last year, but I'm glad I hung in there. I've met some difficult challenges, and I sense that things will continue getting better.

There's still plenty that I want to do. I'm content with the amount of music engraving projects I receive, so I don't need to make any more progress in that area. While the music director job at NWUUC is quarter time, I anticipate that this job will expand. I still have a long way to go before I'm getting the kind of corporate gigs I'd like to be playing, but I'm making steady progress in that direction. InTown Band will have a steady gig in the very near future, and we've got big plans for Tea for Two, including recording an album early next year. InTown Band is going to start recording soon, and I'm considering a solo CD.

While I still have plenty of work to do, I've made it through a bad patch, and I'm starting to gain some momentum. Playing and singing has been musically satisfying all along. Money isn't everything, but it's nice to finally be gaining some financial security from all the hard work.

Goodbye Hungry Ear

2011-09-26T20:57:00.000-04:00

The good news is that this Saturday, October 2, we have a good show lined up at the Hungry Ear Coffee House. The bad news is that this will be the final show before the Hungry Ear permanently closes its doors.

The Hungry Ear Coffee House is a monthly musical show that usually features two acts. The music is typically of the folk variety, but we've also welcomed jazz, classical, and other styles. The majority of musicians are singer/songwriters performing original material.

Before I ran the Hungry Ear Coffee House, Clarence Rosa ran it for 25 years. After a brief hiatus, I started it up again and ran it for about a year and a half. The Hungry Ear has always been a volunteer operation from top to bottom, and that's where the problem was. I recently accepted the position of music director at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation, where the Hungry Ear is held. After accepting the job, I told our minister that we needed to find someone else to run the show. I didn't want to blur the line between volunteerism and the music director position, and with my new time commitment, I needed to keep my own schedule relatively sane. I was willing to continue booking the performers, but someone else had to take over the operation.

Yesterday at church, the minister told me that nobody was ready to take over the Hungry Ear Coffee House, and the general consensus was to let it go. While this is disappointing, it's also what I expected. In spite of some amazing Hungry Ear shows, especially in the last few months, I've felt the support of the church gradually waning. My sense of this lack of support was confirmed when, after I announced the end of the Hungry Ear yesterday in church, not a single person commiserated with me after the service.

The Hungry Ear has been an important part of my own development as musician. When I first moved to Atlanta, I attended some Hungry Ear shows and was inspired by many of the musicians to work on my own guitar playing and singing. These included Bill Kahler, Cyndi Craven, Allison Adams, Jon Adams of Montana Skies, and many more. Eventually, I worked up the courage to perform at the Hungry Ear a few times. I later became talent coordinator, which allowed me to make connections with the Hungry Ear musicians, and these connections deepened when I took over the show.

The Hungry Ear Coffee House had a good run, but all things must come to an end. Goodbye Hungry Ear. It's been fun!

Relevant Music Education

2011-09-22T23:09:00.000-04:00

Today I spoke with a young guitar student after her lesson. She's been doing very well in her lessons, and I felt it was time she found a group to play with. It's one thing to learn your lesson material, but it's a whole new ball game when you start learning to play with others. I asked if there was a group at school or church that she could play in. She said something about her school that was disappointing. There was one period in school that was for music. The band kids would go to band. The orchestra kids would go to orchestra. The "other" kids went to a music appreciation class. If her music appreciation class was anything like those I attended as a youngster, it probably didn't go a long way toward developing an appreciation of music. Ironically, every one of the "non-musical" students in that class played an instrument…usually piano, but there were some guitarists, drummers, and bass players. While the band and orchestra students went to play in their groups, the other musicians who didn't play school sanctioned instruments languished in a music appreciation class when they could have been playing in a band of their own.

How relevant is formal music education? (And I'm writing mainly about instrumental music here.) I'm too lazy to look up statistics, but I'm guessing music education in middle school and high school is not that different from it was when I was a student. While there are a few schools that offer an outlet for, say, young guitar players, I'm betting that the vast majority of them focus almost entirely on classical music and marching band.

There's nothing wrong with a formal music education. Although I'm mainly a jazz guitarist now, I came up as a classical trombonist. I'm very much a product of a classic, classical music education, and I have a degree in music education from the University of Illinois. I don't play trombone anymore, but as a result of my education, I'm a strong sight-reader (rare in a guitarist), I can sing most anything on sight, I can arrange my own music (and write it down), I can read a score, I can lead an efficient rehearsal, and I can conduct a band, choir, or orchestra.

All that being said, I feel there's something missing. I stumbled into jazz guitar on my own just a few years ago. I had taken a few stabs at learning guitar earlier in life, but it never took. Perhaps if there had been a guitar class at my school, I would have started getting into guitar in my teens instead of my late 30s.

Like other institutions, the world of music education changes slowly in the public schools. Schools should continue to promote classical music through band and orchestra programs. Classical music is wonderful and worth pursuing, but it's just one style of many. I hope that in the future, we'll see more programs that promote the performance of jazz, blues, rock, reggae, folk, bluegrass, country, Celtic, Indian, African, and the list goes on. While it's important to study the music of the past, I hope more schools will stay relevant by teaching the music of today. In other words, I wish there was a program that gave my young guitar player an opportunity to play at school.

Passing One Up

2011-09-19T22:35:00.000-04:00

I've been diligently learning the 1st Guitar book for Rent with Act3 Productions, and I'm quite pleased with my progress. I'm able to play nearly everything up to tempo, and I'll be comfortable with the most difficult sections in another week or two. After that, it'll just be a matter of consistent review and practicing with the soundtrack to develop a sense of how my part fits with the rest of the ensemble.

Today I had to reluctantly pass up a good gig because it conflicted with Rent. It would have paid nearly twice as much with a slightly smaller time commitment. It was another musical, too. I love playing musicals. I'm happy to be the regular guitarist for Act3, but it would have been nice to "diversify" and get my foot in the door somewhere else.

There are some musicians who would have taken the more lucrative gig, but I'm not wired that way. If you constantly go to the highest bidder without regard for the people who already hired you, you may get some good gigs at first, but you'll eventually find yourself with a bad reputation as you burn your bridges. That's not to say you should never jump to another gig, but you should have a really good reason. While I won't earn as much money playing Rent, I'll be playing for an organization of terrific people who have been very good to me, and who have let me know that I'm their first call guitarist for the foreseeable future. If I had taken the new gig, I could have jeopardized my future with Act3 for what might well have been a one time gig…not a smart tradeoff.

Each situation is different, but here are some factors I take into consideration when I'm lucky enough to be contacted for a gig that conflicts with one already on the calendar.

If the first gig is a freebie and the new gig pays, I'll take the new gig.
Money is a consideration. I don't know what my breaking point is, but I have to be honest and admit that I can be bought. It would have to be for a LOT more money.
Enough time to find a replacement. If I had been asked to play the new gig a month or two ago, I probably would have taken it, because it would have given Act3 plenty of time to find another guitarist. If I switched gigs now, I'd be leaving Act3 in the lurch. It would take them time to find another guitarist, and the new guitarist would have had to scramble to learn a difficult guitar book.
Opportunity. I love playing for Act3 Productions, but if I got a call to play a show at the Fox, or if a well known touring artist wanted to hire me, that opportunity would be too good to ignore. I'd take the new gig.

I'll generally stick with the first gig, but I'll switch gigs given a certain combination of opportunity, time, and money. For the most part, though, it's going to be difficult to get me to drop one gig for another. To me, it's very important to nurture relationships with the people I play for. That means being loyal to my client, and if I do decide to switch gigs, it means helping them find a replacement. I'm not the #1 guitarist in town, but I earn big points by acting like a professional. I show up early, dressed appropriately, with my music prepared, and unless I have a really, really, really good reason to switch, I stick with the first gig and dance with who brung me.

Trombone Again?

2011-09-09T22:09:00.000-04:00

Recently, I reestablished contact with Pete Jirousek, a good friend from my undergrad days at the University of Illinois. We exchanged emails last week, and last night I spoke with him on the phone. It was wonderful to be catch up with Pete again. Not only is Pete an all around good guy, but he's an excellent horn player based in Chicago. He teaches at VanderCook College of Music and has degrees from two top tier music schools, the University of Illinois and Northwestern University. Pete's played in several orchestras and has performed in numerous Broadway in Chicago productions. Although Pete is doing quite well for himself as a horn player, there was a time when he thought his career might be over. He didn't have all the same problems I did with trombone, but his story was pretty similar to mine.

After speaking with Pete, I suddenly have hope that I could be a trombone player again. I won't go into much detail here about the mechanics of playing a brass instrument. For now, suffice it to say that I can still buzz my lips into a trombone mouthpiece, and if I can buzz my lips, I should be able to play the trombone. The overuse injury I incurred in the Air Force has long since healed, and the problem is more mental than physical. I can buzz a trombone mouthpiece, but when I put the entire instrument up to my face, my lips lock up, and I feel like I'm fighting myself. In the Air Force, I was pressured to play on an overuse injury for nearly three years. Whenever I played a note, it felt like someone was poking the inside of my upper lip with a hot needle. Three years is a long time to experience that kind of pain, and as a consequence, I eventually developed a strong negative reaction whenever I held the instrument to my face.

The challenge will be to unlearn that negative reaction and substitute it with positive experiences. As I mentioned earlier, if I can buzz, I can play. The plan is to simply buzz a trombone mouthpiece for a few weeks to rebuild my embouchure. (An embouchure is what you form with your lips and teeth to buzz or blow into an instrument.) After I've regained some embouchure strength, I'll gradually add the trombone, but I'll still focus more on buzzing than on playing the entire instrument. The success I experience buzzing the mouthpiece should transfer to the full instrument, and I'll eventually be able to replace all those negative responses with positive ones.

Although I haven't played trombone in years, I still think like a trombone player. If I'm sight singing or trying to learn a melody by ear, I'll mentally use trombone positions to find the notes. Sometimes I'll wake up with trombone scales rattling around in my head, and I can still remember the melodies from etudes and solos that I played fifteen years ago. As Pete put it, the knowledge is all there. I'm still a trombone player…I've simply taken a really long break!

I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I can't help imagining what it would be like to be able to play the trombone again and add it to what I'm already doing as a guitarist and singer. I was a classical trombonist back in the day, but I suspect I would have fun exploring jazz trombone. I don't know exactly where I would fit in the Atlanta scene. Not to brag, but I was awfully good back when I had my chops, and if I reach that level again, I'll be able to carve out a place for myself. It would be really cool to be flexible enough to be called for gigs or studio work as a guitarist, singer, or trombonist.

First things first, though. It's time to get a trombone mouthpiece and start buzzing!

Stages of Learning

2011-09-08T21:40:00.002-04:00

I'm currently learning the 1st Guitar book for Rent (School Edition), which I'll be performing with Act3 Productions in early November. When I played trombone, it didn't take long to learn my parts for an opera or a musical. I could usually play the music at sight, and then it was just a matter of learning the cues so I didn't have to count hundreds of measures of rests between entrances. I've found that learning a guitar book for a musical is a lot more involved. First of all, I'm not as good a guitar player as I was a trombone player (yet!), and second, the guitar plays almost constantly, so there's a lot more music to learn. There are specific stages I go through when it's time to tackle the guitar book for another musical.

Disbelief. I receive the book in the mail, peruse it, and wonder how I could possibly learn that much music.
Despair. Playing through the book for the first time, I conclude that the music is impossible.
Denial. I put the book away for a few weeks.
Acceptance. Looking at my calendar, I realize I'm going to have to learn the book sometime, so I dig it out and start learning the part.
Hope. On the second reading, I realize that I can already play most of the music, and that the rest of the music is difficult but not beyond reach.
Enlightenment. I listen to the soundtrack for the first time and realize "Oh, so that's how it's supposed to sound."
Diligence. I practice the book almost every day and make steady progress.
Mastery. A couple weeks before the show, I can finally play everything at performance tempo and keep up with the soundtrack.
Panic. The first rehearsal is in three days. I redouble my efforts.
Arrogance. I start thinking I sound good.
Disillusionment. At the first rehearsal, I realize I don't sound as good as I thought I did. It's always different playing with a live orchestra.
Elation. I make adjustments, and I'm happy with my playing again.
Disappointment. The tricky section I've spent so much time practicing gets cut.
Panic returns. Opening night.
Joy. Opening night is over. It's smooth sailing from here. I kick back, enjoy the show, and repeat the pit player's mantra, "Don't mess up."
Relief. Closing night. The show's over, and thank goodness I don't have to play that book again for a while.

I'm currently at Stage 7: Diligence. My first rehearsal with the cast is in about 8 weeks, so I'm way ahead of the curve on this one. Opening night is November 4.

How to Unplug?

2011-09-05T21:23:00.000-04:00

I've found the computer very draining lately. It seems like I can't get away from it, and no, the irony of blogging about this does not escape me.

Many years ago, when AOL was first coming out and email was becoming fun and easy, I was wary of computers. This was back when I was an Air Force trombonist and didn't use a computer very often. My girlfriend at the time got me to sign up with AOL, which was fun, but even then, I never got totally into it.

When I left the Air Force and started freelance music engraving. I used the computer for engraving and work correspondence…and games! When I first began looking for music engraving work, my advertising was all by mail, and by the time it became more convenient to advertise online, I didn't need to, because I had established a reputation, and my clients found me. This changed once I put my shingle out as a guitarist and singer. These days, I'm keeping up a ton of email correspondence, maintaining two websites (my own and Tea for Two), keeping up pages on Gig Salad, ReverbNation, and Facebook, keeping up a YouTube channel, and of course, writing this blog. I also continue to use the computer for my music engraving work and as a guitar practice tool using Band in a Box.

It's easy to get burned out on this computer stuff, and it doesn't help that I'm living in a studio apartment, where the computer is right there all the time, in plain view.

Since I started my new music director job, I've noticed a strange thing. Wednesdays are my busiest days by far. I'm practicing and engraving in the morning, taking care of church business in the afternoon, and rehearsing the choir at night. This is a day that should leave me exhausted, but oddly enough, I've found that I feel almost refreshed after a long Wednesday. I don't think it's a coincidence that this is the day I spend most of my time away from the computer.

So, what to do about all this? I have to check emails and maintain an online presence for publicity, and I'm not exactly at a stage in my career when I can hire people to take care of all that. Still, I feel like I need to unplug, at least a little bit. I don't know exactly how I'm going to do it yet, but I need to find a way limit my computer time and simplify things.

Relapse

2011-08-29T21:33:00.003-04:00

I haven't written about fitness and exercise for a while. Since my leg has been bothering me, I haven't been able to run. Instead, I've been riding the stationary bike while watching NetFlix. While every run offered potential adventure, there's really not much to say about pedaling in place and watching episodes of Lost.

While I like to write when good things happen on the fitness front, it's not always rosy. I'm a compulsive overeater, and I've relapsed the last few weeks. When I was running 5-10 miles at a time, I could eat a little extra and still maintain weight. Not so with the stationary bike. When I went for a test walk a couple weeks ago, only to discover that both my left hip and knee (especially the knee) hurt too much to run, I became depressed. Depression is a major trigger for my compulsion to overeat. We all have our issues. Some of you who read this may wonder how someone could have issues over food. Why can't I just push the plate away? I don't know why I have food issues, and I don't feel like spending a lot of money on a therapist to find out. Some people drown themselves in alcohol. I've got Ben and Jerry to keep me company.

Mood swings of any kind, not just depression, are a trigger for me to grab a bag of chips. When I landed the new music director job, I gave in to my first impulse, which was to treat myself to some extra food. There's nothing wrong with celebrating, but that, plus the overeating from the earlier depression, snowballed into some major caloric intake!

The worst thing about constant overeating is the cycle of self pity. I start to feel worse overall, which unfortunately makes me crave food even more. My sleep is disrupted, I'm tired all the time, and I don't feel like exercising, which makes me gain weight more quickly.

Today I put a stop to all that. I hopped back on the stationary bike, and I feel better already. I've lost well over 100 pounds, and I truly don't want to gain all that weight back. I've gained weight over the past few weeks. I can still fit into my new clothes, but let's just say my pants are a little too snug to be comfortable. It's time for the pity party to end. I won't be running for a long time, so it's time to deal with that and make a daily appointment with my stationary bike. I know exactly which foods to eat to get back down to a healthier weight, and it's time to put that knowledge back in practice.

If you've lost weight recently, or if you're still losing it, please don't let this discourage you. Just take it as a word of advice from someone who's lost 100+ pounds but is still fighting the fight. Once you take the weight off, congratulations are in order, but be on your guard. The next challenge is finding an equilibrium. If you can figure out how to do that, then please tell me your secret!

Wish Granted

2011-08-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

When times are tough, I'm often guilty of that useless mind game "if I could travel back in time, what would I do differently?" Part of that fantasy involves investing in Microsoft. I would have stuck with piano lessons. Also, in hindsight, there are a couple girls that probably would have gone out with me, but I was just too scared to ask them out at the time. Alas, I'm still hopelessly shy in this area.

Most of my back to the future fantasies involve music…starting guitar at age 9 instead of 39 for example. Another one is my choice of college majors. I can't imagine being anything other than a musician. I would still have majored in music, but I often think that I would have enjoyed being a choral music education major so that I could go on to lead choirs. It came in a roundabout way, but it appears that, with my new job, my wish to conduct choirs has been granted.

In a recent blog article, I wrote about being hired as music director at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation. So far, I'm loving the job. One of my main responsibilities is leading the choir. When I first took the job, I had a minor case of buyer's remorse stemming from nervousness about making a major change in my life. Having sung with this choir, and having served as interim music director three times, the choir members were already familiar with me. Not that I was expecting a rebellion, but I wasn't sure how the choir would react to the difference between "interim substitute" Tom and the "in charge" Tom. In our first choir rehearsal, I made myself clear about how I like to work. They've gone along with me, and so far, working with the choir has been a dream. Rehearsals have gone smoothly. The choir season is off to a good start, and I'm looking forward to making great music with them for many years to come.

Of course I won't love every single rehearsal, and I won't love every aspect of the music director position. Not everyone in the congregation will be 100% pleased with the direction I have planned. I will run into hurdles. I will have setbacks. I will make mistakes. Worst case scenario, I may have to be on a committee. Overall, though, I feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be, and I'm pleased my secret wish to work with a choir has been granted.

Be What You Are

2011-08-25T20:12:00.001-04:00

A couple nights ago I played at the Tuesday Night String Club at Java Monkey. This is a low key, semi-invitational open mic. I like the fact that it's low key. There are enough musicians to offer a variety of music, but few enough people that you often get to play at least 20 minutes. The String Club falls on the same night as InTown Band rehearsals, but I still like to go if I'm not too tired. Since the majority of my playing is with groups these days, it's refreshing to be a solo act for a little while. Tuesday isn't exactly a prime gig night, so by the time I usually get to play, the patio has mostly cleared out. I don't mind, though. While I like to have an audience, I mainly go to play and relax. I really like the people involved, and it's nice to spend some time with them.

I'm enjoying getting to know Lindsay Petsh (and I'm probably spelling his name wrong). Lindsay runs the Tuesday Night String Club with Allison Adams. He's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. At the last String Club, Lindsay said something that made me think. While I was waiting for my turn, he was complimenting my guitar playing. Of course, I'm always happy to have someone tell me that I sound great, but for some reason, probably insecurity, I tend to deflect compliments instead of graciously saying "thank you." In this case, I said something like "yeah, but I still have plenty of weaknesses to bring up." Lindsay told me that it wasn't my weaknesses that were important, but my strengths, and that I use my strengths very well.

I've been thinking about Lindsay's words for two days, and I've taken them to heart. I've been overly focused on what I am not. I am not a technical wizard who can fly all over the guitar. I'm not flashy. My solos aren't dazzling. My singing isn't bluesy, I don't scat, and I don't have a huge voice.

Those are my weaknesses, but I have strong points. Overall, I'm more lyrical than dazzling. I play my best solos when I slow down and dwell on rich harmonies and singable melodies. (In fact, super fast playing for the sake of super fast playing turns me off. While I appreciate the technique involved, after a few bars of super fast playing, I long to hear a melody.) I have a clear voice and phrase well. You can understand the words I'm singing. When I accompany others, my "less is more" style lays out a nice structure without overshadowing the soloist.

Thanks to Lindsay's words, I've decided to embrace my lyrical strengths. At tomorrow's Tea for Two gig, I plan on slowing my solos down and playing more melodically. That's not to say I'm abandoning technique. I'm constantly working to improve my skills, but the technique should serve the music and not the other way around.

How Did I Get Here?

2011-08-16T23:18:00.000-04:00

This is crazy. How did I get here? Tomorrow I'm going to be standing in front of a choir as the latest music director at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation. If things had gone as originally planned, right now I would have either been the band director at a college or a really big high school. Instead, 25 years later, I somehow I wound up a freelance guitarist, music engraver, and brand new music director. Here's the chain of events that have led up to this point.

