I want to talk about right hand strumming technique with a pick this morning. One of the things that I am aware of with my right hand is that the fulcrum of strumming is not my wrist; it is my elbow.
If you take your hand and wiggle it from the wrist, you get the classic 'limp wrist' motion. Imagine slapping someone with your hand moving it this way. Or - go ahead and slap your own face with the back of your hand this way. Now wiggle your hand with the elbow as the fulcrum. Slap your own face with the back of your hand - ow!
There is a lot more power generated from your hand motion if you use the elbow as a fulcrum and keep your wrist straight.
This is not to say that your hand or wrist should be tense.
My term for this is assertiveness, because I believe that's what it sounds like. Whereas playing with a limp wrist sounds like a child's hand smearing around finger paint.
You might say, "But what if I want to sound like a child's hand smearing around finger paint?" There is nothing wrong with that, if you want to sound that way. But if you are a woman who wants to play rock and roll, you need to play with assertiveness. And that is the one thing I see and hear most lacking when I see women rock guitarists.
Exceptions to this? Well they abound, but I think it's good to get this assertiveness thing nailed first. One exception is playing a lead. I use my wrist to play leads and the palm and side of my hand to mute the strings I do not want to be heard.
Another exception - well, sometimes I do strum with my wrist, but in this instance the up strokes have as much force as the down strokes.
I'll probably amend this later. Remember, this is just my own opinions and worth every cent you paid.
January 18, 2008
January 16, 2008
Friends
Well, I am having a bloggin' kind of morning, what can I say? BT is down and there's not too much else interesting online. It's kind of pitiful that the entire World Wide Web can be boring. It's not like cable channels - it's the freakin' world! But for whatever reason, it is.
Maybe, just maybe the woman I was worried about actually did find my blog and read it. If she did, she has declined to contact me. I'll never know. I DO know that I had a weird dream the other night about seeing her in a public library. I walked up and said, "Hey how are you? I was worried about you though I have no idea why. Are you OK?" She said yes, and that she is now a wiccan researching spells. (btw I didn't know they had that kind of stuff in the public library.) So I replied with something like, " O... K... cool, um, whatever" and walked off in a bit of shock that someone who was so staunchly agnostic would practice religion ever again, much less with such an esoteric choice.
I did discuss all of this with another friend who is also a former friend of the woman in question (yes that is how tangled up life becomes) and she thinks, as I do, that it very well could be that my worries were valid, in a Jungian kind of way. Well, for no reason I can ascertain I stopped worrying about her, so she must be doing better. Maybe she cast a spell of happiness, I don't know. ;-)
BTW young lady, you can still contact me. Or not. Just... be well.
Maybe, just maybe the woman I was worried about actually did find my blog and read it. If she did, she has declined to contact me. I'll never know. I DO know that I had a weird dream the other night about seeing her in a public library. I walked up and said, "Hey how are you? I was worried about you though I have no idea why. Are you OK?" She said yes, and that she is now a wiccan researching spells. (btw I didn't know they had that kind of stuff in the public library.) So I replied with something like, " O... K... cool, um, whatever" and walked off in a bit of shock that someone who was so staunchly agnostic would practice religion ever again, much less with such an esoteric choice.
I did discuss all of this with another friend who is also a former friend of the woman in question (yes that is how tangled up life becomes) and she thinks, as I do, that it very well could be that my worries were valid, in a Jungian kind of way. Well, for no reason I can ascertain I stopped worrying about her, so she must be doing better. Maybe she cast a spell of happiness, I don't know. ;-)
BTW young lady, you can still contact me. Or not. Just... be well.
Practice
In the kayak pool session last night, I thought about something a great guitarist told me about practicing guitar. He said, "You know those guys who sit in front of a TV and mindlessly play whatever without thinking while they are watching TV... well they are ruining their playing. You should be focused every time you practice and if you can't focus, put the damn thing up, it's not the right time!"
This came to my mind as I practiced rolling and trying to initiate the bow last night. I think it's pertinent. The hard thing is, rolling should become something that happens without thought. But perhaps not in