I entered the University of Illinois one year early, majoring in music education, where I was consistently praised for my teaching and conducting ability by a notoriously difficult teacher. Student teaching was a dream. I was on my way.
After two dismal jobs as a school band director, I realized that I wasn't cut out for public school teaching, or possibly I found myself in two impossible situations. Either way, I gave up my aspirations as a band director and went back to school to study trombone with Elliot Chasanov at Kent State University.
While studying with Elliot at KSU, and again at the University of Illinois, my trombone playing improved immensely. I won an audition and began a performance career in the Air Force.
The Air Force gig started off well. I really enjoyed it. The plan was to put in my 20 years and then seek out a college teaching job. Then I developed an overuse injury that halted my trombone career. Suddenly, the Air Force wasn't quite so fun. So much for that.
While in the Air Force, I learned how to use Finale to prepare printed music. I loved it so much that I decided to become a freelance music engraver. I'm still a freelance music engraver. I'm very good at it, and I'm proud of the work I've done. (1,300 publications and counting!)
After a year of struggle, my freelance music engraving endeavor really began to take off. I had lots of work and was making very good money. I had finally found out what I was going to do with the rest of my life, until my (then) wife gave me a guitar for Christmas!
Learning the guitar rekindled my dreams of being a performing musician again, so I set to learning guitar with a vengeance. (Unfortunately, this had a detrimental effect on my marriage, and that's all I'm going to say about that.)
I started off wanting to play Celtic music and singer/songwriter music similar to David Wilcox or Susan Werner, but then I hooked up with a jazz guitar teacher, and then I got hooked on jazz guitar.
Over the next few years, I was in and out of a few jazz groups, and I started and stopped a few of my own. Eventually I found a balance between my own solo playing, subbing in big bands, and my jazz vocal combo, Tea for Two, which I think is going to be a big winner.
While working on my jazz guitar chops, over the years I also became more and more involved with the music program at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation. I never really wanted to start going to church, but I went because my (then) wife wanted to go. She eventually left, but I stayed, and there I remain. I started off singing with the choir, and then I worked up the courage to begin playing guitar for services. I eventually became a substitute conductor as needed, and I served as interim music director three times. This last time, when the job opened up, it seemed like the right time to apply, and tomorrow I'll be standing in front of the choir.

I'm the type of person who likes to plan. Unfortunately, life often seems to have different plans! Maybe it's the improvisatory nature of jazz that has influenced me, but lately I've just decided to let the universe have its way. I still make my plans, but I'm no longer surprised when life takes a detour. For now, I'm equal parts music engraver, performer, and church music director. This finally feels right, like I'm where I'm supposed to be.

New Job, New Directions

2011-08-16T13:43:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I celebrated my 45th birthday. I'm not big on parties, so this birthday was low key as usual. I received a few phone calls and about a million birthday greetings on Facebook. My Tea for Two partner treated me to lunch. Aside from that, about the only thing I did was win the music director job at Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation. That was a pretty nice way to celebrate my birthday.

Another finalist and I auditioned by rehearsing the choir. I've stood in front of the Northwest choir many times as a substitute conductor and an interim director, but this was different. My heart was pounding! The choir took a break after the first candidate finished. As I was waiting in the library for my turn on the podium, I overheard someone say "I really liked him." That didn't do much to sooth my nerves. When it was my turn, I did my best NOT to impress or show off. I knew the choir would soon be singing at least one of the audition pieces for a service, so rather than try to dazzle with my brilliant knowledge of whatever, I treated this as a regular rehearsal, with the intention of helping the choir prepare for their first service of the new choir season, regardless of who ultimately got the job.

A couple hours after rehearsal, the committee chairman called me to let me know that the choir enthusiastically endorsed me, and that they would recommend me to the board of trustees, who would then vote yes/no and extend me an offer.

The most visible part of the job will be directing the church choir. Aside from that, I'll oversee all the musical goings on at Northwest, playing for services, scheduling musicians to play on my Sundays off, and helping to plan services.

This is a part time job with a time commitment of 10 hours per week, leaving ample time for music engraving and guitar performance aspirations. There are sacrifices to make. I gave up my guitar chair in the Atlanta Swing Orchestra because they rehearse the same night as choir. I won't be actively recruiting students anymore, although I'll be happy to schedule lessons with anyone who approaches me. It'll be important for me to budget my time so that I only commit to 10 hours per week. This is partly for my own sanity, so I can resist the urge to overcommit, but it's also important for the music director who follows me. It wouldn't be fair for the next director to be expected to work 20 hours a week for 10 hours pay.

This is a new chapter in my musical life, and it's be a prime opportunity for personal growth. While I'm thrilled to get the job, I'm also a little nervous. I've been a freelancer for so long that I haven't had a real job in nearly 15 years! I haven't had to deal much with workplace relationships, because it's just been me sitting at home in a t-shirt for over a decade. Having to answer to more than just my clients will be an adjustment, although I think I'll manage to survive. I'll have buy more than two pairs of dress pants.

This is also a golden opportunity to grow as a musician. I'm a competent choir director, but not a great one. I've had experience and training as an instrumental conductor, but the only formal training I've had as a choir director is a choral conducting class I took as an undergrad at the University of Illinois many moons ago. I've learned quite a lot about choral conducting through observing other good directors, including former Northwest music directors Sarah Dan Jones and Kathy Kelly George, as well as Jerid Morisco, who conducts the Marietta Master Chorale. I've also had experience working with the choir the three times I was interim music director at Northwest. Now that I'm in the position of choir director, I'm about to get a whole lot more experience! I plan to seek out conducting workshops and other opportunities to grow as a choral conductor. I can speak with great authority as an instrumentalist, and I look forward to speaking with the same authority as a choral conductor in the not too distant future.

My goal with the program at Northwest is to raise the level of music in the church and sustain it. For various reasons, the program has been up and down. I would like for the music at NWUUC to be so good, so dynamic, that people return to the church simply because they enjoy music. We already have the musicians to make this happen. I'll soon be hunting down all the instrumentalists in the congregation. I already know we have a first rate percussionist and one of Atlanta's finest guitarists (it's not me). I want to know who plays piano, guitar, zither, ukulele, tuba, or whatever. If little Susie is learning how to play clarinet in her school band, I'll write a solo she can play and accompany her on guitar. I want to get as many people as possible excited and involved in the music at Northwest!

This blog is called Adventures of a Young Musician for good reason. The past few years have been an adventure as I have pursued excellence as a musician, sought out performance opportunities, and experimented with different projects. Those endeavors will continue, and with this new development, I'll soon have another series of adventures to write about.

A Special Hell

2011-08-15T12:22:00.001-04:00

I just spent a beautiful morning in traffic court. This blog is mostly to describe the experience, but let me get this out of the way first. I was guilty as charged. A couple months ago I ran out of money, which is not an unusual occurrence for a freelance musician. Unfortunately, I ran out of funds right around the time my car insurance payment was due. I chose groceries over car insurance and allowed it to lapse for two days. I caught up on my insurance policy, but then I received a bill from the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles for letting my insurance lapse, and I didn't have the money to pay that fine. (It felt like my penalty for being poor was to have to give up more money.) One thing I miss about Chicago is the mass transit system. I didn't even need a car. Atlanta's mass transit system is severely lacking, and if you need to get to a gig to make money to, say, pay a fine, you're going to need to take a car. I got caught driving on a suspended license from not being able to pay the lapsed insurance fee, which meant that today I had to go to traffic court to pay the very expensive piper – again. Fortunately, by some miracle, I had the money to pay today, so the issue is resolved.

There will be those who read this blog that say, being a deadbeat poor person and all, I got what was coming to me. I agree that I was guilty as charged, but I'm far from deadbeat. I just happen to be a musician, and it's difficult to find good work. If you could see the 12-16 hour days I spend engraving, practicing, rehearsing, gigging, working on publicity, scaring up gigs, teaching lessons, etc., you'd find me anything but lazy. Poor means you have no money. Poor does NOT mean you're lazy. There's a certain segment of our society (rhymes with Pee Farty) that seems to equate being poor with having no moral compass or ambition. Sometimes being poor simply means you're poor.

Back to my experience today at traffic court. I didn't dispute anything I was charged with. All I wanted to do was show up and pay the fine. On the back of my citation, there was a number to call if I wanted to pay my fine over the phone. Sounded good to me. After listening to many options from the automated voice, I was finally able to enter my citation number, only to have the voice tell me that I had to be at court. I thought there must be some mistake, because all I wanted to do was pay my fine. On the phone, the magic voice rattled off a website I could visit to pay my fine. It was a really long website url, the magic voice gave the information too quickly. There was no option to have the magic voice repeat the web information, so I had to keep navigating back through the menu until I reached the web info again. After listening to the magic voice repeat the web info for the fourth time, I was confident I had the correct website. Once I got on the website and entered my citation number, I was once again informed that I had to show up in court. Oh well.

I showed up early today. On the first floor, just after the entrance, was a row of cashiers. Perfect! I walked up to a cashier and asked if I could pay my fine. Nope, I had to go upstairs to court. The deputy telling me where to sit had such a thick accent that I couldn't understand him. I thought he told me to sit in the front row, which I did, until he told me to move to the fourth row. (I was wondering why no one was sitting in the front row!) It was just before 9 a.m. Down by the cashiers, the clock on the wall read 6:25. Up in the court room, the clock was stopped at 2:15. I'm surprised they had clocks at all, because I think that while you're in court, space and time is suspended.

Someone came out and started quietly giving instructions to the crowded room. We were indoors, but he really should have been using his outdoor voice. I was close enough to hear most of what he was saying, which was if you're here to plead guilty and pay a fine, then please line up along the wall. Perfect! When it was my turn, the clerk looked at my citation and said I had to wait for the judge, so I once again sat down. Later, the quiet announcer passed out a form for us to fill out and sign. The form was to let everyone know that yes, we understood our rights, and we would like to plead guilty, not guilty, or no contest. The problem with passing out the form is that no one knew we needed pens! There was a flurry of "can I borrow your pen?" I had a pen with me, which I lent to three other people. When it was finally my turn to stand in front of the judge, I had trouble hearing him. His honor was even quieter than the original speaker. Someone needs to either install a microphone in the courtroom or teach these folks how to project with a good stage voice.

After pleading guilty, the judge told me the fine and instructed me to go back down to the cashier, where the clock still read 6:25. I misheard the amount, because the judge was kind of mumbly. I thought he said $128, but no, it was $328. Ouch! By the way, even though you can theoretically pay with a credit card over the phone and online, if you pay the cashier in person, it's cash or money order only. There was an ATM conveniently located away from the cashiers, so at least I didn't have to leave the building to get cash. I also found it very difficult to hear the cashier, who was behind thick glass with no microphone, using a delicate "indoor voice." The crowning glory was watching my receipt being printed on an old fashioned dot matrix printer.

Now, I realize traffic court is not supposed to be fun. I wasn't expecting the judge to be handing out balloons and lollipops. I had committed a traffic-related sin, and I was there to pay up. There are so many ways this operation could be improved. On the other hand, maybe this soul sucking experience is part of the punishment.

In the future, if I once again have to choose between insurance and groceries, I may just choose insurance.

Real Book for Life

2011-08-08T00:30:00.000-04:00

When I practice, part of my routine consists of reading through Real Book tunes. I own the three Real Book volumes, and each day I read through two or three standards. I work methodically, checking off each song as I go, until I've worked my way through all three volumes. (Each volume contains 400+ jazz standards.) Once I work through all three volumes, I go back to the first volume and start over again. I'm nearing the end of my second trip through the third volume, and soon I'll be starting round three. (For those who don't know, the Real Book is a huge compilation of jazz standards. It's something that nearly every jazz player has in their library.)

I plan on cycling through the Real Book for the rest of my guitar playing days. First of all, I like this music. It's enjoyable to play through a few standards at the beginning of my practice sessions.

Apart from the simple enjoyment of playing this music, Real Book reading is a good way of learning to apply new concepts and techniques. When I first began reading through the Real Book, I had only been playing guitar for a year. I used it to improve my sight-reading, learn the entire fretboard, and apply the new jazz chords I was learning. It was a painstaking process, but by the time I had finished volume three, I was a strong reader, and I found most big band guitar parts to be a piece of cake.

As I began working through the Real Book for a second time, my initial goal was to be able to create simple chord/melody arrangements on the spot. (Chord/melody is a style of guitar playing where you play chords, voicing them in such a way that the melody note is always the top note. You really need to know your chords and the fretboard to make this work.) This was very difficult at first, and as I near the end of volume three, it's still a challenge, but I'm much better at it. About halfway through this second tour of the Real Book, I also decided to challenge myself to improvise unaccompanied, using the chord changes of whatever songs I was reading that day. This is also a major challenge, and I have a long way to go, but at a recent gig, I finally felt confident enough to add unaccompanied improv throughout the evening.

The newest concept I'm applying to my Real Book is shell voicings (also known as guide tones). ***Music theory jargon alert.*** When you play shell voicings, you play only the 3rd and 7th of every chord instead of the full chord. These two guide tones are the notes that most strongly define the chord. Shell voicings are especially useful if you're playing with a piano player. When a jazz guitarist and a pianist play together, the pianist often plays extensions, or color tones, while the guitarist stays out of the way and plays the more basic chord tones. ***End music theory jargon alert.*** You'd think it would be easier to play just the two notes at a time rather than the full chord form. Physically, it is easier, because you only have to use two fingers. Mentally, it's a challenge, because I'm not yet used to zeroing on in just the 3rds and 7ths. Just like everything else, shell voicings will get easier over time until they becomes a natural part of my playing. Even after just a week of practice, these voicings are becoming more comfortable. Once I've applied them to just one of the Real Book volumes, they'll be second nature.

Even as I get used to playing shell voicings, there will be other challenges. Each pass through the Real Book will help me learn new skills and become a better musician. As with any other good book, I find deeper and deeper meaning each time I read it.

Plan C

2011-08-02T23:36:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a run to test my leg and see if my overuse injury had healed. Based on that run, I had two plans. Plan A assumed that everything was hunky dory, I felt spectacular, and I could get back to running right away. Plan B assumed that the injury was still painful, and that I would have to give myself a year before I was confident enough to start running again.

Well, now I have a Plan C. I felt okay for about a mile of running/walking, but my left knee started tweaking after that. While this was disappointing, it certainly was better than a few months ago, when I had to turn around and limp home after a quarter mile. Although my knee doesn't feel good enough for running, it feels much, much better than it did a few months ago. My new Plan C calls for more time off the feet to heal, but thankfully, not as long as a year. For now, I'll continue pedaling the stationary bike. In two more months, I'll take another test run/walk and see how it goes. I'll listen closely to my body, but I suspect that once I can manage a painless two mile run/walk, I'll be able to start running regularly again.

That brief run reminded me how much I love running. Although I feel it's best to stay off my feet for now, I'll be back on the road again someday. Pedaling the stationary bike isn't as exciting, but thanks to NetFlix, I'm certainly catching up on a lot of good movies and TV shows!

Making It Up

2011-07-29T09:37:00.001-04:00

Last night I played a solo guitar gig for a wine and cheese crowd in Midtown Atlanta. I've been concentrating pretty heavily on Tea for Two, so it's been a while since I've played completely solo. I really enjoyed the job. It was in a beautiful room, the acoustics worked well for solo guitar, the guests were pleasant, and my client was easy to work with.

There's no way my client or the guests could have known, but this was a breakthrough experience for me. This was the first time I've improvised unaccompanied in public. I improvise quite a bit in group situations, but pure solo improv on the guitar is a challenge. I've been taking stabs at unaccompanied improv at home for a couple months, but I've never been brave enough to try it in public. When I booked this gig a few weeks ago, I decided to challenge myself and improvise throughout the evening.

There are two main reasons I've been working on unaccompanied improvisation. One is practical, and the other is artistic.

For practical purposes, improvisation enables you to stretch out the time. The solo guitar gigs that I play are musical wallpaper gigs. I'm there to help create a pleasant atmosphere. Some guests will listen for a while, but I'm not the center of attention. These gigs can last two or more hours. That's a lot of time to play solo, and it's quite a workout, too. I've arranged around 50 jazz standards for solo guitar, which is enough to get through a two hour gig. When I improvise, though, I can really stretch it out! I played for two solid hours last night, and I didn't even make it through half my repertoire.

An even more important reason to practice unaccompanied improv is that it makes me a better musician, and it helps me keep myself entertained at a wallpaper music gig. If I can improvise unaccompanied, I become a better solo musician. On top of that, it makes me a stronger improviser when I'm playing with other musicians to back me up. Playing my arrangements note for note can feel pretty stale after a while. If I played a few solo gigs each week (which is a goal of mine), I would get bored with these arrangements pretty quickly, but not if I sprinkle in some improvisation to keep it fresh.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well I improvised. I'm not exactly in the same league as Joe Pass or Martin Taylor, but I made a good start last night, and I'll be sure to include unaccompanied improvisation more and more often.

Atlanta Driving Tips

2011-07-27T19:27:00.003-04:00

If you're visiting Atlanta and want to blend in with the local drivers, be sure to follow these tips.

Treat a red light as you would a stop sign. It's perfectly okay to coast to a "stop" and then go straight or turn left at a red light. Your time is too precious to waste.
If there is a sign that says "No Turn on Red" and the light is red, you should turn. That sign was probably put there because there's a hill that makes it impossible to spot oncoming traffic, but you're not just anyone. You have x-ray vision, and you know for a fact that no one is coming over that hill. Just gun it.
Honking your horn makes all the traffic in Atlanta go at least 15 mph faster, and it clogs up crowded intersections, too. It's a miracle, really.
Although the signs on the interstate say 55 mph, feel free to travel as fast as your vehicle can go. As a matter of fact, just glue your foot to the floor. You won't know your limits until you test them.
In most areas of the country, oncoming traffic has the right of way, but not Atlanta. If you're turning left, you should dive into oncoming traffic randomly, and for god's sake, don't use your turn signal.
As a matter of fact, don't ever use your turn signal. Ever.
Emergency vehicles are such an inconvenience, and those drivers are so rude, speeding through crowded streets with their annoying sirens blaring. Do NOT pull over to the right and stop. You don't even need to slow down. Besides, there's only a 1 in 300,000,000 chance that it's your husband, wife, brother, sister, father, or mother who is in dire need of medical assistance or protection.
Sometimes you'll see a sign at a clearly marked crosswalk that tells you to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk. Ha! 1,000 points per pedestrian. (On the flip side, if you're a pedestrian, 1,000 points for ignoring the laws of physics, jumping in front of a car that's 10 feet from the crosswalk, and giving the driver a heart attack as you flip them the bird.)
By all means, text and drive. I know, I know. There's a new law that says you're not supposed to to do this, but if you hold your phone in your lap to text, who's going to know? The only real clue that you may be texting is that you're swerving randomly into oncoming traffic and blowing through stoplights, which are optional anyway.

Visitors, follow these simple rules, and nobody will know you're from out of town. Be sure to wear a medical bracelet and carry some instructions for notifying your next of kin. Enjoy your stay.

Test Run

2011-07-24T10:02:00.000-04:00

For nearly three months, I've been out of action with an overuse injury. While I've remained active by working on a stationary bike, I've really missed running. I took a test run this morning. I didn't set any speed records, and I probably won't make the 2012 Olympic team. I ran 1.3 miles in 19 minutes. I didn't run the entire way. I alternated running and walking at 1 minute intervals. Overall, my leg didn't feel too bad. I began to feel a little twinge in my knee toward the end, which worries me a little. Still, to travel over a mile is a big improvement over not being able to last even a quarter mile.

Plan A assumes I am able to continue running. The plan is to go out three times a week and run one mile. I'll continue to workout long and hard on the stationary bike to keep up my fitness. If my leg feels okay, I'll VERY gradually add distance – probably a half mile at a time. I'll also use the run/walk approach. The macho side of me wants to gut it out and run the entire time. The practical side of me knows that a run/walk approach will allow me to travel longer distances, and it'll also allow me to continuing running longer as I get older. Also, I have it in my head that I would like to run an ultramarathon one day. Even the top ultra runners use a run/walk approach, so I may as well get used to it now.

If I'm unable to continue running, I'll reluctantly move to Plan B, where I'll stop running for a year, continue my long stationary bike workouts, and step up my strength training. Back in the day, I was very much into weight training and even had some manly muscles to show for it. I enjoy weight training, but I've been training lightly these days. If I'm unable to run, I'll very likely start hitting the weights a little harder. I have no plans to throw around a lot of weight like I did before. Instead, I would use light to medium weights and do a lot of circuit training.

So I have a plan, and I have a backup plan. If I have to, I'll switch to Plan B, but I love running, so I'm hoping I can stick with Plan A.

On the Right Track

2011-07-22T09:42:00.000-04:00

As I continue jazz guitar lessons with Charles Williams, I realize I have a long way to go, but at the same time, I feel encouraged.

On the one hand, I have a lot of work ahead of me transcribing famous solos, learning licks, and broadening my knowledge of music theory. At the same time, I have to learn to incorporate all this into my own jazz vocabulary. This will take years of practice.

On the other hand, I sound good now, and each new concept I'm learning will only help me sound better. What's most encouraging is that every new thing I'm learning makes sense. It's all just an extension of concepts I'm already familiar with. This is comforting to me, because it's a sign that I've been on the right path all along. So far, there's never been a moment in a lesson where I've felt like I've had to start learning the guitar all over again. It's more like I'm on the same road Charles is on. He just happens to have traveled the path longer than I have, and he's helping me out with directions.

For current and prospective students, fear not! I've been giving you good information. The fact is, no matter how good you are, there's always something more to learn. That's the beauty (and frustration) of being a musician.

Getting It All Down: Transcribing Solos

2011-07-18T12:54:00.000-04:00

I'll be constantly learning new things about the guitar, music, and myself until the day I take my last breath. The past few years, I've grown quite a bit as a guitarist, but lately I've felt that I was in a rut. I felt that I had learned about as much as I could on my own, so I began taking lessons last week with Charles Williams, one of Atlanta's finest jazz guitarists.

After less than a week of working on my lesson material, I already have a sense of how Charles will help me grow. The main thing Charles is helping me with is growing my musical vocabulary – my bag of tricks that I can use for improvising, comping, and arranging. (Comping is a common jazz term for accompanying. If you're playing in support of a singer or another instrumentalist, you're comping.) The main way I'll be improving my vocabulary will be through transcribing solos of great jazz musicians.

To transcribe a solo, you choose a recording, listen to the solo over and over, write it down, and figure out how to play it. This takes quite a bit of time and focus. I'm not very fast at it, although I expect to get better at it over time.

As Charles put it, "I don't know any good players who don't transcribe solos." Transcribing solos is something I've been putting off, not because I wasn't aware of the value of it, but because it's hard and I was a little scared of it. Now that Charles has pushed me in this direction, I can see I didn't have anything to be frightened of. Yes, it's challenging, but I can already see the benefits. When you transcribe a solo, you're retracing the steps of a master. As you reconstruct a solo and learn to play it, you gain a gradual understanding of how that particular musician approached the guitar. By practicing the solo, you learn new licks, which you eventually learn how to incorporate into your own style of improvisation. In a sense, this is like learning a language. At first you mimic what you hear. Eventually you learn to use words and phrases to tell your own stories.

We're starting lessons with two guitarists that are at the root of all modern jazz guitar playing: Charlie Christian and Django Reinhardt. I'm looking forward to this new musical adventure!

Stretching

2011-07-12T17:42:00.000-04:00

I love playing musicals, but after a run of shows is over, I often feel a letdown. The musicals that I've played demand a lot of focus. I typically spend a couple months drilling the difficult guitar parts over and over (and over and over), and then my schedule and energy are both taken up by dress rehearsals and shows. When a show is over, I often feel directionless, because I've been concentrating on the show music so much that I almost don't know what to do when it's done.

After my latest musical, Once on This Island, I felt the usual letdown. To give myself a break, I didn't touch a guitar for two days after the last show. I couldn't rest for long, though, because I was scheduled to provide the music for NWUUC the following Sunday, and Tea for Two has a couple gigs coming up.

When I got back into a normal practice routine, I didn't want to do the same old thing, so I'm shaking things up, stretching my guitar playing in a couple areas.

Lately, I've been spending as much time playing my nylon string guitar as my electric. That's because I'm practicing quite a bit of classical music, plus some guitar parts for a number of Celtic songs that I arranged for flute and guitar a couple years ago. I'm having a lot of fun with this. I had originally intended to focus on Irish folk music before a jazzer turned me to the dark side, so it's a blast to return to a style of music I've always loved.

As far as classical music, I'm practicing parts for flute/guitar duos. While I enjoy this type of playing, I'm also working on this music for practical reasons. I have a wedding gig in September with a flute player friend of mine, Julie, who's flute playing is so far beyond my level guitar playing that it's kind of intimidating, and my main goal is to not fall on my face! Also, my Tea for Two partner, Lynnette, and I are adding classical flute/guitar duos to our repertoire to make us more attractive for wedding jobs.

Classical guitar is a totally different animal than jazz guitar. There's a little bit of crossover with my personal style, which involves a lot of fingerstyle solo arrangements, but there are also big differences. Jazz guitar involves a lot of improvisation. You're free to embellish melodies, you make up the accompaniment as you go along, and you need to be familiar with a huge array of chords. With classical guitar, the chords are usually much simpler, but then there's the discipline of reading exactly what's on the page and being able to play two independent lines at the same time.

While I'm playing a good bit of classical music these days, I'm not switching camps. Jazz guitar remains my number one pursuit. I'll be stretching in this area, too. Lately, I've felt that my jazz playing has gone stale. I need some new ideas and challenges. I've made it pretty far on my own these past few years, but I felt it was time to find a teacher again to push me along. This week, I'll begin taking guitar lessons with Charles Williams, who is one of the best guitarists in Atlanta, is an excellent jazz player, and is particularly good at Gypsy jazz (a la Django Reinhardt). I'm really looking forward to getting together with him and pushing my jazz playing to the next level.

Whether it's Broadway, classical, Celtic, or jazz, guitar playing offers an endless array of challenges. I don't think I'll ever be bored with this instrument.

Remembering Les

2011-06-14T17:40:00.000-04:00

Today I received word that Les Prescott died unexpectedly last night at the age of 69. I didn't know Les very well, yet he was an inspiration to me. Les suffered a stroke years ago, before I even knew him. Mobility was a problem for him. He relied heavily on his cane, and he got around very, very slowly. He sang in the NWUUC choir for a couple years, and he was always early, rarely missing a rehearsal. He was also active in social justice at NWUUC, helping with food donations for the Community Action Center. Les only missed church if the weather made it too dangerous for him to walk. He always sat in the same general area with Barbara, his girlfriend, and he always had a kind word, especially to any musicians who were participating in the service.

I only knew Les from church, and we exchanged pleasantries rather than deep conversation. Still, Les was a shining example to me. What impressed me about Les was the way he dealt with adversity. It was an obvious struggle for Les to get around, but get around he did. Every choir rehearsal, I would watch him make his crablike way to the front door, and I could see him plan his every move. In spite of the way his stroke slowed him down, I never once heard Les complain. He seemed to take it all in stride, and he just kept going, no matter what.

A lot of people, including me, will find excuses for not getting something done, but not Les. He was a man of action, not excuses. He was always busy, always active, and always kind. The simple fact that Les kept on keeping on made him a hero in my book.

I always got the sense that Les would have been a force to be reckoned with in his younger days. Les' memorial service is in a couple days, and I plan on being there to pay my respects and learn more about this marvelous man. Les, I'll try to follow your example and keep putting one foot in front of the other. You'll be missed.

Why Jazz?

2011-06-06T22:42:00.000-04:00

Twenty years ago, no one would have predicted I would someday be pursuing a career playing jazz guitar, least of all me. I didn't even like jazz very much back then. I played classical trombone, and I enjoyed playing in big bands when I had the chance (as long as I didn't have to improvise), but I rarely listened to jazz.

The phrase "jazz guitar career" seems like an oxymoron. There's the standard musician's joke. What's the difference between a rock guitarist and a jazz guitarist? The rock guitarist plays three chords in front of a thousand people. The jazz guitarist plays a thousand chords in front of three people. This is an exaggeration of course, but not by much.

So why do I like jazz now, when it didn't do much for me before? What set me on this lucrative path, where I can make literally tens of dollars a night?

When I first began learning to play the guitar, I started out wanting to sing folk songs and be a fancy picker. I love folk music, especially of the modern singer/songwriter variety. David Wilcox and Susan Werner figure prominently in my iTunes playlist. I had every intention of being a folk musician with fast fingers, but my first guitar teacher, Bob Shaw, was a jazz guitarist, and a mighty fine one at that. From him I learned how to unlock the entire fretboard. I'm sure I still own a capo, but I'm not sure where it is! From Bob, I also learned how to arrange some of my favorite jazz songs for solo guitar. As a trombonist, I frequently wrote arrangements for trombone quartet, and I was thrilled to be able to apply my arranging skills to my new instrument. So, part of the reason I play jazz guitar is that Bob Shaw turned me to the dark side.

I think I also am drawn to jazz for the mental challenge. I enjoyed music theory in college, and I briefly toyed with the idea of pursuing a graduate degree in music theory. I eventually gave up that idea, because I realized the only thing I could do with that degree would be to spend a career torturing undergraduates who didn't like theory as much as I did. I like puzzles, and I've found jazz to be an endless, fascinating musical puzzle of substitute chords and voicings.

Much of jazz is flying by the seat of your pants. There's a heavy improvisational component that you won't find in classical music. Sometimes you'll hear a little bit of improv in folk music, but it's usually very brief. As a classical trombonist, the thought of improvising petrified me. As a jazz guitarist, improvising excites me. Sometimes I come up with something brilliant, sometimes I come up with pure schlock, and most times it's somewhere in between. When you're improvising with others, there's a shared energy among the musicians and listeners when things are going well. You never quite know what's going to happen when the group starts improvising. I often think of jazz as stepping off a cliff and trusting that a bridge will appear.

I don't like all jazz, just like I didn't like all classical music. When I was a trombone player, I never enjoyed Bruckner or Wagner, which is ironic because they wrote some particularly juicy trombone parts. There is some jazz that I don't like as well. It doesn't mean it's bad. I just don't enjoy it. For example, I don't especially enjoy Coltrane. Blasphemous, I know, and I can't wait to hear comments on why I should love him. Yes, he was a genius and a musical pioneer, but I just can't get past his sound. It's abrasive to my ears, and genius or not, I have trouble listening to an entire album when I have to hear that tone quality. (Short tangent: I find it ironic that some musicians who say they enjoy the freedom of jazz also tell me that I must love Coltrane or I'm not a true jazz musician. So much for freedom.)

Everyone has their own tastes. My tastes run toward lyrical, singable music, even if it's instrumental. This is reflected in my own playing as well. My technique has improved leaps and bounds over the past year, yet I still prefer to play lyrical, singable lines when I improvise. If music has lyrics, I like to hear a clever turn of a phrase. Some of the lyrics from the Great American Songbook are pure poetry. Maybe it's my folk aesthetic coming through, but I'll probably never be a truly adventuresome jazz explorer. I'll always be expanding my technique and searching for ways to become a better player, but it'll be in the service of a lyrical style of playing. As a trombonist, I tried to emulate the style of a singer, and I guess that I'm doing the same thing with the guitar.

Twenty years ago, I never thought I would be pursuing a career as a jazz musician. It might be interesting to read this blog in another twenty years to see what else has changed.

Reassessing

2011-05-23T08:55:00.000-04:00

Often my blogs and Facebook posts celebrate victories and achievements large and small. Not this time. I've come to realize that my new running "career" may be finished. Last month I experienced sciatica pain while running and ended up limping home. I took the month off running and focused on walking, cycling, and yoga. This morning I took a very brief test run. After walking a mile as a warm-up, I alternated running and walking 50 yards at a time. It didn't take long before I began to feel the beginning of the sciatica flaring up again.

I suspect my leg problem is a combination of factors. I most certainly overtrained, running too much too soon. There's also the fact that I spent much of my adult life weighing 300+ pounds, which really messed with my knees. Even after losing the weight, I've had to be very careful with my knees. While I am certainly healthier overall than I was a year ago, years of unhealthy living have taken a toll on my body, and there's a limit to how much I can reverse the aging process.

If I could afford it, I would see a sports therapist to help sort out the problem, but I don't have the money. The good news is that my leg feels fine when I'm walking. I really love running, but I also enjoy walking. There's just something that feels good about moving forward on my own two feet. Maybe in another year, I'll give running another try, but not today.

It's not like I'm giving up a career as a professional runner. That was certainly never going to happen! Whatever my choice of exercise, the ultimate goal is health. I like walking, but I also like workouts that really get my heart pumping. My plan is to practice yoga and walk in the mornings, and then mix in some faster cycling 3-4 times a week to satisfy my urge to push the pace.

Once on This Island

2011-05-20T22:14:00.001-04:00

In about a month, I'll be playing guitar in Once on This Island with Act3 Productions. I'm excited about this show! This will be my second show with Act3. I played All Shook Up with this company in February, and I was impressed at production level and depth of talent, so I'm really looking forward to playing Once on This Island.

The music is just plain fun, and it's a little different. I'm not sure if you can pigeonhole the music into a single genre. It has a lot of island rhythms with a touch of New Age. Most of the music has a very strong beat, which makes it deceptively difficult for the pit orchestra. While much of the music is written for dancing and sounds simple enough, the composer throws in some meter changes and asymmetrical phrasing to keep us on our toes.

While the guitar book for Once on This Island isn't nearly as frightening as the All Shook Up book, it's still a challenging part. I've been practicing the show music regularly so that I can hold up my end when we meet for our first orchestra rehearsal. If there are any high school and college students out there who are interested in playing shows, there's one main difference between playing school productions and playing professional productions. In school productions, you usually have a lot of rehearsals, and you can get away with learning the music during rehearsals. For a professional show, you have very few rehearsals – sometimes just one – so you need to learn your music before you even start the first rehearsal.

Here are a couple YouTube clips to give you a sense of Once on This Island's music.

Aside from the music, I like the story. This is not your typical Broadway musical with a fairy tale ending. It's suitable for family, but there are some serious elements that address race and class issues. If you're interested in learning more about the story, this Wikipedia article offers a good synopsis. Just don't read all the way down if you want to be surprised when you see the show!

Once on This Island is scheduled to play at Act3 Productions June 17-19 and 22-26, and I would love to see my Atlanta friends there. As far as I know, tickets are not yet on sale, but you'll want to check back at www.act3productions.org from time to time. Tickets for All Shook Up sold out quickly, and I expect the same will be true for this musical, too.

What I Miss Most

2011-05-17T15:13:00.000-04:00

A couple nights ago, I sat in on a combo rehearsal. It was a blast! It was six horns plus a rhythm section. All the arrangements were well written, and everyone was a strong player. We started off reading some vocal charts with Lynnette, who is the primary vocalist in my Tea for Two trio. After rehearsal, and knowing my background as a former trombone player, she said that whenever the trombonist played a solo, she wondered if I missed playing trombone.

I enjoyed being a trombone player, but I don't really miss playing it. What I miss most is having the kind of mastery over an instrument that I had as a brass player. To blow my own horn, so to speak, I was an awfully good trombonist before my overuse injury brought me down. If I were still able to play today, I would most likely be a trombone professor at a college or performing in an orchestra (or both).

As a relatively new guitarist of a little over 6 years, I struggle daily with technique, and my command of the guitar isn't even close to the level I had reached as a trombonist. I constantly practice scales, arpeggios, and other exercises. For me, the whole purpose of practicing technical exercises is to have them be second nature, so that when it comes time to make actual music, you can forget all about scales and just play.

The bad news is that I'm not as a good a guitarist as I was a trombonist. The good news is that, barring illness or accident, I should have another 30 or more years to practice. So there's hope! Some day, maybe in another 10-15 years, I'll reach a level on the guitar that surpasses where I was as a trombonist. I'll won't want to stop there, though. I hope that when I'm in my 90s, I'll be hunched over my guitar every day, trying to learn one more lick.

How to Practice

2011-05-14T21:29:00.000-04:00

I don't have an immense amount of natural musical talent. This is a realistic self assessment, not false modesty. Of course I have musical gifts, but there are plenty of other musicians who have way more talent than I have. We are all born with varying degrees of potential, but what's really important is that we learn to develop whatever gifts we have been given.

One thing that's helped me make it this far (and hopefully further!) is my approach to practicing. Talent alone will only take you so far. I know a few musicians who have an incredible amount of native talent, but their skill level has stalled out because they're relying on talent alone. They sound fine, but they don't seem willing to take their playing to the next level. If they would develop a consistent approach to practicing, they would sound incredible.

Here are some strategies that I use in my own practice sessions. Maybe they'll help you out, too.

Set aside a certain amount of time each day for practicing. Whether it's 30 minutes or 3 hours, dedicate that time period to the guitar (or whatever instrument) – no distractions. A little bit of time every day is better than a lot of time one day.
Always warm up. I start every practice session with some guitar exercises that stretch the fingers, and then I start to work on scales, arpeggios, and other patterns. Once I've finished working on my warm-up and technique exercises, I feel more ready to tackle new guitar arrangements or difficult music from a show book.
Focus. Start each practice session with a clear idea of what you want to accomplish. Maybe you want to learn a new scale pattern or get better at playing the new chords you just learned. If you have goals, you can keep your practice sessions more focused.
The pencil is your friend. Write reminders in your music. Even if you play your repertoire from memory, it's nice to have those reminders if you're practicing and you run into a memory block.
The metronome is your friend. Playing to a metronome is the best way to train yourself to keep a steady tempo. I probably spend 50% or more of my time practicing with a metronome.
Repeat, repeat, repeat. To master a new technique or lick, you need to play it over and over. If you play something wrong 5 times in a row but get it right on the 6th, don't stop there. Practice a lick until you can play it perfectly at least three times in a row.
Decide on some stopping points instead of running straight through a song. Try breaking a song up into 4 or 8 bar chunks. Stop after each phrase and evaluate. Did you miss a note? Could you have phrased something differently? Go back and practice that phrase again before moving on to the next phrase.
Practice backwards. We all naturally tend to practice a song from beginning to end. Sometimes the second half of the song gets less attention than the first half because of mental or physical fatigue. Try practicing the last four bars first and then work your way from back to front.
Practice the hard parts! It's more fun to practice the parts of the music that we're good at, and sometimes we neglect the tricky parts. Isolate the difficult spots and drill them over and over until they're easy.
Add a tricky part to your warm-up. If you have a difficult lick to play in a song, turn it into a pattern and play it in all keys during your warm-up. After a few days, this tricky spot won't feel difficult at all.
Practice slowly! (This is the practice technique that I use the most.) Use a metronome, and practice a difficult passage at a tempo at which it's almost impossible to make a mistake. After you can play it three times in a row with accuracy, speed up your metronome by 5 BMP (beats per minute), and practice the passage until you can play it accurately three times in a row. Eventually you'll reach a breaking point. Do this over the course of a week, and you'll be surprised at how much faster you can accurately play the same music. Accuracy is the key. Accuracy precedes speed. You improve your accuracy by developing muscle memory. Your speed will develop as your motor skills improve.
Practice your weaknesses until they become your strengths. Figure out what you're worst at, and practice it!
Record yourself. This can be a painful experience, especially the first time you hear yourself, but this is the absolute best way to evaluate yourself.

Knowing how to get the most out of your practice session is important, but don't forget to have fun! There is practicing music, and there is playing music. Don't forget to play. It's important to listen to yourself critically so that you can improve your skills, but it's also important to shut off that critical voice and just play for the joy making music, which is what got us musicians hooked on music in the first place.

The Art of Not Caring

2011-05-01T20:02:00.001-04:00

Improvisation is a big part of being a jazz musician. To the listener, it appears that the notes just flow out of the musician like it's the most natural thing in the world. The truth is that improvisation is a learned skill. Like anything else, some people have a special knack for improv, but even the "naturals" have to work on certain skills if they want to continue growing in their art. This can include scales, arpeggios, licks, and the study of music theory.

While I'm not a natural at improvising, my own improv skills have improved quite a bit over the past several months. I've been working on licks, building speed with scales and arpeggios, and learning new patterns. I'm highly analytical, and while it may seem counterintuitive, this trait has gone a long way in helping me become a better improviser. I've always been fascinated with music theory. While many other students at music school seemed to look upon the required music theory classes with dread, I looked forward to them. I loved analyzing music and picking it apart to see how it all worked. As a classical trombone player, music theory satisfied an intellectual curiosity. Now that I'm a jazz guitarist, music theory is a necessity. Today, the cool thing about music theory is that it's theory in real time. As the music is flying by, my brain goes into overdrive as I consider whether to play the chord as written, or whether or not to alter it depending on what the other players are doing, or whether I'll play a substitute chord, and if I play a substitute chord, which substitute chord of several do I choose?

Now, if I get too wrapped up in the theory and over think, I'll get in my own way, so I try to save the theoretical study for home practice and just let my fingers do my thinking for me while performing.

I'm pretty good at switching off the music theorist while performing, but there's something else I often do to get in my own way. I care too much. I try too hard. Maybe the musician who took the solo right before me played great, and I feel like I have to keep the energy going, so I'll try to will myself into playing an equally great solo. Maybe I'll start a solo with a preconceived notion of what a good solo sounds like. Maybe there's just some pretty woman in the room that I'd like to impress, and the caveman part of my brain somehow thinks that I'll stand a chance with her if only I play a really good solo for 32 measures! Whatever the reason, if I "try" to play a good solo, it almost never happens.

Oddly enough, I seem to play my best solos if I'm really sleepy. I started to notice this two or three months ago. Practicing at home, I found that if I was really tired and started improvising like I didn't care, my solos sounded terrific. Then I would wake up and think, "Wow, I'm getting good!" Fully awake, trying to duplicate the feat, my next solo would invariably suck. Playing half asleep, though, it was like I was channeling the music rather than forcing it out.

Just a couple days ago, I started practicing the fine art of not caring whether I played a good solo or not. Here's what I do. I start by putting my body into the stereotypical "this is lame" slump that teenagers have perfected over the centuries. Then I close my eyes part way, as if this is all so boring to me that I could easily fall asleep. (Again, I learned this from observing teenagers.) Having put myself into the state of not caring how I sound (although secretly I do), I proceed to improvise. It works like a charm! I let my fingers do the walking, and I'm more able to open myself up and simply be a channel for the music.

Last night I took a chance and applied the "I don't care" approach to my improv solos at a Tea for Two gig. It worked in public just as well as it does in private. Not to pat myself on the back too much, but I played some pretty good solos, and I even played a few new things that I hadn't thought of trying before. It was a very interesting experiment to try in front of a listening audience, like stepping off a cliff and trusting that a bridge would appear.

As long as I'm breathing, I'll continue to analyze music and practice scales, arpeggios, licks, and patterns. That's all important, but it's equally important to learn how to turn it all off and just play.

Yoga Newbie

2011-04-28T15:05:00.001-04:00

I recently took my first yoga class. It's a different form of exercise than my usual fare of running, cycling, walking, and strength training. I knew there would be a great deal of stretching, which is why I attended the class in the first place, but I was surprised to find that many yoga poses require a certain amount of strength, and there is also an emphasis on balance. I struggled with the flexibility poses, but I did surprisingly well on the poses that required balance and coordination.

There are a lot of poses in yoga, and I hardly remember any of them. I do remember "downward facing dog" and "cobra." There was also something about a cat, a pigeon, a warrior, and a sequence called the sun salutation, which I hardly remember at all. I suppose I'll learn them as I go.

I already knew that I needed to work more on my flexibility, but as the class started, it became woefully apparent just how tight my muscles were, especially my hips, lower back, and hamstrings. I displayed all the flexibility and grace of a 44 year old man who has been a couch potato most of his adult life. I remember one pose where the teacher told us to hold it, and then inch forward until our muscles told us to stop. Well, my muscles were already informing me that there's no way they were going to stretch any further. Just getting into the starting position was enough stretching for me!

Fortunately, yoga class isn't a contest. I was the obvious beginner in the class, as well as the elder statesman. I'm pretty sure I was at least 20 years older than everyone else in the room, and while most of the students seemed to effortlessly flow from one pose to the next, I struggled the whole way. At times I looked ridiculous, but nobody laughed. Everyone was working at their own level, and my level happened to be total beginner.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of the class. In my younger days, I was into bodybuilding for a few years. Although I enjoyed the bodybuilding training, I didn't always like the atmosphere of the gym, especially when some testosterone filled dude would start yelling and grunting. The yoga class was tranquil, and since I'm not exactly rolling in money these days, I also appreciate the minimal equipment requirements. All you really need is a mat. Even I can afford that!

It's fun to be a beginner at something again, knowing that I'm about ready to tap into a new world of knowledge. I'm not really taking yoga for yoga's sake. Instead, I'm using it to gain some flexibility to balance running and cycling. Still, I find it interesting enough that I want to learn more. I just ordered a beginning yoga DVD so I can learn some of the basic poses at home, and I'm looking forward to coming back to my new yoga class once a week.

Silver Comet

2011-04-10T19:36:00.000-04:00

This afternoon, I took a nice, long run on the Silver Comet Trail. This trail is terrific! In Atlanta, you have to deal with traffic all the time. I often run on the Stone Mountain Path, which is close to me. It's a good place to run, but even so, you're nearly always running near a busy road. The Silver Comet Trail is different. It's 61 miles of unbroken path. There are a few places you have to watch for cross traffic, but you don't have to run alongside any busy roads. In Atlanta, this is about as close to running on a country road as you can get.

The Silver Comet Trail starts at Mavell Road. I knew I was in for a good time when I pulled in and saw scores of people moving and shaking. Most were cyclists, but there were a few runners, walkers, and rollerbladers, too. There was a large parking lot, but I had trouble finding a spot. I guess weekends are pretty busy on the Silver Comet. Thankfully, there was also a public bathroom. I unpacked my water bottles, GU, and an emergency Cliff Bar. It was 85° with 35% humidity (only April!), so I added some Hammer Gel to half of my water bottles for electrolyte and sodium replacement. After stretching and walking a bit, I fired up my trusty Garmin and headed out.

Considering that this was a long run, and that this was a hot day at noon, I started out too fast. I ran 10-minute miles the first two miles, which is a little speedy (for me) for an LSD (long slow distance run). After that, I settled into a saner 11:30 pace. This may not seem very fast, but an LSD run is all about pacing and patience. The workout creeps up on you gradually, and if you go out too fast, you'll pay for it in the last half of the run. I probably started out too fast because I was influenced by the energy of everyone around me. You'll always run faster in a race, because there are people all around you pulling you along. After spending most of my time running early in the morning alone, I experienced a similar feeling today on the trail. I was thankful I had the Garmin to help me rein in my pace. Running on the Silver Comet periodically may be a big help as I prepare for my first marathon. It's going to be easy to start my marathon too fast, and that's a distance that I might not complete if I spend too much energy in the first part of the race. Running the Silver Comet with all those people around can help me learn to control my competitive urge and pace myself in traffic.

After I settled in, the rest of the run was wonderful. I'm a stereotypical solitary runner, and someday I'd even like to spend some vacation time running some lonesome trails in the American Southwest. That being said, it was also fun to be on the trail with all those other bodies in motion. There were old people and young, super fast cyclists and a little boy who had just taken off the training wheels. (He crashed every hundred feet or so, but the little guy just kept getting back up! He and his dad were just about 50 yards ahead of me on the trail going at about my speed. Little did they know it, but they were excellent pacers.) There were athletic bodies, fat bodies, and bodies like mine which were somewhere in the middle. What we all had in common was that we were out there moving and shaking on a hot Sunday afternoon.

It was a terrific run. I ran much of the trail on the grass next to the asphalt. I like running in dirt and grass when I can. The uneven surface helps strengthen my feet and ankles, and the softer surfaces are better for my joints. I intended to run 12 miles, but I had so much fun that I added an extra 2, for a total of 14 miles. It's too bad that the Silver Comet is so far away. (I went there today because I happened to be in the area for a Sunday service.) On the other hand, this will make my Silver Comet runs that much more special. If I'm up that way for a gig or rehearsal, I'll see if I can work a Silver Comet run into my schedule. This will also be a good place for really long runs. I'm working up to being able to complete a 20-mile run in the next few months, and I plan on running 50 miles on my 50th birthday in another 5+ years. I think both of these important runs will be on the Silver Comet.

Embarrassing Moments in Music History

2011-04-04T21:46:00.001-04:00

We all have our moments when we wish we could crawl into a hole and hide from the world. As musicians, our lives can be intensely public, so we often get to share our most embarrassing moments in front of an enrapt, often bewildered audience.

One experience in particular has been permanently seared into my brain. I was a student trombonist at the University of Illinois, playing with the U of I Symphonic Band, which was the top group of five concert bands. Our conductor, James Keene, was your stereotypical hard nosed conductor. You simply didn't want to make a mistake when Professor Keene was waving the stick. It was an honor to be in that band, but it was also a high pressure situation.

We had been rehearsing Arnold Schoenberg's Symphony in B-flat. This is an incredible piece of music, and it's incredibly difficult to perform. It was nearing concert time, and we had never managed to play all the way through it without falling apart. This rehearsal was about a week before the concert, and Mr. Keene wanted to get through the piece, come hell or high water. He told us that we simply weren't going to stop. We were going to pretend it was concert time and play all the way through it.

Surprisingly, it all came together. Not only did we make it all the way through, but the band sounded marvelous. It was magic. We worked our way to the final, glorious chord. The only thing that could have possibly ruined this moment was…me.

I was holding my last note (an F above the bass clef staff), playing as loudly as I could. While Mr. Keene was holding the chord, a little voice of doubt made me look down at my music to be doubly sure I was playing the right note. The split second I looked away, Mr. Keene gave the final cut-off. The next sequence of events took no more than a few seconds, but it seemed like minutes to me. Time slowed down. I looked back up, not yet aware that the entire band had stopped playing. Mr. Keene was looking at me funny. I knew something was wrong, but my addled brain couldn't figure out what that strange sound was. I realized that the strange sound was me, playing an excruciatingly loud F all by myself. Making a sound like ripping sheet metal, I tore the trombone away from my mouth and stared bullets into my music stand. Nobody said a word. That was the last note of the rehearsal. I quietly packed up my horn and slunk away.

The moral of the store? Always watch the conductor!

Another fine moment in music history involves a trombone trio at a friend's recital, but that's a story for another day.

Refocusing

2011-03-26T13:44:00.000-04:00

Lately, I've been having trouble maintaining my focus. I've been tired a lot, and I haven't been able to concentrate while practicing.

I just finished up two major events, both of which required a lot of effort and mental drive.

A couple weeks ago, I finished performing in a musical with a very difficult guitar book. I spent over two months practicing this music, drilling it over and over again. Even during the two-week run of the show, I continued drilling much of the music to keep it all under my fingers. While I enjoyed playing the show, and I improved my guitar skills, it was also a huge relief to be finished.

Last week I ran a half marathon. This followed nearly a year of dieting, walking, biking, and running that culminated in a very respectable time of 2:03 for my first half marathon. I didn't realize how much mental focus went into that race until the next couple days, when my brain simply shut down and I had to sleep through two afternoons. I was literally falling asleep while practicing scales!

Normally, I maintain a laser focus, but no one can keep it up indefinitely. To regain my energy and recover from the half marathon, I've had an easy week of exercise, with just one run and some easy bike riding. Next week I'll begin building up the running miles again, aiming for another half marathon in October and a full marathon around this time next year.

As far as guitar playing, to help me regain my focus, I'm going to start working my way through a DVD guitar course, Guitar College, that I bought last year and never seemed to get around to using. Since I'm having trouble deciding what to practice next, I'm simply going to follow the course and use the DVDs to help me get back on track. It won't be long before I find my groove again as a musician.

I'm glad I played the show and ran the half marathon. I'm equally glad that they're both finished. Now I can take a breather, absorb the lessons I've learned, and start moving forward again.

Half Marathon Report

2011-03-20T23:05:00.000-04:00

This morning I ran the Georgia Publix Half Marathon. 13.1 miles in 2:03:54, with an average pace of 9:28 per mile. According to my printed race results, I ran the first 6.2 miles in 1:03:21, which is a pace of 10:12 per mile. I ran the last seven miles in about an hour, for a pace of around 8:34 per mile. Those are the dry facts. Now let me tell you about the experience.

To understand what this race meant to me, we need go back to April 11, 2010. On this day, I stepped on the scale and was shocked to discover that I weighed 323 pounds. (I've included a "before" picture in this blog.) I reined in my diet and began walking…and walking…and walking. After a few months, I started peppering my walks with short runs. Over time, I was able to run a continuous 3 miles, then 4, then 5, and eventually 14.

Through experimentation, I've discovered that my Saturday long runs feel best if I take a short, easy run the day before. Sticking with this routine, I went for a short run yesterday. I deliberately ran the same 3 mile route that used to be a challenging walk, just to remind myself where I had started. As I ran the last quarter mile, my eyes welled with tears as I realized that what used to be a major workout was now an easy warm-up run for a much longer distance. The simple fact that I was running 13 hard miles the next day meant that I had already won my own personal race.

On race day, the weather couldn't have been any better. Overcast, with a high in the low 60s, it was as if someone had ordered up the perfect day for a long distance run. I traveled to the race with Mom (visiting from Branson) and Lynnette, my musical partner and fellow runner. I'm very much an early bird and wanted to leave really early for the race, but Mom and Lynnette voted me down. We arrived shortly before the start time, so I was glad that I stretched and warmed up at home. I had consumed plenty of liquid, so on the way to my starting corral, I had to duck into a nearby hotel and take care of some business. Coincidentally, this was the Embassy Suites near Centennial Olympic Park, where I played a corporate gig last year. For some reason, no one seemed to recognize me.

In a race of this size, the runners start in designated areas based on their estimated finish time. Elite runners lead the way, then super fast runners, fast runners, kind of fast runners, and so forth, with the snails bringing up the rear. Once I found my starting corral, it wasn't long before the race began. For my group, the race didn't begin until about 15 minutes after the gun went off. Fortunately, all of our race numbers had chips that were activated once we crossed the official starting line, so every participant was able to get an accurate finishing time. As we were slowly making our way to the starting line, I began to get choked up again. I was thinking that this time last year, I was knocking off a bag of chips a day with a Ben and Jerry's chaser, and this morning I was running a 13 mile race.

I was afraid that in the excitement, I would start too fast and wear myself out early in the race, but that wasn't a problem. With around 15,000 participants, this was by far the biggest race I had entered. (Back in my Air Force days, before I gained all that weight, I ran lots of 5Ks and 10Ks.) With the runners all packed in like sardines, I couldn't have started fast if I had tried. This worked out really well for me. I had no idea how long it would take to run this race. My plan was to start conservatively, and then to kick it up a notch if I felt good at mile 7. Well, I felt more than good at mile 7. I felt great, so I turned on the afterburners. After the fact, I was surprised when I discovered that I averaged 8:34 minutes per mile over the last 7 miles. This isn't elite runner speed, but it's faster than a snail.

The race itself is mostly a blur, but I have some random flashes of memory and observations. The music at the start was too loud. I covered my ears. I'm not good at drinking from paper cups and running at the same time. I got Gatorade up my nose and snotted myself. Runners, even marathoners, come in all shapes and sizes. You gain a lot of energy high-fiving the little kids who are standing by the side of the road cheering for you. Even though I ran the race alone, I had several chance running partners and competitors along the way. There are a lot of cute female runners. The Georgia Publix Marathon/Half Marathon has loads of hills. Whoever decided to put a hill in that last mile of the course deserves a punishment…maybe some sort of Sisyphean fate where they have to run eternal hill repeats. I'm normally not a competitive person, but I allowed no one to pass me in the last two miles. If you're meeting someone after a huge race, you shouldn't give them your phone before the race. It took longer to find my mom than it did to run the race! I can run faster than I thought. I have my own story behind the half marathon. There were 15,000 other stories.

Today's race was a terrific experience all around, and I'm hooked. I've signed up to run the Silver Comet Half Marathon on October 29, and I may look for another half marathon in July or August. I plan on working up to a 20 mile run on Thanksgiving, and next year I'll run the full Georgia Publix Marathon. Sometime in the next year or two, I'd like to take a trip to the American Southwest and spend a couple weeks doing nothing but running desert trails, and when I turn 50 in six years, I'm going to celebrate by running 50 miles.

Back At It

2011-03-17T22:09:00.000-04:00

Being a musician is a wonderful thing, but there are times when it can feel like a job. "Job." Just the sound of that short word sends shivers down my spine!

A few days ago, I found myself in a funk after finishing a short run of All Shook Up with Act3 Productions. I don't think I realized how much I needed a break from guitar playing until after that last show. In most ensemble situations, I am able to learn the music quickly without deviating much from my normal practice routine. All Shook Up was different. It was a difficult book to learn, and even during the run of the show, I had to stay on top of it by spending at least 30 minutes running through the tricky parts before each show. Over the past three months, I spent a large percentage of my practice time working on this show book. I cut way back on my usual regimen of licks and sight-reading, and I wasn't able to commit much time to learning new songs for my own repertoire.

After the show, I didn't practice for two days, which is highly unusual for me. I love playing guitar, but even with music, there can be too much of a good thing. If I hadn't had to teach a few lessons and play some rehearsals, I probably wouldn't have touched the guitar at all for two days.

Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't take back a minute of the time I spent learning All Shook Up. It took me way out of my comfort zone and forced me to become a better guitarist. I'm glad I took the two day break, though. I feel rejuvenated and ready to play again. It feels good to get back to my regular routine, and I cherish the "alone time" with my guitar more than ever.

Act3 Productions

2011-03-14T12:07:00.001-04:00

Last night I played the final show of All Shook Up with Act3 Productions. This was a wonderful experience, and I'm looking forward to playing more shows with Act3 in the future. As a trombone player, I played in pit orchestras for several musicals and operas, but this was my first pit experience as a guitarist.

The guitar book for All Shook Up was very challenging. The guitar is typically a back-up instrument, but since this was a rock n' roll show, the guitar was often front and center. Unless I someday play Man of La Mancha, I can almost guarantee that every guitar book I play after this is going to seem easy by comparison. After I was hired to play this show, I asked to have the guitar book as soon as possible, and I'm glad I did! The first time I cracked open the book, it took me three days to work my way through all the music. Eventually, I was able to play through the book in two days, and then finally one day. Once it was time to play the show, it was just a matter of briefly reviewing the tricky spots each day. I'm a better guitarist for having played this show.

I'm happy and proud to have become part of the Act3 Productions family. When I was first told that this was a community theater, I was a little wary…at least until I was told I would get paid. (I am a mercenary!) When I played my first rehearsal, I was pleasantly surprised at the high level of the cast. Opening night was great, and the performances just kept getting better and better. The pit orchestra was mighty fine, too. Everyone was a pro, and it didn't take long for the pit musicians to gel, both musically and personally. (By the way, for those guitarists who downplay the importance of reading music, some pit orchestra experience might just change your mind.)

Act3 Productions has a lot going for it, and I highly recommend checking them out. According to their website, their mission is "to inspire performers, support positive values, and enrich the Arts community by producing professional-level performances." I'll be involved in playing musicals with them 3-4 times a year, but there's a lot more going on than just musicals. They have a group of high school students writing their own musical, several plays, summer workshops, and much more. If you are interested in theater and dance, either as an artist or strictly as an audience member, you owe it to yourself to check out Act3 Productions in Sandy Springs.

Act3 Productions is located at 6285-R Roswell Road NE in Sandy Springs 30328 behind Trader Joe's in the Sandy Springs Plaza. You can go to www.act3productions.org to learn more about Act3 Productions, including upcoming shows, workshops, and a little Act3 history.

The Rest of Your Life

2011-02-27T21:34:00.000-05:00

Tonight at the grocery store, the cashier misspoke. Handing me the receipt, she told me, "Enjoy the rest of your life." That is my intention.

Sometimes people look back at their high school or college glory days and say that was the best time of their life. Those were good days for me, and college in particular was the best time of my life…until now. I've had some unpleasant years, including my short and spectacularly bad career as a band director and my last year or so in the Air Force. (Nothing against the Air Force. I was just in a bad situation.) Don't even get me started on Cleveland.

These days, I'm finding that I spend my time mostly on things I like to do. I still enjoy music engraving, which is still my main source of income. I spend a lot of my days practicing guitar and rehearsing with a variety of groups, including a jazz combo, an originals band, and a big band. I'm slowly but steadily making inroads in the Atlanta music scene, and my gig calendar is full. My roster of private students is growing steadily as well, and I'm confident that by the end of the year, teaching will make up a respectable percentage of my income.

My weight and health issues are finally under control. I'm at a healthy weight, looking and feeling better than I have in years, and feeling more confident in general. I originally began running to accelerate my weight loss, but running has now become more than just a means to stay healthy. I love running nearly as much as I love music, and I look forward to my "running mornings."

I've made more friends in the past two years than I made in the previous ten years. Without even trying, I seem to have connected with the right people at the right time. Part of this is because I'm meeting more people as I play more gigs, but most of it is because I've removed some emotional barriers that I've always used to keep people at arm's length.

Even though my yearly income places me squarely in the "poor" category, I am rich in friends and music, and I plan on nurturing and growing this special kind of wealth as the years roll on. I had a good laugh at the cashier's slip of the tongue, but I became more grateful for what I have as I thought about her words. Whatever your situation is, whatever your passions are, I hope that you, too, will enjoy the rest of your life.

Balancing Act

2011-02-24T00:14:00.000-05:00

I don't know if there is such a thing as a foodaholic, but if there is, then I am one. Believe it or not, losing 124 pounds was fairly easy. I'm extremely goal oriented. Once I've set my sights on achieving something, there's usually not much that can stop me. Now that I've met my goal and am at a healthy weight, I'm finding food to be a challenge again. About a week after reaching my target weight, I found myself bingeing, telling myself that since I'm doing so much distance running, I'll automatically keep the weight off. This is the kind of mindset that reversed my weight loss efforts the last time. I may be running a lot, but it's still a numbers game. No matter how much I run, if I consume more calories than I burn, I'm going to gain weight again. Having learned from past mistakes, I put a stop to the bingeing right away.

I can certainly consume more food than I've been able to eat in the past year, but not so much that my middle starts to expand again. I'm not counting every single calorie anymore, but I'm still mindful of the types of food I eat and my portion sizes. I don't bring junk food into the house, and my cupboard is potato chip free. My will is weakest at night, so I'm maintaining my "don't eat after 6:00" rule as often as practical. In general, if I eat four small meals per day of around 500 calories, I'm in pretty good shape.

While I may always be dealing with food issues, at least I've rekindled my love of running and exercising in general. Running was originally a means of shedding pounds, but now it's a passion nearly on par with my love of music. I'm planning on running two half marathons this year, I want to be able to run 20 miles straight by the end of the year, and next year I'd like to run a marathon. After that, who knows?

I just love food! While I don't have to be as restrictive now as I was when I was in weight loss mode, I still have to be vigilant. The adjustments in my eating will take some experimentation, but I'm confident I'll find the right balance.

Don't Get Drunk

2011-02-23T14:41:00.001-05:00

In negotiating with a client for this weekend's gig, I asked two inevitable questions: Can we bring a guest? Will there be food? His answer was that yes, we can each bring a guest, but they have to dress appropriately. (This is for a black tie affair.) We can also eat the food, but, as he wrote, "I am comfortable with you bringing a family member as long as everyone is responsible in consumption of food and alcohol. Last year, the band ate and drank everything we had, so they left a bad taste in people's mouth."

This isn't the first time I've heard this kind of warning. Last year a corporate client told my band that we were free to visit the buffet between sets, but "please don't get drunk." This was ironic, considering I've had exactly one beer in my entire life. She seemed a little surprised when I told her I didn't drink, as if I had destroyed her stereotype of a working musician.

This illustrates that being a professional musician is about more than just being able to play circles around the competition. Equally important is the way you conduct yourself on and off stage. This Saturday, InTown Band will play a cocktail set at 8 and a dance set at 10 at the Cherokee Arts Center. We'll have an hour break, during which we can eat and mingle with guests. During our break, we're going to be "on the job" just as much we are when we're onstage.

As for me, I'm not the hottest guitar player in town, but there's something to be said for showing up on time, properly dressed, and on my best behavior. A great audition or demo will get you a gig, but acting like a pro will earn repeat customers.

LSD

2011-02-13T23:08:00.000-05:00

A highlight of the week is my LSD run, and no, it's not what you think. To a runner, LSD is "Long, Slow Distance." This is a weekly run that is at least 1.5 times as long as your average run. I'm currently running 4-6 miles on a given day during the week, but my long run is at least 10 miles. For some, this may seem masochistic. For others, my 10+ miles is just an average workout.

LSD is a must for a distance runner. The way to build endurance is to, well, endure. It's an incredibly challenging workout. You don't want to go for an LSD run more than once a week unless you're trying to run your body into the ground. There are probably some ultra-runners out there who would disagree, but one LSD run per week is plenty for us mortals.

The LSD run also teaches you mental toughness and patience. You must maintain a slower pace on an LSD run, or you simply won't last…or maybe you will last, but you'll wish you hadn't! At the beginning of an LSD run, I curb my enthusiasm, running purposefully and slowly. Yesterday I ran 11 miles. It felt like I was moving at a snail's pace, but once I hit 5 miles and realized I had 6 more to go, I was congratulating myself for maintaining a reasonable pace. Running an 11:30 mile may seem very slow. Well, it is very slow, but believe me, if you run at that pace for 11 miles, you'll feel it!

About 15 years ago, I was a pretty speedy runner, training mostly for fast 5K and 10K races. Even though I'm not nearly as fast these days, I'm able to run longer distances because I've learned the value of slowing down. Back then, I used a stopwatch so that I could push myself to run faster and faster. Today, I wear a GPS watch that keeps track of my pace. Instead of using it to push the tempo, I actually use it to slow down on my LSD run. If I find that I'm running faster than a certain pace, even if I feel strong, I'll slow down until I reach the pace that will allow me to go the distance. As I continue running, I'll naturally become faster as I grow stronger, but this year is all about endurance. One of my goals is to be able to run 20 miles by the end of the year, and I've already worked out a training plan.

The Long, Slow Distance mindset is part of my musical life, too. As a guitarist, I want to be able to play like Joe Pass, Frank Vignola, or Martin Taylor. The reality is that I sound good for someone who's only been playing seven years, but I'm nowhere near their league. All I can do is maintain my slow, steady pace and go the distance. Each day, I run through scales and patterns, practice sight-reading, work on improvisation, practice music for upcoming performances, review my solo arrangements work on new arrangements, and so forth. Every practice session is like logging another mile in my LSD guitar run. You never know, someday I might wake up and realize I can run with the big dogs. Until then, it's one step at a time.

Teaching Again

2011-02-05T14:56:00.000-05:00

A couple months ago I hung out my shingle as a private guitar teacher. To be honest, I didn't feel called to teach, or that I was serving some kind of high purpose. I needed the money! Since I began playing guitar, I've cut my freelance music engraving business way back. I had decided to make another run at a performance career, and I knew that I had to create enough practice time for myself to achieve a certain level of mastery on the guitar. As a guitarist, I improved in a hurry, but the trade-off is that my finances have suffered. I decided to begin teaching as a way to improve my money situation.

After I graduated from college, I bombed as a band director. I was an excellent conductor, but I couldn't deal with a room full of kids. On the other hand, I really enjoyed teaching private trombone lessons, and I was a good teacher, too. I had a high school student who came to me with a crappy tone and very little technique. By the time I was done with her, she was one of the best high school trombone players in the state.

Although I started teaching guitar for the money, I'm beginning to find other rewards, and my love of private teaching has been rekindled. I've only been teaching some of my students for a few weeks, but I'm already beginning to see progress. It'll be fun to see where they can take their guitar playing in another year or two. Unless it's recorded, a performance is ephemeral, and even then, a recording is a poor substitute for experiencing music in person. On the other hand, the skills and knowledge that I'm passing on to my students will stick with them for a long time, maybe even a lifetime, and you never know if you're helping train the next big superstar.

Right now I make house calls, traveling to each student's home to teach. My apartment isn't the ideal spot to teach. I just can't imagine mommy being willing to leave her 10 year old son or daughter with the large 44 year old man in the basement. My initial goal is to recruit 20 regular students. I'm off to a good start. I've only been teaching a couple months, and I have 7 students on my roster. As my student list grows, I'll eventually reach a tipping point, when it's going to be too much of a hassle to drive around. At that point, I'll look for a nearby music store or teaching studio to use as a base of operations. The downside will be that the store will take a percentage of my lesson fee. The upside will be that I won't have to drive all over creation, allowing me time for even more students. Also, if I teach in a store, the students will have easy access to any equipment or music they'll need.

I'll keep up the music engraving for now, but grand plan is to make a living solely from performing, teaching, and royalties. (I have an idea for a book.) One way or the other, I plan to make a living with a guitar in my hands.

Transition

2011-02-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

I've accomplished my weight loss goal. Last April, I weighed 323 pounds. Today I weigh 199. Now it's time to switch gears. I've had a weight loss mentality for so long that I'm finding it hard to believe that I don't need to diet to lose weight anymore. I'll most certainly lose a few more as a result of my distance running addiction, but I don't have to be as strict.

While I have to change gears, I don't want to throw it into reverse, thinking I can just eat whatever the hell I want. Fortunately, my weight loss diet wasn't too crazy. I ate normal, healthy foods as I was losing weight. I just didn't stuff myself silly. Now I'll be comfortable eating the same foods, except I'll be able to eat larger portions. I'll be able to indulge now and then if I go out, and holidays won't be such torture.

I still plan on weighing in once a week to keep tabs on myself. If my weight drifts above 200, I'll know to cut back a bit. Since I'll be training for half marathons and eventually marathons, I suspect the weight will no longer be an issue.

The weight loss was enjoyable in a weird sort of way, but I'm glad that chapter of my life is over. I'm ready to move on.

Sweet Revenge

2011-02-02T08:58:00.000-05:00

This morning I finished a personally satisfying run. Last November, I ran up and down some hills that I had no business tackling. It was the first time in over 15 years that I had tried to run 6 miles, and I just wasn't ready to handle that distance and those hills at the same time. I ended up with shin splints and had to ride the stationary bike for over a week while my legs recovered from that misguided run.

Today was different. I got my revenge, conquering the hills that conquered me. I didn't even intend to run those hills this morning. Today was supposed to be a standard five mile run around a regular loop in the Avondale Estates neighborhood. I ran up Forrest, only to find that my way was blocked. There were signs telling me that the road was closed, but I didn't think that applied to runners until a police officer got out of his car and told me I had to turn back. I turned around, trying to decide which direction I wanted to go. I have a special knack for getting lost, even in my own neighborhood, so I wanted to be sure I didn't turn this into an epic run trying to find my way home.

I chose a direction and soon found myself running the same hills that kicked my butt a few months ago. I couldn't help but think that the first hill used to be bigger. I motored up the hill, no problem, and decided to retrace the hilly route I followed in November. I was surprised to find that all the hills seemed smaller. They were still challenging, but I was able to run them all well within my comfort zone.

The improved hill running is a result of better fitness and improved technique. I'm continually amazed at how the body adapts to the demands you put on it. As long as you don't overload it with too much at once, your body will gradually adjust. If you sit around like a slug and eat chips with a Ben and Jerry's chaser, your body adapts by getting fatter. I speak from personal experience. If you gradually increase your running mileage and include some hills in your runs, eventually you'll be able to easily run most hills and not feel like you're inducing a stroke.

For those of you who don't run, you may not be aware that there is a technique that helps you run up hills more easily. If you're running long distances, you don't want charge up a big hill, because you'll sap your energy and have problems with the rest of your run. If you try to sprint up the hill, the hill will win every time. Instead, you lean forward and take small, quick steps. To me, it feels a little like you're running up a long series of tiny steps. It feels funny at first, until you realize that you're already halfway up the hill and your legs still feel strong. As I run up each hill, my mantra is "Baby steps. Quick turnover. Flow."

Between the improved fitness, better technique, and an unexpected detour, I discovered that I'm a much stronger runner than I was just a few months ago. There will be more hills to climb in the future, and I'm looking forward to meeting new challenges. (You can click here to check out this morning's running route.)

Sticking With It

2011-01-23T19:39:00.000-05:00

Lately a few of my Facebook friends have posted status reports on their diet. I've read comments like, "Oh God, I start my diet tomorrow," "Man, this is gonna suck," and "I'm so hungry."

I absolutely guarantee their efforts are doomed to failure. If you want to start a successful weight loss campaign, you can't approach it with the idea that your diet is some sort of penance that will finally be over once you reach a magic number on the bathroom scale.

Unless you're a masochist, there's only so long you'll be able to take self-punishment. If you're already in the "poor me" mindset when you're following your diet, you'll feel even worse when you slip up. (Trust me, I've had plenty of experience in this area.) Then, one of two things will happen: Either you'll punish yourself further by redoubling your diet efforts, or you'll break and give up your diet. If you're doing dietary penance, you will eventually give up and gain weight again.

Also, don't think that the diet will be over once you've reached your magic weight, and that you can then start eating all the "good" food you've been denying yourself. This is another recipe for disaster. All that "good" food is what made you gain weight in the first place. Again, I have plenty of personal experience in this area.

Rather than punishing yourself with a fad diet that no human could possibly stick with, think of it as altering your eating habits. There is plenty of good food out there that also happens to be good for you. Gradually alter your eating habits, and by the time you've reached your goal, you won't even feel like you're on a diet. (And even though this blog entry is about diet, I must strongly state that it'll help you enormously if you add moderate exercise into the mix. You don't have to follow my path and become a born again long distance runner. Try 30 minutes of quick walking. If you don't think you have time for 30 minutes, then go for 10. It's better than nothing.)

I'm not qualified to tell you what to eat on your diet, but here's the simple approach that's helped me lose 122 pounds so far.

Breakfast. Usually 1) cereal (non sugar) and skim milk, or 2) granola (3/4 cup), berries, and a big glob of plain non-fat yogurt, or 3) oatmeal (no sugar) with a little honey mixed in.
Lunch (usually my biggest meal). Some kind of lean meat (usually chicken or fish) and a big pile of vegetables. Another common meal is a large salad (very light on the dressing).
Dinner (usually a smaller meal, and usually early…around 5 p.m. In general, I try not to eat after 6). A repeat of breakfast or lunch, but with smaller portions unless it's a salad. As long as you go very light on the dressing and don't blanket it with cheese, you can generally eat as much salad as you want.
If I eat out, I order a side salad instead of fries, and I've trained myself to look for grilled items and salads on the menu and ignore fried foods.

My approach to diet is very basic. There's nothing magic about it. I simply eat healthy foods in reasonable portions, and I do my best to stay away from sugars, fried foods, and processed foods. I do get hungry on my diet, but that's because I'm running a caloric deficit to lose weight. Although I get hungry, I never feel like I'm starving or denying myself. Once I've reached my target weight, I'll be comfortable sticking with this way of eating, and I'll be able to eat larger portions because I'll be maintaining weight instead of losing.

Rather than approaching your diet as a negative ("It sucks to be so hungry"), approach it as a positive ("I'm finally going to turn my health around."). A positive outlook and a simple eating plan will go a long way toward helping you stick with it and turn you into a successful weight loss story.

Changing Tastes

2011-01-20T13:25:00.000-05:00

As of today, I've lost 120 pounds. I only have three more pounds to lose before I reach my major goal of 200 pounds. As I continue to run and work out, I'll probably lose another 10 pounds or so. Once I dip below 200, I don't have a specific weight in mind. Through healthy eating and plenty of exercise, my body will gradually settle down to its own ideal weight.

Most people will tell you that when you lose this much weight, you can expect to be more energetic, have greater mobility, and feel more confident. This is all true, but one surprise is that my taste buds have changed. Last April, when I first began a concerted effort to lose weight, I constantly craved all the foods I had been gorging on for the past 15 years: chips, pizza, burgers, fried foods, sweets of any kind, and my favorite treat of all, Ben and Jerry's ice cream. For about a month, I fantasized about these foods constantly. It took real effort to avoid these foods and switch to a cleaner diet.

Somewhere along the way, I actually began craving foods that were good for me. At first, I attributed this to sheer hunger. It's not that I'm starving on my current diet (far from it), but when you're running a caloric deficit, you're going to get hungry. I just figured that if you're hungry enough, just about anything tastes good. I first noticed this when I went for sushi with a friend a few months ago. I never used to like sushi, but I gave it another try, and, lo and behold, I like it now. Later, I noticed that I was craving vegetables. These days, when I go out to eat, I walk into a restaurant hoping they have good salads or a wide range of grilled entrees.

It's not that I wouldn't want to snarf down a bag a chips or a pint of Ben and Jerry's if someone brought them to me, but I just don't search out these foods anymore. I think part of the reason I didn't enjoy eating the healthier foods was that the super rich junk food interfered with my palate. When I first changed my diet, my fantasy was that after I reached a certain weight, I would treat myself to Ben and Jerry's or some pizza, but even that has changed. Instead, I'll be treating myself to some new clothes and running gear, and once it warms up, I'll get my bike fixed up so I can use it for weekend rides and local errands. I'll certainly enjoy ice cream and other treats now and then, but in moderation.

All you dieters out there take heart. If you've just started watching your calories, you're probably craving junk food right now. Keep the junk food out of the house so it's not easily accessible. If you go out to eat, order a salad instead of fries. I know you're longing for some candy or some tasty fried goodness, and unfortunately, you're going to continue craving them for a few weeks. Such is life. Just focus on making good choices from meal to meal. Stick with it, and you'll eventually discover that healthy eating has become a habit.

All Shook Up

2011-01-16T20:59:00.000-05:00

Atlanta is thawing as I write this. Most of the winters I've seen in Atlanta, including this one, are pretty mild. It'll occasionally snow, but it usually melts the next day. Last week was unusual in that we had a pretty good dose of snow, coupled with a week of subfreezing temperatures. With around 10 snow plows for a city of half a million people, Atlanta was brought to a standstill for a week.

With rehearsals canceled last week, I was left with a clear calendar. While many Atlantoids were going stir crazy, I was taking advantage of the extra alone time to woodshed a show book. For you musical civilians, to "woodshed" is to practice something over and over and over and over until you get it right…and then you practice it a little more just to be sure.

I'm going to be playing in Act3 Productions' All Shook Up in March. I'm really excited about this. When I was a trombone player, pit orchestra was my favorite kind of playing, and I'm thrilled to have my first of what will hopefully be many opportunities to play in pit orchestras as a guitarist. That's the good news. The bad news is that the guitar book is very difficult. Keep in mind that All Shook Up is based on the music of Elvis, so it's not like the guitarist can hide in the mix. I would have preferred to reenter the world of pit orchestra playing with an easier book, but you have to take the opportunities that come. (Also keep in mind that I've only been playing guitar for seven years. Maybe in another seven years I'll look back and chuckle at how difficult this book seemed at the time.)

When I first opened the book and listened to the sound track, I was overwhelmed. Essentially, the book is page after page of tricky guitar lines. Really, there are two guitar parts, a lead guitar and a rhythm guitar, but I believe I'm the only guitarist in the show, so once rehearsals begin, I'll have to figure out which is more important, the lead line or the rhythm part. For example, if a sax or trumpet is doubling my lead line, then I may serve the ensemble better by switching to rhythm guitar.

There is so much tricky music in this book that there's no way I could absorb it all overnight, so I had to figure out a way to start chipping away at it until I could play the book. First, I simply hacked my way through the book a few times. On the third pass, I wrote down the pages that would need special attention. Some of these pages have parts that are difficult enough that I need to drill them every day. Others aren't quite as tricky, and as long as I play each page every 2-3 days, I'll be in good shape by the first rehearsal.

In my list of pages, the left hand column is for pages that I need to practice every day, and the right hand column is for the pages that I can cycle through more slowly. I spend twice as much time working on the left hand column, so if I have 90 minutes to practice, I'll practice the "easy" pages on the right for 30 minutes, and then I'll woodshed the pages on the left for an hour. You can see that a couple entries in the left hand column have been scratched out. Those have improved enough that I've moved them to the "easy" column. Eventually I'll be able to scratch a few more out and move them to the other side.

To some, this may seem like an anal retentive way to approach music, but I had to figure out a way to learn a lot of difficult music in a hurry. My initial goal is to not embarrass myself in the first rehearsal, and my ultimate goal is to sound great come showtime.

I'm enjoying the challenge this show book presents, and I'm finding that it's helping me improve as a guitarist overall. I'm also kind of hoping that my next musical has a tamer guitar part…lots of "boom-chucks" would be nice!

New Year, New Opportunities

2011-01-09T18:36:00.000-05:00

Around this time last year, I decided that 2010 was going to be "my year," and I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. I laid the groundwork for what I believe will eventually be a successful second career in performing. I made dramatic improvements to my health by dropping 116 pounds. I should be down to my desired weight in another few months, and I'm planning on running two half-marathons this year and a marathon in another year or two. I've met new friends, and for the first time in over 20 years, I feel like I've found my little place in the world.

I'm not stopping there. I have a tendency to always be pressing forward. As happy as I was with 2010, there's plenty more to accomplish. 2010 was a year for laying a strong foundation, and I'm already looking ahead to see what else I can do.

As far as opportunities, 2011 is already off to a great start. Just two days ago, I became the guitarist for the Atlanta Swing Orchestra. Logan Thomas, who has been the guitarist for the Atlanta Swing Orchestra for 8 years, took a new job that has him traveling a lot. Logan decided that he wasn't going to be able to dedicate the time to the ASO that he would like, so he called me and asked me if I wanted to switch roles, with me being the main guy and Logan subbing. (This is a case in point for my relationship-building approach to finding gigs. If I was the type of sub who was constantly angling to take take the spot, you can bet that Logan wouldn't have called me!)

Now, being the guitarist with the Atlanta Swing Orchestra certainly doesn't mean I can quit my day job – not that I have one. The band doesn't play a lot of gigs. What it does mean is that I have a weekly opportunity to play big band rhythm guitar, which is far and away my favorite type of playing. It also means that I may have more small group gig opportunities simply by spending time with 16 other musicians.

Another exciting opportunity is playing in a pit orchestra for a musical in March, when I'll be playing in Act3 Productions' All Shook Up. First of all, when I was a trombone player, I loved playing in pit orchestras, and so I'm thrilled that I have an opportunity to do some pit playing as a guitarist. On top of that, I've heard nothing but good things about Act3 Productions. It's a fairly new company (just over a year old) that already has good reviews. As far as I understand, they've had a regular guitarist, but he moved to Nashville. If I do a good job with this show, I should slide right into that guitar spot. Assuming it's successful over the long haul, I'm essentially getting in on the ground floor and can grow along with Act3 Productions.

Playing with Act3 Productions is about more than just playing shows. Just as with the Atlanta Swing Orchestra, it's an opportunity to be with other musicians and continue gaining experience and building a reputation for being professional and easy to work with. With Act3, I'll be meeting a new circle of musicians, which will eventually lead to more playing opportunities.

We're still in the first half of January, and this is already a promising year. I can't wait to see what the rest of 2011 brings!

2011 Goals

2010-12-23T14:32:00.000-05:00

I'm a big goal setter. Every year since I began playing guitar, I've written out my goals for the upcoming year. I like to post them on the door of my equipment cabinet and check them off when I've met them. My goals are usually pretty ambitious. I rarely manage to accomplish every single goal for the year, but I have a pretty good batting average.

Here are my goals for 2011.

1) Arrange at least 15 Christmas songs for solo guitar, and arrange at least 5 Beatles songs for solo guitar.

I'm pretty good at faking my way through Christmas music, but I'd like to build a repertoire of well written holiday arrangements. I love Beatles songs, but I just haven't gotten around to arranging any of them for solo guitar, so it's time add a few to my repertoire.

2) Recruit 20 private guitar students.

I recently began recruiting guitar students, focusing on beginners of all styles and intermediates who want to explore jazz guitar. I already have four students lined up in January, and I'm confident I'll be meet my goal of 20 students in 6-8 months. For now, I'm traveling to each student's home to teach. If I reach 20 students and it seems there's still a high demand, I'll consider teaching from a studio or store.

3) Record a solo album.

I'm often asked if I have a CD for sale, and I unfortunately have to keep saying no. InTown Band, my originals group, has a CD for sale, but I don't have a solo album. I haven't decided yet if it'll be totally solo or if I'll hire some back-up. I do know it'll be a mix of jazz standards and original music.

4) Record backing tracks for Christmas songs, jazz standards, and original instrumentals.

I haven't put a number on this goal, because I'm still learning how to use the recording software. Eventually, I'll come up with a system and be able to crank out backing tracks efficiently. The backing tracks will be for long solo gigs. Playing solo guitar for 2, 3, or even 4 hours can really wear down your hands. Backing tracks will allow me to play a lot of single line melodies to give my left hand a rest. It's always preferable to play with a group of people, but not every client is willing to shell out the money to hire a full band.

5) Write 20 original instrumentals.

I slacked off this year in the writing department, and I plan to write more original music in 2011. I'm not so great at coming up with lyrics, but I have a knack for writing strong melodies with interesting yet accessible chord changes. In 2011, I'll focus on writing lots of instrumentals, and I'll present the voice-friendly ones to InTown Band for lyric ideas.

6) Memorize 50 vocals.

My classical training makes me a very strong reader, particularly for a guitarist. The downside is that I tend to rely on my reading too much when I'm performing as a soloist. As a result, I stare at the music and avoid eye contact with the audience. It's time to wean myself away from the written music and start connecting more with the people who are listening.

7) Get comfortable standing and playing.

I'll always prefer to sit and play guitar, but the simple act of standing automatically enhances my stage presence. Before I lost weight, I was very uncomfortable standing and playing. Now that I've lost 115 pounds (and counting), standing and playing has become a little easier. I have less weight to carry, and even the position of my guitar has changed to a more comfortable position as my tummy has lessened.

8) Write an "improvised" chorus for at least 5 songs I've already arranged.

If I write out a chorus for an arrangement, it's obviously not improvised. One of the main skills I'm developing is improvising completely solo. It's pretty easy to improvise on guitar when you have back-up, but it's quite a challenge when you're playing all by your lonesome. When I practice sight-reading out of a Real Book, I'll often improvise over the chords. This has improved my improv quite a bit. By writing out "improvised" choruses, I'll essentially be writing out exercises for myself, coming up with new licks and deepening my understanding of the guitar. I may never reach the level of a Joe Pass, but I'd like to be able to improvise a chorus or two without back-up.

9) Weigh 200 pounds, max.

I'm almost there now. On April 11, 2011, I weighed 323 pounds. Today I weigh 208, and I'll reach 200 sometime in January. I've been running quite a bit, with plans to eventually complete a marathon, so I'll most likely end up in the 185-190 pound range, which is heavy for a distance runner, but light for a guy who is 6'2" and has a large frame. I never want to weigh more than 200 pounds ever again.

10) Complete two half marathons.

I've signed up for a half marathon in March, and there are two Atlanta half marathons in the fall that I'm aware of. I'm happy with the way my running has progressed, and I'm confident that I'll be able to complete a couple half marathons with no major problems. If the half marathons feel comfortable, I'll be looking at running a full marathon in 2012.

So those are my goals for 2011. There's still a week left in 2010. I think I'll get a head start on those backing tracks.

iPhone (geek alert!)

2010-12-22T17:59:00.000-05:00

If you think this blog entry is yet another Mac geek gushing about his new iPhone, well, okay, it's another Mac geek gushing about his new iPhone. My previous phone was about 5 years old, which is pretty ancient in tech years. It even had the older style keypad with combined numbers and letters, so that if you had to type the letter C, you had to press the number 1 three times. Texting was glacially slow.

I bought an iPhone about a month ago, and I'm amazed at how much it has changed the way I operate. You can read reviews or go to Apple's website to learn about the features. I'm just going to write about the features and apps I've found useful.

I have a special talent for getting lost. I couldn't even guess at the number of times I've gotten turned around on my way to a gig, or even coming back home from a gig. I grew up in Illinois, where everything is a flat grid with the roads all running north/south or east/west. In Atlanta, the roads curve up and around hills, and it doesn't take me long to get disoriented. I used to use MapQuest to find my way around town, which meant printing out directions for most of my gigs. With the Maps app, I don't have to print anything out anymore, and there's even a little blinking icon that shows where I am in relation to where I'm going. For someone who gets lost as easily as I do, the Maps app alone is worth the price.

iTunes has been useful at gigs. I recently played a few long Christmas gigs. I was able to connect the iPhone to my amp and keep some music playing while I was on break. It's going to be even handier once I've recorded a few backing tracks. I'm recording solo backing tracks for myself with Garage Band. I save the tracks as MP3s and load them into iTunes. I can then hook the iPhone up to my amp and have my own miniature back-up band. (Live back-up is preferable, but it's useful to have prerecorded tracks for some situations.)

I've also downloaded metronome and tuner apps, not to mention the iReal Book. The tuner app seems to be more accurate than my "real" tuner, and with the iReal Book, I can call up the chords for 500+ jazz standards and even transpose them to different keys automatically.

I use the Kindle app quite a bit, too. I like to read, and it's nice to have a digital book with me. Let's say a miracle happens and I don't get lost on the way to a gig. Suddenly I have extra time on my hands. What to do? Call up a book on Kindle at the gig site and read it while I furrow my brow to try to fool my client into thinking I'm answering time sensitive messages.

Most of my song ideas come when I'm away from the computer or even a piece of paper. With the iPhone's voice memo recorder, I can record song ideas while I'm driving. This saves me from having to sing the same idea over and over all the way home until I can rush through the door to grab a pencil and paper.

The iPhone has also been useful for losing weight. I recently wrote about MyFitness Pal, which helps me set calorie goals and track my food intake and exercise. Despite succumbing to the temptation of holiday goodies, I've managed to shave off a couple pounds, thanks in large part to keeping myself honest with MyFitnessPal.

Sometimes you buy a new gadget or piece of musical equipment, only to discover that it wasn't as great as you thought it would be. Other times, you buy something that turns out to be more useful than you thought possible. Well that's how I feel about the iPhone, and now I'm finished gushing.

Want Gigs? Build Relationships

2010-12-21T18:59:00.000-05:00

It's easy for us musicians to keep a distance from potential clients and only think of them as sources for gigs. It's also a mistake. If you merely view your contacts as sources of income, it's very possible that the number of gigs you book with them may dwindle. However, if you are willing to develop a relationship with everyone you work with, you increase the odds of getting more performance opportunities.

It takes a while to develop a relationship with a client. Some of your clients may eventually become friends, while others may simply become good working partners. Either way, it's a matter of developing trust. Your client needs to know that you're going to bring your A-game every single time. No matter what the pay is, you always need to perform to your best ability, dress for the occasion, show up on time, and be polite and professional with your client, guests, and other workers (the bartender, waitstaff, and anyone else who is also there to serve). After gigs, follow up with a verbal "thank you," followed by an email or even a thank you card.

As you continue to book gigs with a client, impress them with your consistency. All that stuff you just read about professionalism and courtesy? Do it every single time. Not only will you continue to book gigs with that particular client, but they'll be more likely to recommend you to someone else, and there's no better advertisement than word of mouth.

Be extra helpful with your client. A few months ago, I performed for a corporate client at the Embassy Suites in downtown Atlanta. She contacted me last week. Their next big event is in Las Vegas, and she was wondering if I could hook her up with any musicians there. I don't have connections with any Vegas musicians, and I could have told her that and been on my merry way. Instead, I contacted someone else who is familiar with the Vegas scene and asked him for a recommendation. He put me in touch with the right musician, and I was able to put him in touch with my client. This didn't cost me anything but a little bit of time. I don't know if that musician got the gig or not, but I'll bet the next time my client has an event in Atlanta, she's going to give me a call.

In a nutshell, be professional, generous, kind, and helpful, and you'll slowly see your gig calendar start to fill up. Sometimes good things happen to good people.

Busy Season

2010-12-14T18:42:00.000-05:00

As a musician, this has been a busy Christmas season. In the past two weeks, I played ten gigs and did a photo shoot. I have three gigs coming up this week (possibly four), including a radio interview. This isn't to brag; it's to write about how grateful I am to be playing a lot.

Last year at this time, I played a few gigs, but nowhere near as many as this year. Like most musicians, I often wish I had more gigs. It's easy to get caught up in fretting over what's happening now, but looking back over the past few years gives me some perspective. Compared to last year, month by month I've been playing out more frequently. I'm definitely making progress in the quantity of gigs, and the quality of gigs is also improving. To me, a quality gig has to either pay well or be fun. Of course, the best gigs are the ones that are fun and pay well!

My eventual goal is to perform as frequently throughout the year as I have been this December, and next holiday season I hope to be in a position where I have to turn down some gigs and pass them along to my other musician friends. I would love to be playing 4-5 quality gigs each week as a soloist or with bass or piano, with Tea for Two or InTown Band, as a member of a big band or sitting in with a combo, singing or strictly performing instrumentals, center stage or as background music. You get the idea.

This is my mission statement, lovingly taped to my computer. "I will make a quiet, comfortable living playing the music I love." I'm not quite making a living at it yet, but I'm getting there. Meanwhile, I'm thankful for this busy holiday season and for the gigs I've played this year.

My Fitness Pal

2010-12-05T19:00:00.000-05:00

If you're looking for an easy way to count calories and keep track of your exercise, I highly recommend checking out MyFitnessPal.

Although I've been successfully losing weight for 8 months, I wish I had discovered MyFitnessPal earlier. It would have saved me a lot of guesswork. The site is free, and the service is priceless. It's available through their website at www.myfitnesspal.com, and it's available as a free mobile app.

When you register, you're taken through a brief questionnaire. You'll be asked how much you weigh now, and how much you want to weigh. You'll also be asked how many pounds a week you'd like to lose or gain (max 2), and how active you are. It gives you examples of jobs that fit different activity levels. Although I exercise regularly, I selected a sedentary activity level because I sit at a computer or play guitar most of the day.

Once you've been taken through the questions, you're given the maximum number of calories you can eat every day and still meet your weight goal. Throughout the day, you enter meals and workouts, and the day's remaining calories are automatically updated.

The site factors in exercise, and you can do a customized search for different types of exercise. For example, after I run 4 miles at a pace of 10 minutes per mile, I'll add the workout on MyFitnessPal. The 644 calories I burned off are added to the number of calories I can consume that day.

If you know how many calories are in the meal you just ate, you can simply type the number. If you're not sure, there is a huge food database that includes lots of restaurants. Just add the calories or add the food, and your remaining daily calories will be updated.

While this isn't an exact science, I'm finding MyFitnessPal to be a very useful tool to help me stay on track as I work to lose the rest of my excess pounds. A few days ago, I was tempted to buy some cookies when I ate at Subway. I looked up the cookies on the MyFitnessPal iPhone app and learned that they would have totaled more than 600 calories, and this helped give me the willpower to pass them by.

If you're a calorie counter and a gadget geek, you can't go wrong with MyFitnessPal.

Radio Man

2010-11-27T11:24:00.000-05:00

Two nights ago, a man named Ron Kibler called me and started talking about the radio. At first, my brain didn't quite compute the sounds my ears were hearing. I kept expecting him to say "and we need your pledge," but I finally realized he was asking me to come to the station for an interview and to play a couple songs. This is the first time anyone has called me for a radio interview, so it all felt rather surreal after I hung up the phone. If I felt this way after being asked for an interview on a local radio station, imagine what it must be like to wake up one day and learn that a song of yours has hit the charts or that suddenly everyone knows your face. I'm not in danger of being mobbed on the streets just yet, but still, it made me wonder how I would react if my stock in the music world suddenly soared.

Once or twice a month, I play at a Cajun restaurant in Tucker, GA called Rotagilla. (That's "alligator" backwards.) There's a guy who's heard me play a few times, and he told Ron about this wonderful guitarist and singer, Tom Godfrey (me!) who plays there. I didn't recognize the man's name, but if he's heard me perform at the restaurant, I'm sure I would know his face. You never know who's out there listening.

So anyway, I'm going to be live on the air in a few weeks. I'll start and end my segment of the show with a song, and I'll take questions, including call-ins, in the middle. Although I'm looking forward to the interview, I'm sure I'll be nervous. This will be my first time doing anything like this. I'll be sure to pick a couple songs I can play even if my hands are shaking.

You can catch the show on December 18. I'll be on the air at 9:30 a.m. Atlanta listeners can tune in to 1010 AM, and other can listen online at www.wgunradio.com. The call-in number is (770) 491-1010.

Losing It #18: On the Road Again

2010-11-22T08:01:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, I overdid it on the running. I ran 6 miles, and my route included 4 very long, steep hills. I was prepared for the first two hills, but I didn't realize those last two hills were on the route until it was too late. My body was ready for 6 miles, but it wasn't ready for those hills. I gutted out my run out of sheer stubbornness and stupidity.

I felt pretty good the day of the run, but it was too soon to congratulate myself. The next morning, I felt a pain below my knee. A "good pain" is when your muscles are slightly sore from a workout. A "bad pain" is when a muscle feels like it's been pulled or your bones or joints feel crunchy, and that's what my left shin felt like. Ah, shinsplints. While the uphill run demands the most effort from your body, it's the downhill and the extra impact that gets you.

For the rest of the week, I did the smart thing and stayed off my feet. I pedaled the stationary bike every morning. The stationary bike isn't my favorite workout, but there's no impact, and I can at least pass the time by watching a video. I've been watching the Battlestar Galactica series on NetFlix and enjoying the frack out of it.

After a week of pedaling, I hit the road this morning to resume running. I left the stopwatch at home so I wasn't tempted to push the pace. It sure felt great to be outside running again, and my leg felt great. I'll be going for easy runs this week, and next week I'll start building up my mileage again. It won't be long before I build back up to a 6-mile run and beyond, but I won't be running that hilly route any time soon.

The lesson isn't that running is bad for you, but overdoing it is. I've only been walking for exercise for 5 months, and I've only been running for 2.5 months. Your body adapts if you gradually increase the workload, but it freaks out if you overdo it. Six miles of steep hills was way too much for me, but after another 6-12 months of running, I bet I'll be able to tackle that route again.

Double Booked

2010-11-21T07:06:00.000-05:00

Double booking. It happens in the music world. This weekend, I was scheduled to play at Ray's in the City with Tom Olsen, a wonderful jazz pianist. I arrived an hour early as usual and began setting up. As I was finishing my set-up, a man walked through the door and headed directly to the small musician's stage. I thought he was going to ask when we started playing. Instead, he asked "Are you playing tonight?" I replied "Yes, we start at 6." He said "Oh, I'm playing tonight." Not yet understanding his intent, I asked "You're playing tonight? Was Tom not able to make it?"

It didn't take us long to figure out that the night had been double booked. When this is the case, you have two basic options. The two acts can share the evening, or one act goes home the loser. The gig at Ray's in the City pays, but not well enough that it's worth splitting the check with another act, and so this one went to the "judge." In this case, it went to "J," the guy who books the musicians at the three Ray's restaurants: Ray's in the City, Ray's on the River, and Ray's at Killer Creek. (The piano player mentioned that this has happened a few times since "J" took over the booking.)

What was really crazy is that Rick (the piano player) was called last minute by "J" to sub for someone else who was supposed to play that night! I thought at first that maybe "J" didn't have us on the schedule, and so he called Rick to fill the empty slot. Nope. We would have been double booked either way, either with Rick, or with the guy who would have been double booked with us in the first place.

Tom and I came off on the wrong end of the double booking, but it wasn't a total wash. Everyone involved was polite and professional, with no hard feelings. Rick was gracious, saying he would have just as quickly bowed out if the decision had gone the other way. Tom is going to be scheduled for two gigs at Ray's in the City in January, and he'll be calling me for at least one of them. The manager at Ray's in the City comped our meal. My duo partner, Lynnette, and her parents had come to hear us play, so I invited myself to their table and enjoyed a lovely dinner with friends.

It was altogether a wonderful evening…just not the evening I expected. Sometimes you just need to roll with the punches.

Losing It #17: Final Push

2010-11-15T11:16:00.000-05:00

I'm in the final phase of my weight loss adventure. I've lost more than 100 pounds, and I have about 20 to go before hitting my target of 200 pounds. Lately, my weight loss has been at a standstill. I haven't gained. I haven't lost. I've been running quite a bit, but I've also been eating quite a bit. I think I relaxed my diet the last week because I simply needed the mental break. Now it's time for the final push.

I'm not going to be doing anything different to lose these last 20 pounds. I just need to get back to what's gotten me this far and keep up the strict diet for 2-3 more months. So, after two weeks of easing up, it's back to watching the sugar intake, ordering a salad when I go out to eat, and refraining from eating after 6 p.m. It shouldn't be long before I hit the magic 200 pound mark.

Once I've met my 200 pound goal, I'll probably have a little bit more to lose, but at that point, I'll be losing fat not through strict dieting, but because I'll be training for long distance races. I wouldn't be surprised if I eventually slimmed down to 185 by the end of 2011 by simply running.

I'll worry about all that later, though. For now, this is the home stretch, and any extra bit of weight loss after this is gravy. Mmm, gravy.

Break It Down

2010-11-11T21:41:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I think about what I would do if I won the lottery. One of the first things I would do would be do give a lot of that money to family, a few select friends, and some favorite causes. After the big giveaway, I'd probably be left with a mere $50,000,000 or so. Oh, the places I would go. Oh, the guitars I would buy. The problem is that I don't play the lottery.

We all have dreams. If all you do is think about it, your dream will remain just a dream unless you do something about it. If you want to turn your dream into a reality, your first step is to turn it into a goal…not just a goal in your head, but a written out, established goal. Whatever your dream is, write it down and put it up somewhere where you can see it. Stick it on the fridge or tape it to your computer. This helps change your inner dialog from "wouldn't it be nice if…" to "I'm going to do this." Once you truly make the decision to turn dream into reality, you may feel a surge of energy, like the world just shifted around you.

After you've written down your main goal and really decided to go through with it, you have a lot of work to do. It may seem overwhelming, but whatever you want to achieve, it's doable if you break it into smaller chunks.

Nearly seven years ago I started playing guitar and decided to use the instrument as a vehicle for restarting a performance career after my trombone career was halted due to a lip injury. My first major goal, which has been met, was to reach a skill level that I considered to be entry level professional by 2010…not a world class player, but good enough to be making some money through guitar playing.

Once you've decided on your big goal, you're going to want to break it down into smaller bits so you're not overwhelmed by it all. You can break it into several mini-goals, which will all push you further toward your big goal. As you make progress, you may need to revise your mini-goals or create some new ones. The big goal remains the same, but most of the mini-goals are adjustable.

After deciding I wanted to reach a professional level of guitar playing, I wrote down the things a professional guitarist should know, including chord knowledge, familiarity with the fretboard, and lead playing. At first, my goal was to be a fancy fingerstyle folk guitarist, but I took a left turn when I discovered jazz guitar. The overarching goal of becoming a professional level musician remained the same, but I had to make some revisions to my mini-goals because of a change in musical direction. Now I also needed to learn improvisation, jazz comping, chord/melody style playing, arranging, and a whole new world of chords.

Each one of your mini-goals will have sub-goals. For example, learning jazz chords. There are many, many chords to learn if you want to be a jazz guitarist. There are at least five different places on the fretboard where you can play any given chord, and then you can use different voicings to change the texture of that chord. For example, off the top of my head, I can think of 9 ways to voice a basic C7 chord, and I can come up with more if you give me a little time. The point is that there are many chord forms to learn. If your goal is to have a solid grasp of jazz guitar harmony, you'll quickly discover that it's going to take a few years, so what you end up doing is learning them a few at a time and gradually discovering how to put them to practical use. Whatever your own mini-goals are, you can apply the same concept and work toward success a little bit at a time.

Eventually, your big goal gets broken down into a daily routine. If you stick to the plan, you're doing something that contributes to the overall goal every single day. For me, it's practicing guitar with a purpose every single day. Everything I practice moves me closer to becoming the guitarist I'm capable of becoming. Every song I learn increases my repertoire. Every scale I play improves my technique. Every solo guitar arrangement I write deepens my knowledge of the fretboard and my own capabilities. I improve bit by bit. The things that challenge me today will become old hat in another year or two.

My original goal was to reach a professional level of guitar playing. I've reached that goal, and I will continue to improve year by year. My next major goal is to take it to the next level and actually make a living with a guitar in my hands. I may develop a private teaching practice, audition for cruise gigs, or finally break through the barriers in the Atlanta scene. Very soon I'll be sitting down and drawing my roadmap for the next 5-10 years.

Do you have a dream? Do you want to make it a reality? Write it down and turn it into a goal. Figure out what steps you'll take to make it happen. Break those steps down further and further until you have bite sized chunks. Work every day to make it happen. You can start today. You're not going to win the lottery until you start playing.

What Makes You Happy?

2010-11-09T19:48:00.000-05:00

This was the plan: Put in 20 years playing trombone in the Air Force (which would have allowed me to draw a pension), and then find a college teaching job until I decide to retire. At this point in my life, I would have been playing in the Air Force for around 17 years. I probably would have owned a house by now, and I would have made a lot of college connections through presenting masterclasses and performing recitals.

That was the plan, but a lip injury put a stop to all that. Today, I'm 44 years old, living in a basement studio apartment, starting over on a completely different instrument (guitar), struggling to find good paying gigs, and often having trouble making ends meet.

So why am I so happy? If I were the kind of person to dwell on the past and keep second guessing myself, I'd probably be miserable, but the past is the past. The only constructive thing I can do about the past is to accept its lessons.

The main reason I'm happy is that I'm doing what I love to do.

Material things don't make me happy. A new guitar or amp will temporarily thrill me, but they don't make me happy deep down. Would I like to have a house or a large bank account? You bet! But it's not high on my priority list. What is high on my priority list is making music. Fortunately, this doesn't require a lot of money or a large home. I can make music just as easily in my small apartment as I can in a mansion, and practicing, not money, is what will make me a better musician.

Maybe someday I'll be able to afford a house, or maybe I'll continue living in a studio apartment for the rest of my days. Maybe I'll stay in Atlanta, or maybe I'll be lured to another city by a steady gig. Maybe I'll find work performing on cruise ships, or maybe I'll develop a respectable private teaching practice and stay put. Whatever the gig, wherever I am, as long as I'm making music, that'll be enough for me.

So what makes you happy?

Practicing Spontaneity

2010-11-06T00:03:00.000-04:00

It's funny how if you practice a certain thing, you get better at it, like it's some kind of weird coincidence. I've been practicing improvising a lot these days, and I was pleased to find at tonight's gig that my solo playing has improved. I'm not exactly in Joe Pass' or Pat Metheny's league, but I've gotten better.

It may sound strange to practice improvisation. How can you practice something if it's different every time? To a non-musician, it might appear that the music flows out of the improvisor like a gift from above, but the truth is that we're not always so inspired. On some nights, the musical ideas flow like a river. On other nights, the river is frozen solid.

For the past month, I've been practicing improvisation at the same time I practice sight-reading. Every day, I take out a fake book and sight-read 8-10 songs. (For you non-musicians, a fake book is a large collection of lead sheets: melody, chords, and sometimes lyrics.) I'll play through the melody first, attempting to play it perfectly the first time. Then I'll practice improvising over the chord changes. Sometimes I improvise single lines, and sometimes I'll challenge myself and improvise chords with a melody on top, which isn't particularly easy on the guitar. After I've improvised my way through a song, I'll go back and work on the problem spots, playing around with the tricky chord changes until I come up with a few things that sound good.

When I practice improvising, I usually don't sound all that great. To make it as challenging as possible, I improvise without any back-up…no Jamey Aebersold tracks, no Band in a Box. I've discovered that if I can play without relying on back-up and make it sound even halfway decent, it's going to sound pretty good once I'm playing with someone else.

Like most musical skills, improvisation is something that can be developed. It comes naturally to some, and other have to work at it a little more, but it's something that all musicians can do with practice. I've worked at improvising off and on over the past few years, but I've mainly "practiced" improvising during gigs. Even with only a month of concentrated practice, my improvising has improved quite a bit, and I'm excited to think about how far I'll take my improvisation skills in a year (or five or ten).

Waiting for My Turn

2010-11-03T18:14:00.000-04:00

As much as I enjoy solo and small group performing, my favorite kind of guitar playing is big band rhythm guitar. On the surface, it may not appear very exciting. The guitarist in a big band rarely takes a solo. For the most part, you play quarter notes all night. On the other hand, you have to stay mentally sharp because the chords are coming at you a mile a minute, plus it's a lot of fun to be part of the whole big band sound. The guitar plays a very specific role in a big band, providing a clear pulse for the band and filling in the middle register of the rhythm section. The bass covers the low while the piano covers the high end. If you're doing it right, the listener may not even notice the guitar unless it drops out.

Although there are plenty of guitarists in town with better technique, I have an ace up my sleeve: I can read music. I'm living proof that you can be a guitar player and read music at the same time. Jazz band books typically have a lot of charts, and there's rarely time to rehearse any of them in depth. Another guitar player may have more impressive chops, but if he can't read music, or if he only has a rudimentary grasp of reading notation, it's going to take him a while to learn any given part. On the other hand, while I don't have lightning fast technique, I can read down most big band guitar parts the first time. This makes me very useful as a sub, because I can sight-read my way through a performance if necessary.

One of my goals is to be the regular guitarist for one of the big bands in Atlanta. Unfortunately, there is only one guitar player per band (and some big bands don't use a guitarist at all), so it may be a while before I earn a spot. In the meantime, I get as much experience as I can by subbing with the Sentimental Journey Orchestra and the Atlanta Swing Orchestra. I'm also working to get myself on the sub list with other jazz bands in Atlanta.

You get into many of these groups by simply hanging around long enough to be the last man standing. Essentially, I'm waiting for someone to quit or leave town. Sometimes I feel like a vulture waiting for a guitar spot to open. For now, I enjoy subbing, and I'm sure that my turn will come.

Losing It #16: Century Mark

2010-10-31T19:09:00.000-04:00

As of today, I've lost 100 pounds. I still have 23 to go before I hit my target weight, but it sure feels good to have made it this far. Some friends have expressed admiration that I've managed to do this alone. The truth is that this has been far from a solitary effort. True, I don't work with a personal trainer or dietician. I'm not a member of a gym, and I haven't joined Weight Watchers or any other weight loss support groups, but I haven't done this alone. In a way, my friends have been with me every step of the way. I've received nothing but support and encouragement from my friends in Atlanta as well as my online Facebook friends, most of whom I haven't even met in person. Regularly reporting my progress on Facebook helps keep me accountable, and the words of encouragement I've received have helped me stay motivated.

Sometimes there's nothing more annoying than the newly converted, but at the risk of sounding preachy, let me say this: If I can do it, you can do it. Aside from my four years in the Air Force, I've been overweight most of my adult life. I shudder to think at the total gallons of Ben and Jerry's I've eaten, and you could probably build a large, delicious hill with the chips and burgers I've consumed. In spite of all that, I've lost 100 pounds in six months, and I've progressed from a 30-minute walk to a regular 3.5 mile run. Recently I signed up for a half marathon. I can't even run 10 miles yet, but I guarantee I'll be able to run 13.1 miles in another 5 months.

So if this former couch potato can get off his large ass and turn it around, I know you can, too. You need to find your motivation, set your goals, plan your diet, and plan your exercise. Finally, find or create a support group. It could be a formal program, a personal trainer, a workout partner, or an informal support group like the one I created for myself on Facebook. I couldn't have made it this far without my Facebook peeps!

It's not going to be easy, that's for sure, but it's doable. If there's any way I can help, please let me know. I'd be happy to be in your cheering section!

Losing It #15: Half Marathon

2010-10-23T20:13:00.000-04:00

On April 11, 2010, I weighed 323 pounds and couldn't make it up a flight of stairs without having to catch my breath at the top. Today I weigh 226 pounds and regularly run 3.5 miles with a fast, uphill kick at the end. On March 20, 2011, I'll be running the Georgia Half Marathon.

I have to thank my Tea for Duo duo partner, Lynnette, for planting the idea in my head. Not long after I met her, Lynnette completed a half marathon. I think it might have been her first one. She's running another half in November. Since I've started running again, she's encouraged me now and then to sign up for one. My running strength has increased significantly over the past few weeks, and I started thinking about a half marathon more and more often. I checked out the half marathon training schedule that Lynnette followed for her first one at www.halhigdon.com. After looking it over, I thought the schedule looked quite doable, and today I took the plunge and registered for the race.

The timing of this particular half marathon couldn't be better. It'll be only a couple weeks away from April 11, the day I finally decided to turn my health around for good. It'll be a celebration of a year well spent. Also, to time the 12-week training program to coincide with the race, I will have to start January 2. I can't think of better way to start off the new year than by starting a brand new training program.

One of my strengths (and sometimes it's a flaw) is that I don't do anything halfway. When I started playing guitar a few years ago, I almost immediately began to see it as a vehicle for restarting some sort of music performance career. The same goes with running. I'm not kidding myself that I'll ever be a top flight runner, but I can set my own personal goals. My first major goal is to complete the half marathon in March. After that, I plan on completing a marathon. If I feel good about my half marathon performance, I'll plan on training for the Georgia Marathon the following year. If it's a major struggle, I'll complete another half marathon or two before tackling the longer distance.

After I complete a marathon, who knows? I'm sure I'll think of something.

No More Cool Side

2010-10-22T20:25:00.000-04:00

A couple weeks ago I disbanded my jazz quartet, On the Cool Side. It wasn't an easy decision. Three of us had invested over a year of time, and the fourth had been with us for about nine months. I learned a lot by playing with these guys, and my musicianship improved.

I disbanded the group because of simple economics. I've been fairly successful finding solo jobs here and there, but nobody seems to want to hire a quartet. It just costs too much. On the Cool Side had one good gig at Embassy Suites a few months ago. Aside from that, we've been playing low paying or free gigs. I didn't want to keep stringing everyone along, telling them that a great gig was just around the corner.

Playing and singing isn't my day job yet, but that's my ultimate goal. Since I've had almost no luck finding quartet jobs, I decided to focus my energy on solo and duo jobs, assembling a trio or quartet as needed. One of these days I'd like to have my own regular combo again…maybe after I'm more well established and my stock has risen in Atlanta. Finding work can be frustrating, but I have to keep reminding myself that I'll get there. I've been playing guitar not quite seven years, and I've only been seriously looking for gigs for the past two years.

So I'll be looking for solo and duo gigs for the foreseeable future, with an eye toward leading another combo someday. In the meantime, I'm also very open to joining an established combo if the opportunity arises.

InTown Band Debut Album

2010-10-08T21:42:00.000-04:00

I'm pleased to announce that InTown Band has released a self-titled debut mini-album of seven original songs!

A while back, we won an open mic contest at Earthshaking Music. The prize was two free hours in their recording studio. We originally went into the studio thinking that we would claim our two free hours, pay for two more, and record a good demo. We prepared seven songs and figured we would get 3-4 songs that we could use. The session went so well that we ended up recording all seven songs. If we had gone into the studio with the idea that we would lay down the tracks for a mini-album in one session, we probably couldn't have done it. We would have felt the pressure and been too uptight to make it happen. Instead, we had a blast recording. We were joking around, feeling loose, and having fun. We were quite surprised at the end of the session when we realized we had seven good tracks.

We describe our original music as Soul Fusion. It's a blend of rock, jazz, blues, reggae, soul, and whatever else we feel like throwing into the pot. Some of our music is written individually by Thomas Vinton or me. Many of our latest songs are co-written by the entire group. For example, I'm good at writing melodies and harmonies, but I'm not so hot at lyrics. I'll bring a new melody to the group and have the others write lyrics. That's how Cutesy Blues came about. On top of that, the group morphed Cutesy Blues from a cute little swing blues to a "funk blues" with more of an edge. Change Jar is another group song. I sent an email to Thomas Vinton about an idea for a song that would use the change jar as a metaphor. (See my blog about the Change Jar Principle.) He took my rambling email and crafted it into a lyric. Thomas also came up with the guitar lick you hear after the 2nd verse, and I wrote the bass and guitar riff that you hear from beginning to end. When Patricia arrived at rehearsal, we presented her the lyrics and told her to sing the lyrics and make up the melody as she went. That's how Change Jar came to life.

InTown Band is really excited about this first album. We continue to write more music, and we're planning on recording a full length album in the near future.

You can purchase the album by visiting InTown Band's website and clicking "Buy," going directly to CD Baby, or by searching for "InTown Band" at any number of download sites, including iTunes, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody, Zune, and many, many more.

Feeling Blah? Just Start

2010-10-03T16:38:00.000-04:00

This is was of those days when I felt blah for no good reason whatsoever. I slept well last night after an easy gig, and then I woke up and had a long, pleasant walk. I'm well rested, and it's a beautiful fall day, but I spent a good part of it moping around, not feeling like doing much of anything.

There are days when I absolutely need a break from everything. Maybe I've played several long gigs in a row, or I'm swamped with music engraving projects or rehearsals. This wasn't one of those days. Sometimes I genuinely need a break, and sometimes I just feel lazy. This was a lazy day, but not the fun kind. Most of it was simply not feeling like doing anything at all, and then feeling sorry for myself because I wasn't feeling motivated to do anything. It's an annoying, circular self pity party.

On days like this, I turn it around by making myself do something useful. I'll pick a project and simply pretend I'm motivated for it, going through the motions until I really feel motivated. Today I finally got the ball rolling when I decided to take the guitar out and practice a little bit. After all, the best musicians in the business didn't get there by only practicing when they felt like it. My main goal was to simply start. Ten or fifteen minutes into it, I was focused on the guitar and not my blahs. It wasn't the longest practice session, but it was productive.

After practicing, the blahs settled in again. Since I didn't feel like moving around or even leaving the apartment, that's precisely what I did. I walked the half mile to the Corner Pub and enjoyed an early dinner. I feel refreshed now, and I'm going to spend the next few hours working on a music engraving project.

I wish I could brag that I always handle the blues successfully, but I don't. Sometimes I succumb to self pity and lethargy and simply waste the day doing absolutely nothing. Other days, like today, I can shake myself out of it by picking a project and faking enthusiasm until I genuinely feel it.

Backing Tracks

2010-10-01T21:30:00.000-04:00

This evening I probably set a record for the longest time ever taken to record a backing track. I'll get faster at it. Using recording software is a new skill for me, but one that I'm keen to develop. Once I'm comfortable with it, I'll probably use it to record a solo album. To learn the software (Garage Band), I'm recording backing tracks for myself.

There's some controversy about using backing tracks for professional gigs. The purist says that you should use all live musicians. If you want to play with a group, then hire the musicians. I've felt this way about backing tracks for a long time, but I've recently taken more realistic view.

First, let me say that I prefer playing with other musicians. With a group of live musicians, you get the spontaneity and chemistry that is lacking in prerecorded tracks. Unfortunately, most of my potential clients have been unwilling to pay for a quartet, and so most of my paid gigs are solo gigs. Maybe in the future, as my stock goes up, I'll have more luck convincing people to hire my group, but right now I need to take the gigs that come my way, and that means a lot of solo work.

I enjoy playing solo gigs, but 3 or more hours of solo jazz guitar is rough on the hands. That's where the backing tracks come in. Some people may consider this cheating. I don't. I'm going to be spending hundreds of hours learning the software, recording every single part, and tweaking everything until it's just right. It's an investment of time. When I'm finally ready to use my prerecorded music in public, I'll have a collection of unique backing tracks that I created with my own sweat and creativity.

One unexpected benefit to creating my own tracks is that I'm becoming a better musician. I just finished recording a backing track for Take Five. To help create a good accompaniment, I listened very closely to some recordings, analyzing the bass lines and deconstructing the drum parts, listening to exactly what the drummer was doing with the hi-hat, kick drum, snare, etc. As I continue to record more backing tracks, I'll be sharpening my listening skills and gaining a deeper understanding of jazz and blues.

I'll always prefer playing with other musicians, but once I've recorded a series of tracks, it'll be handy to have another option.

Plan B: A Pirate's Life for Me?

2010-09-30T10:49:00.000-04:00

The church job didn't work out, so we're on to Plan B. I've had Plan B in the back of my mind for over a year, and I've decided to act on it. Upon reflection, I think my Plan B should have been Plan A all along.

Plan B is a cruise ship gig. I feel I would do quite well in a variety of situations: solo singer/guitarist for a cocktail lounge, guitarist with a small combo, or as a guitarist with a house band. The house band provides a variety of music and often backs up special guest artists appearing on the cruise. The house band also requires that you be an excellent sight reader, which is one of my strengths.

Researching these gigs, I've looked into the pros and cons. In my own situation, the pros far outweigh the cons. I'm single with no pets, working as a freelancer, and living in an inexpensive studio apartment. My goal all along has been to become a full time working musician again, and this would be a major step in that direction. Room and board is taken care of, there are exercise facilities, and the schedule in general is fairly light, especially compared to some of the work I've done in the past as an Air Force musician. Even the freelancing can get pretty crazy at times. It would be nice to have a regular performance schedule with days off.

There are cons, too. Because contracts are generally 4-6 months, a lot of "land projects" would have to be put on hold or dropped. I'm not sure what would happen with my music engraving business, although if I found that I really loved playing cruise ships, I wouldn't have any problem with letting the engraving go. InTown Band is a project I've been involved in for years now, and we would have to discuss my role in the band if I started taking cruise jobs. Most likely they would have to find another guitarist and singer, although I would still want to be involved by writing songs for the group.

As I understand it, when you audition for a cruise line, you're not necessarily auditioning for a specific job on a specific ship. Instead, the audition puts you in the system. Later on, you get the call when a job opens up. It could be in a week, or it could be in a few months.

I'll be applying for a passport very soon. There are probably some local cruises I could work without one, but having a passport will qualify me for more jobs. Once I get my passport, I'll stop researching and start auditioning. You never know, next year I may be blogging from a ship.

Losing It #14: Why Run?

2010-09-24T10:43:00.000-04:00

A couple days ago, I read a funny status update on Facebook. It went something like this: "When I see a jogger smiling, I'll give it a try." How many runners look like they're having fun? Not many. There's one particular runner I see most mornings, huffing, puffing, shaking his head and willing himself to run up the hill. It looks like every step is agony, yet he runs day after day. Why?

Personally, I don't have any logical reason for running. I've been walking every morning for nearly 6 months. Through diet and exercise, I've steadily lost weight (86 pounds, 37 to go). My resting heart rate has dropped from 90 to 60 beats per minute. I look and feel better than I have in years. Everything has been working great, yet I feel the urge to run. Why? When it sometimes hurts, why?

The short answer is that it feels so good when I stop! But there's a longer answer.

I can only speak for myself, but one reason I run is because it's real. So much of what I do is spent in the virtual world – in my brain, really – updating my website, sending out performance notices, engraving music, and so forth. I construct a little world in my head as I work at the computer, but if you want a heavy dose of reality, step outside and take a run. There's nothing virtual about running. You feel it right away! You'll feel your muscles working and your heart pounding, and you'll develop a deep appreciation for oxygen. Take a run and you'll quickly discover where your physical limits are. Keep running consistently and soon you'll feel your body getting stronger.

My frame is more suitable for a linebacker than a distance runner, but I prefer endurance activities. You can develop a lot of mental toughness through endurance sports as you keep going and going. It's not far removed from the same mindset you need to develop technique on a musical instrument. You don't see the results right away, but after a time, if you stop and look back, you'll be amazed at how far you've traveled.

At this point, I'm running a lowly 2.8 miles three times a week, broken up here and there by a couple bouts of walking. In another couple weeks, I'll be able to run 3+ miles without a walking break. I'm not stopping there, though. In 2004, as I was starting to learn how to play guitar, I set a goal of becoming a professional level guitarist by 2010. Now, as a beginning runner, my goal is to run a marathon by 2015.

Freedom and Opportunity

2010-09-16T17:26:00.000-04:00

A few days ago, I posted on Facebook that "My dog died, I didn't get the job, and I walked out of a crappy gig. So why do I feel so good?" After some reflection, I have an answer: freedom. Yes, I feel disappointment and loss, but there's also a sense that new opportunities are just around the corner.

You can read about my bad gig in my post No Mas! I never thought I could be so angry that I would walk out on a gig. I was ticked off the day it happened, but later I felt good about how I reacted to the situation. In a very real way, I demonstrated that I was worth more than this gig had to offer. I've been playing every gig I can possibly find, partially to gain experience, and partially out of fear that if I'm not filling up my calendar, I might not be as attractive to potential clients. I've decided to be choosier about the gigs I accept to make room for better opportunities.

When I didn't get the music director position at UUMAN (click here for details), I felt an odd mixture of disappointment and…relief. I think I would have enjoyed the job. Everyone seemed nice, I had a great experience there, and it seemed tailor made for me. They said they were looking for someone who wasn't in the traditional classical choir conductor mode, who could teach the congregation how to use the Singing the Journey hymn supplement, and could offer a diversity of music, including world music, folk music, and jazz. Well, I demonstrated that I can do all of that, and I've been a classical musician far longer than I've been a jazz guitarist. Nevertheless, they hired the candidate who conducted with a baton, played a Brahms piano piece for his solo, and had the choir sing a traditional Lutheran "Amen" at the end of the service. It seems the UUMAN music search committee chose to stay within its classical comfort zone.

Knowing that UUMAN chose a candidate who was even more classical than the previous music director after expressing their interest in diversity, I feel a sense of relief at not winning the job. Another reason I feel some relief is that I've been a freelancer for a long time. I haven't had a job in nearly 15 years! I would have done a great job, but it would have been a big adjustment to keep a regular schedule. I would have had to give up a few projects to make room for the UUMAN job. As a matter of fact, last night I played a sweet gig that I would have had to forgo for choir rehearsal. The job would have been nice, but now my schedule remains flexible and open to all possibilities.

The third crappy thing that happened this weekend was that my dog, Bear, died. I played a gig Friday night, and he was fine. I came back to find him motionless. He was in his his usual sleeping position, so I can only assume he died peacefully in his sleep. Bear had slowed down a lot over the past several months, so it wasn't a big shock, but it's still an adjustment to not have him around.

Although I miss Bear, at the same time, some new avenues have opened up. For example, I've often thought about cruise ship gigs. I could find a job playing in a combo, or I could be a solo act in a piano bar setting. I'm also an excellent sight reader, which is a job requirement for the cruise ship house bands that play as back-up for big name performers. The only problem was that I would be gone for 1-2 months at a stretch, and I would have had to figure out what to do about Bear. Now that Bear is no longer with me, I'm beginning to research cruise ship gigs. If it turns out that I like playing cruise ships, I can envision playing two months and coming back to Atlanta for a month off, or even playing a couple months and then spending a month traveling around visiting family (mooching).

I've had the sense that big changes are coming for me. I assumed it was the UUMAN job. Since that didn't pan out, it's obviously something else. It may be a cruise job. It may be some other opportunity that comes out of the blue and smacks me upside the head. Whatever it is, I'm not going to just wait around for something to happen. I believe in creating my own luck. It's no coincidence that most of the "lucky" people in the music business are also the hardest working.

No Job

2010-09-12T22:21:00.000-04:00

I've been adding occasional updates about my interview/audition for the music director job at Unitarian Universalist Metro Atlanta North. Unfortunately, I did not get the job.

My audition went very well, and I enjoyed the experience. My inside source tells me that the other candidate was a classical musician. I'm a little confused by UUMAN's decision because I was told during my interview and subsequent conversations that UUMAN was looking for someone to break out of the traditional classical mode and present more diverse, contemporary music. Still, this isn't about contemporary vs classical. They may have liked the other candidate's experience more, or perhaps they felt he was somehow a better fit with UUMAN's vision. Whoever the winning candidate is, I congratulate him, and I hope that he is able to take UUMAN's music program, which is already good, and make it flourish.

Whatever the reasons for UUMAN choosing the other candidate, I still feel great about my audition. Looking back on the experience, there is not one thing I would have changed. I couldn't have represented myself any better. If a similar position opens up in an Atlanta Unitarian Universalist church, I will be one of the first to apply.

I've spent a lot of time and energy on this interview/audition, and I spent last week recuperating while the other candidate auditioned. While I've been focusing on the job hunt, I haven't spent much time on the gig hunt, so it's time to get back to it and start making calls again.

No Mas!

2010-09-12T20:11:00.000-04:00

Today I walked out on a gig. I was to provide solo background music for a cake competition. This was a non-paying gig, but the plus side was that it doubled as a wedding networking event. I've had positive experiences with other networking events, and I've usually booked paid gigs with the people I've met. I had no reason to believe today would be any different.

My first clue that this might not be the ideal gig was when I arrived (an hour early as usual) and no one knew where I was supposed to set up. There was apparently no thought given as to where the FREE background musician should be. It was as if they'd forgotten that I was even going to be there. I was assured that I would have a spot to play and a table to display cards and brochures. Didn't happen.

There was only one area where I could fit, so I carved out a space to play behind some of the vendors. I even found a table that I could use to set out my business cards, not that it did any good. Because I had to set up behind the vendors, there was a physical barrier between me and anyone who might want to pick up one of my cards. My reason for playing the event (networking and advertising) was negated before I even played a single note.

On top of that, I was asked to turn the music down not once, not twice, but three times. You could use any number of adjectives to describe my solo style, but "loud" isn't one of them. The first time I was asked to turn down? No problem. It wouldn't be the first time I've misjudged the volume level, and I'm more than happy to accommodate by lowering the volume. The second time? Annoying. I've never been asked to turn down twice. Even so, I turned down again, even though I could hardly hear myself. After I was told to turn it down a third time, I came to the conclusion that if the event staff could hear me at all, it must mean that I'm too loud. As a background musician, I understand all about playing at a low volume level, but it has to be heard to some degree, or I may as well not even be there. My music is soft and understated, but there's an art to what I do. It ain't Muzak.

I was playing for free, and it was not worth my time to continue playing at an inaudible level for three more hours behind a physical barricade. You either want music or you don't, and it seemed to me that they didn't want me. After being told to turn down for the third time, I finished my song, packed my gear, and left. The vendors, who were sitting directly in front of my amp, were enjoying my music and were quite surprised to learn that I was too loud.

I'm easygoing. I get along with just about everyone I've ever met. I'm accommodating, and as long as I'm treated with respect, I'll go the extra mile to help you out. But I have a switch that you don't want to flip. I left without making a scene. A couple vendors asked where I was going, so I explained, and they understood. As a matter of fact, one of them was so upset that she told me she was going to complain on my behalf. I'm thankful that none of the event staff tried to stop me, because my low simmer could very well have come to a full boil.

Not to be arrogant, but I think I'm pretty damned good at what I do. I don't have blazing technique, but I can make my guitar sing, and my voice isn't half bad, either. Not having played the guitar for very long, I've been taking every playing opportunity that comes up, simply for the experience. Now it's time to cut back on the "for exposure" gigs and make room for better opportunities.

Losing It #13: Steady On

2010-09-09T13:41:00.000-04:00

I've lost over 80 pounds so far. I started at 323. This morning I weighed 242, and I'm getting closer and closer to my goal of 200 pounds. This is a time that I have to be steady and stick with the plan. In the past, when I've reached this weight, for some reason I've often let it slide and started packing on the pounds again.

The last time I went on a weight loss campaign, I made it down to 235 before I gave it up. I didn't give up right away. It started slowly. I had started running again, and I told myself that I could handle a pint of Ben and Jerry's once a week. I justified the weekly indulgence by figuring that running would magically melt the extra calories. I stopped losing weight, but at least with the running, I wasn't gaining any weight. Then I caught a nasty cold and was too weak to run for about a week. Of course, I wasn't too weak to eat ice cream! After a week of non-exercise, I had lost momentum. Soon I stopped exercising altogether and started eating more junk: ice cream, chips, and fast food. A year later, I was even heavier than before.

I also experienced some frustration with my running a couple years ago. I could feel myself getting faster. I began to think that I could recapture my glory days and maybe even come out of nowhere in local races to place in my age group. One morning, as I was feeling particularly fast, two chatting high school girls blew by me like I was standing still. Talk about a reality check! Instead of dealing with the fact that I wasn't nearly as fast as I use to be, I started to lose the motivation to run.

This time around, I don't plan on making the same mistakes.

I know that ice cream is my Achilles heel. As much as I love the stuff, not a bit of ice cream has passed my lips for nearly half a year. So I'm running again and sticking to good eating habits.
I've gotten over the fact that I don't run fast anymore. I'm content to enjoy the exercise, and I'm focused on running lightly and easily. If a flock of gossiping high school girls passes me on the road, good for them.
If I get sick and can't run for a while, that's okay. I can walk. If it turns out that years of obesity have left my knees in a sorry state, I can walk. I enjoy walking almost as much as running.

The biggest mistake I made the last time I tried to lose weight was trying to do it all by myself. Aside from gigs and rehearsals, I'm a hermit. I live alone, and I prefer to do most of my activities alone. I exercise alone, too. Although I spend a lot of time by myself, that doesn't mean I have to be alone in my weight loss campaign. This time I have a lot of people behind me. I've posted fitness updates regularly on Facebook and in this blog, and in return I've received lots of support. Not only that, but many of my friends have started losing weight, too. Even though we're not dieting and exercising together in person, I feel like we're together in spirit.

This is the point where I typically hit the wall, but I'm determined not to let that happen again. I just need to be aware of my tendencies and to know that, recluse that I am, I get by a little help from my friends.

Audition

2010-09-05T14:47:00.000-04:00

I've just lasted through what must be the longest, most involved interview process ever devised for a quarter time job. The job is music director for Unitarian Universalist Metro Atlanta North, or UUMAN (pronounced like "human"). If I get the job, I'll be directing the choir, putting together instrumental groups for services, taking part in the planning of worship services, and in general overseeing the music at UUMAN.

After being one of two finalists selected from the interviews, I rehearsed the choir, met with a handful of choir members for lunch, and then participated in this morning's Sunday service (conducting the choir, singing a solo, and leading the hymns). If you factor in preparation time, interviews, this morning's service, and driving, I've probably spent over 15 hours preparing for this 10 hour per week job.

Fifteen hours is a lot of time to spend proving that you're ready for a quarter time position, but I've enjoyed the process. For the first time in my life, I actually enjoyed a job interview. The choir and instrumentalists were a joy to work with, and I met a lot of nice people this week.

Overall, I feel terrific about my audition. I wrote the arrangement for the choral anthem and recruited a handful of instrumentalists from the congregation to complement the choir. Last Wednesday's rehearsal went quite well, and the choir sang superbly this morning. The instrumentalists were enthusiastic about being asked to play, and they did a great job. I can't say enough good things about the piano accompanist, who played beautifully and was absolutely great to work with. My solo was well received.

My audition is over. This week, it's the other person's turn to go through the wringer. Although I'm happy with how I performed musically, the job isn't just about musicianship. It's also about how well I work with the choir, the staff, various committees, and the minister. I have a good feeling about this job. If it turns out I don't win it, it won't be because I had a bad audition. As a matter of fact, this is probably the best audition I've had in my life. There may be intangibles that come into play such as personality or general experience. They may see something in the other candidate that clicks with UUMAN and makes them a better fit.

There's nothing I can do about all that. All I can do now is congratulate myself on a good audition, and then kick back, relax, and wait for the results. UUMAN wants to have a new music director in place by September 20, so I'll hear back from them soon enough.

Losing It #12: Running Man

2010-09-03T10:51:00.000-04:00

I'm officially hooked on running again. After walking off the weight for five months, I began running again. I'm not running a lot: just Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and I'm combining walking and running. For now, it's about half and half: a combined total of two miles running and two miles walking.

The first week I began running was painful, but it was a good kind of painful, if you can believe such a thing. I've developed a certain amount of strength though taking long walks (4-8 miles), but running is more intense. By the end of the week, I felt myself getting a bit stronger.

Today, after two weeks of running, something magical happened. Running felt easy. My legs felt great, and I wasn't breathing much harder than I breathe when I walk fast. Even the hills didn't feel so bad. My footsteps were light, and I felt like I was just gliding along. There were times I didn't want to stop. I did make myself stop, though, from time to time. I've dropped 80 pounds, but I still have 43 to go, so I'm still heavy for a runner. Running is stressful enough without the excess weight. I'm very careful to take walking breaks to prevent injury. Eventually, I'll be able to run three miles at a stretch, and then we'll see how it goes from there.

The best part about running is that I enjoy it. When I first step out the door, my reason for running is to continue to lose weight. Once I'm warmed up, I'm running because it's fun. I was a fairly fast runner in my glory days. I may never be fast again, but I don't care. I lope along at a happy glide, and it feels great.

Learn Tunes

2010-08-30T18:12:00.000-04:00

Joe Pass was one of the best jazz guitarists, period, and he's one of my main musical inspirations. When asked what a developing guitarist should practice, he responded with "learn tunes." In other words, all you need to know is contained in the jazz repertoire. Now I suspect that Joe spent plenty of time practicing licks and scales, but I think he meant that you should spent most of your time learning the repertoire, because the licks and scales are all there in the music.

Lately I've gotten away from learning tunes. I've been spending a lot of time working on technique, especially scales, arpeggios, scale patterns, licks, and pick speed. There's nothing wrong with this. It's a necessity at my stage of development. While I'm not setting the world on fire, my technique has definitely improved over the past several months, but I've drifted away from learning tunes. It's time for a course correction.

When I was a classical trombonist, I played a lot of etudes. An etude is a piece of music written for study, not necessarily for performance. An etude is meant to help the player focus on one or two aspects of playing. For developing legato technique on trombone, you absolutely have to work through the Rochut Melodious Etudes for Trombone. And then there are the Blazhevich Clef Studies that were written specifically to help (or force) the trombone player to be comfortable reading bass, tenor, and alto clefs.

From now on, jazz melodies will be my etudes. Today, I started working on Joy Spring. I've been in love with this melody since the first time I heard it. It's tricky. My single line technique will improve as I get this melody under my fingers. My improvisation will improve as I learn to navigate the chord changes. I'm not going to stop playing scales, patterns, and licks, but I'm going to renew my focus on learning tunes.

In case you haven't heard Joe Pass, click here for a YouTube clip of Joe Pass performing Joe's Blues.

Losing It #11: Plateau

2010-08-21T13:09:00.000-04:00

The bad news is that I've lost very little weight over the last two weeks. The good news is that my pants have loosened, and I've had to tighten my belt one more notch.

About 6 weeks ago, I started a strength-building routine: crunches, push-ups, and curls. I've added a little bit of muscle to my frame. If I add a few pounds of muscle while burning the same weight in fat, the number on the scale will read the same, even as my clothes fit better. This would explain looser pants in spite of minimal weight loss. An added benefit to adding muscle is that it requires extra calories for your body to retain muscle mass. In other words, having more muscle helps you burn fat. While the numbers on the scale have barely budged over the last couple weeks, in the long run, my extra muscle will turn me into a fat burning machine!

So far, I've lost over 70 pounds through careful diet and consistent exercise, and that's how I'll lose the remaining 50.

If you've lost a lot of weight but find yourself at a plateau, don't worry. You'll be fine. Just keep doing what you're doing.

Losing It #10: Running Man (sort of)

2010-08-17T15:47:00.000-04:00

I ran a quarter mile today. I realize that I haven't set any endurance records, but considering that I weighed 323 pounds only four months ago, I can be proud of this. I've lost over 70 pounds from walking, but lately I've had the itch to start running again. I wave to the runners on my daily walk, and part my heart runs with them.

My body has gone through a remarkable change over the past few months. The most noticeable change is on the outside, as I continue to shrink, but I also feel a big change on the inside as my body adjusts to my increasing physical demands. When I began walking, I was weary and footsore after a 30-minute walk. My body soon adjusted, and I was able to increase the length of my daily walk. Today I walk 4 miles on weekdays and 8 miles on weekends.

The next logical step after walking is running. I'd like to dive right into running, but because I'm still heavy, I have to be careful. My legs and heart have been strengthened by taking long walks, but my joints and tendons aren't quite ready for long runs. Last week I began introducing a very short run into my daily walk. When I say a very short run, I'm talking about a whopping 100 feet. This is to prepare my joints for the added stress of running. The plan is to very, very gradually increase the length of my run. I'm not in a hurry. I'm not preparing for a race. There's no deadline. I'm feeling my way through this. I'm gradually increasing distance as my body adjusts.

Today I ran a quarter mile without discomfort. As a matter of fact, I wasn't breathing much harder than when I walk. I'll stick with a quarter mile for the next couple weeks, let my body adjust, and then add a little more. Assuming all goes well, I should be running regularly by November or December.

Back in my Air Force days, I was quite the runner…not world class by any means, but pretty fast. I trained for speed over medium distances and clocked some pretty decent times at local 5K and 10K runs. This time around, I'm not planning to train for speed. Those days are past. When I'm running again, it'll be purely for health and pleasure.

Interview

2010-08-14T22:15:00.000-04:00

My last "real" job was as the head of the graphics department for the Mark Foster Music Company back in 1998 or so. This overstates the case. I was the graphics department, and I didn't do anything fancy. My two main jobs were to create ads for choral music trade journals and to create printing plates. I've been a freelance music engraver since then, and more recently I've been a freelance guitarist and singer.

For the first time in over a decade, I've applied for a job. This is a quarter time position as director of music at a Unitarian Universalist church in Atlanta. With a 10 hour per week time commitment, money is not the key factor here. Last year, I was interim music director at the Northwest Unitarian Universalist Congregation. I enjoyed the experience so much that I decided I would send a resume the next time a similar job opened up. Last month I saw a notice for this position, and I sent my resume immediately.

My interview was today. I was only invited to the interview yesterday, which was both good and bad. The downside was that I had very little time to prepare. The upside was that I didn't have time to get nervous and obsessive about it. The interview went quite well. I felt I had good rapport with the minister and the search committee. I didn't have time to anticipate questions, so my answers were off the cuff and heartfelt. I've never felt so comfortable and "myself" at a job interview. Part of that may be due to my increasing confidence as a performer, but mostly I think it was my attitude about the interview. I didn't try to provide the "right" answer to their questions. I presented myself openly and honestly, leaving it up to them to decide if I was what they were looking for. They seemed to have a good feeling about me, and I have a good feeling about them.

They are interviewing a few more candidates. For round two, 2-3 candidates will be invited to audition. Each candidate will lead a choir rehearsal and then lead the choir (and the music in general) for a Sunday service. I feel confident that I'll be invited to the audition round, but I won't know anything for certain until next week.

I'll be looking at some music that I would like to rehearse with the choir. If I'm invited to audition on short notice, I'll be ready. If I'm not invited to audition, well, time spent studying music is never wasted. Aside from studying some musical scores, this week will be business as usual: practicing, music engraving, rehearsing, and scaring up gigs.

Losing It #9: Strength and Stretching

2010-08-11T13:20:00.000-04:00

In my blogs about losing weight (70 pounds so far!), I often write about walking, but walking isn't my only exercise. I also stretch and strengthen.

What I'm about to write isn't exactly top secret. You can read about it just about anywhere, but since you're here now, you might as well hear it from me.

There are three basic types of exercises: aerobic, strengthening, and stretching. Aerobic exercise, such as walking or cycling, can improve your overall stamina and heart health. My choice of aerobic exercise, walking, is what I write about most often, and it's the key exercise in my weight loss routine.

Aerobic exercise is great for burning fat, but strengthening exercises are also a great help. When you perform strength exercises on a regular basis, you add muscle. The coolest thing about this, for weight loss, is that increasing your muscle muscle mass increases your metabolism. In other words, simply by having more muscle, you burn more fat, even if you're just, say, blogging at your computer. Back in my glory days, I was into bodybuilding, but there's no need to spend hours at the gym. Today, my strength routine is very basic: crunches, push-ups, and dumbbell curls. I don't need a gym, and the only equipment I require is a light set of dumbbells.

Women, if you're afraid of bulking up, don't be. For the average woman, you have to do a lot of heavy lifting before you even begin to look bulky. Also, for both men and women, if you're looking to build big muscles, you'll want to lift heavy weights with fewer repetitions. If you're looking to tone your muscles, you'll want to lift lighter weights with more repetitions. Me? I'm not looking to recapture my bodybuilder physique. I'm using lighter weights and high repetitions so that I'll have some muscle tone when I reach my target weight.

Stretching doesn't increase fat burning, but it helps prevent injury. I have a bad back, and stretching exercises my hamstrings and butt helps to keep my back loose. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I keep meaning to take up yoga. Many, many people have recommended yoga to me. I haven't started it yet, but my stretching routine is largely based on some yoga exercises my ex-wife used to perform.

There's a really good book on stretching titled, oddly enough, Stretching. I highly recommend it.

If you want to lose weight, focus on aerobic exercise. Get out there and run, hike, walk, swim, cycle, and dance. For overall fitness, don't forget to strengthen and stretch.

The Change Jar Principle

2010-08-08T20:14:00.000-04:00

Like many of you, I have a change jar. I toss my loose change in it and don't think about it too much. It starts with an empty jar, then a handful of coins, slowly building up over time. After a year or two, I take it to one of those Coinstar machines. Depending on how long it's been since I last emptied out the change jar, I could have between $100-200.

Sometimes it seems like changes in our life come all at once, and sometimes I suppose they do. For the most part, though, I think these big events are a result of incremental changes or a series of choices we've made over time. Weight loss is a prime example. As of today, I have lost 70 pounds (with 53 still to lose). It didn't happen overnight. Over the last few months, every single day, I've made the choice to go for a long walk and eat healthy foods. Each day, I lose a few ounces – spare change. Every single time I make the choice to exercise and watch my diet, I add a little more change to that change jar. Over the course of a week, I'll lose 2-4 pounds. Weeks turn into months. Ounces turn into pounds. Pounds turn into tens of pounds. Assuming I continue making the same choices, I'll lose 123 pounds and hit my target weight sometime in December.

My fledgling career as a jazz musician is another example of incremental changes adding up over time. Six years ago, I was a beginning guitar player. Today, while I'm not earning enough to make a living at it yet, I'm performing quite a bit and sometimes (hold onto your seats) I'm getting paid for it. That's quite a jump for someone who didn't know a single guitar chord six years ago, but there have been a lot of choices and changes in between. The most important choice is to spend time practicing every day, usually 3-5 hours. You can't expect to land regular gigs until you've reached a certain level on your instrument. Other choices have included jumping at every opportunity to perform or rehearse with others. If I'm available, I always say yes if I'm asked to sub in a rehearsal with a big band. It doesn't matter that I'm not paid. What matters is that I'm gaining experience and networking with other musicians, some of whom may be in a position to hire or recommend me at a later date. I also play a whole bunch of non-paid gigs at restaurants and coffee shops. Again, it doesn't matter that I'm not paid. What matters is that I'm gaining performance experience, developing a repertoire, and occasionally meeting customers who may hire me to play at their party or wedding. Just a couple days ago, I booked a solo gig because someone heard me playing with On the Cool Side three months ago at a free gig. When I played that "nothing" gig, I put a little change in the change jar, and three months later I was hired to play for a VIP reception at the Decatur Book Festival, where I may very well meet other people who would like to hire me.

Someday, maybe in the next year, maybe in five or ten years, I may catch a break. Maybe I'll land a lucrative steady gig. Maybe I'll make a recording that sells well. Maybe I'll be hired to play in a name band. Or maybe I'll simply find that I'm extremely busy with a calendar full of well paid gigs. Whatever big thing suddenly happens, it'll only happen because I've been preparing for that moment, adding a little bit to my change jar every day through practicing and performing.

Maybe you want to lose weight, start a new career, go back to school, run a marathon, quit smoking, or climb a mountain. If there's a goal you want to accomplish, don't be discouraged if it's going to take you a long time to get there. Instead, use it as motivation. You already know it's not going to happen at once, so take small, easy actions. Every day, do something that will help you reach your goal, no matter how small it seems. Every coin adds a little bit to the pile.

Put a little change in the change jar, starting today.

A couple years ago, InTown Band (then Allen, Vinton, and Godfrey) cowrote a song called Change Jar. You can listen to it on our MySpace page.

Why I Sing

2010-08-05T22:24:00.000-04:00

I'm singing a lot these days. As a matter of fact, I rarely play a purely instrumental gig. It wasn't always this way. Before I injured my lip, all of my professional life as a trombone player was spent performing instrumental music. When I took up guitar, it was the same. I've always thought of myself as an instrumentalist, and I came into singing reluctantly. Actually, that's not entirely true. I've enjoyed singing in choirs from time to time, but I've never considered myself a solo singer until recently.

Although I've been an instrumentalist most of my life, I've always been more attracted to singers. As a trombone player, I tried to emulate the expressiveness of a good singer. As a trombone teacher, I would often sing to my students to demonstrate a point, and I would sing to myself while practicing to help develop a better sense of phrasing.

This singing aesthetic carried over when I began playing jazz guitar. Sure, I listen to jazz guitar players, but I listen to a LOT of jazz singers. My collection of Ella Fitzgerald recordings is enormous! I listen to jazz singers for the same reason I used to listen to classical singers: to learn style and phrasing. Phrasing is something that guitar players often overlook. Our phrases aren't limited by our breathing, and as a result, many guitar players (and piano players) tend to play improvised solos in run-on sentences. I like to play my guitar solos like a singer, with shorter, more natural phrasing.

Whenever I learn a new song on guitar, I always learn the words right along with the melody and chords. Again, this helps with phrasing. Even if I'm playing a song as a guitar instrumental, I feel that knowing the words helps me put extra meaning into my playing. With this approach to playing guitar, I suppose it was inevitable that I would begin singing in public as a soloist.

To be honest, the main reason I started singing more often is because the tip jar fills up faster when there's a singer! Another reason I started singing is that it makes me more marketable. Most people prefer to listen to a singer rather than a solo guitarist.

I've since discovered that I truly enjoy singing these great jazz songs for an audience. I love, love, LOVE jazz songs, and it's fun to share these songs with others. Although I started solo singing for utilitarian reasons, the real reason I sing now is because I love it.

Here are a couple YouTube videos with singing:

A Day in the Life of a Fool (guitar/bass duo)
Dream a Little Dream of Me (guitar/piano duo)

Classical and Jazz

2010-08-01T21:49:00.000-04:00

I have to admit that when I was in college, studying classical trombone, I looked down my nose at the jazzers. Maybe college has changed these days, but back in the dark ages, when I was an undergrad at the University of Illinois (1984-1988), there were clear factions in the music school. We classical musicians tended to dismiss jazzers as an inferior species, and I'm sure the jazzers held some similar notion of us. I had a small taste of the jazz world, playing bass trombone in some of the jazz bands, but I was never a full fledged member. Although I held myself in higher regard than those mere jazz mortals, I was secretly jealous of their ability to improvise.

It took living in the real world to figure out that neither kind of music is "better." It's all a matter of taste and preference. As Ellington said, there are only two types of music: good and bad.

In my experience, the biggest difference between classical and jazz is improvisation. There can be a certain amount of improvisation in classical music, but nothing like what you'll find in jazz. In small instrumental settings, the improvisation is often more important than the original melody. The emphasis is on the process of making music. The classical composer sits down and writes out the music in detail. When you listen to a live jazz performance, you're witnessing the musicians make it up as they go along. Sometimes they bomb, and sometimes it's pure magic. To me, playing jazz is often like stepping off a cliff and trusting that a bridge will appear.

There is less emphasis on music reading for jazz players. This can be a detriment. I've heard some jazz players joke that they read just enough so that it doesn't get in the way. Frankly, this sounds like an excuse for not learning to read as well as you could. I've never heard a good sight-reader complain that they read too well. Classical musicians, on the other hand, read extremely well. Their job is to stick to the script, playing the music note for note, with all the correct rhythms, dynamics, articulations, and anything else that's written. If you're a jazzer, you can get away with not being a good reader if you only play in small group settings, where you're expected to play around with the melody and make up your own accompaniment, but if you're going to play in a big band, you're going to need to be able to read, and that goes for guitar players, too. Even though I haven't been playing guitar very long, I'm the first call sub for a couple big bands in Atlanta, simply because I can read down the parts.

Although I'm a jazz guitar player now, I still draw on my experience as a classical trombonist. Sight-reading is probably the best example. Guitar players tend not to be very good readers, but this is my greatest strength. There are plenty of guitar players in town who can play faster, know more licks, and have a bigger repertoire, but I'd wager there are very few who can sight-read like I can. I've only been playing guitar for six years. Eventually, my technique is going to catch up with my reading ability. When it does, watch out!

Ironically, even though I reached a much higher level of playing on the trombone than I have reached thus far on the guitar, I'm a better improviser on the guitar than I ever was as a trombone player. Maybe I was too uptight as a trombonist. I was afraid of sounding bad, and when you're learning to improvise, you're going to sound plenty bad for a while. When I first started learning how to improvise on the guitar, I already knew I was going to sound bad at first, so it didn't matter. My self-consciousness was gone, and I simply allowed myself to sound bad until I started sounding better!

Whatever differences there may be in the music, I've found both classical and jazz musicians to be the same in one respect. For the most part, the musicians I've met are friendly and generous of spirit. It doesn't matter if you're donning a tux or a beret, reading note for note or playing it loose. What matters is that you play to the best of your ability, be supportive of whoever is playing the melody, and sing out with all your heart when it's your turn to lead. Classical or jazz, if it sounds good, it is good.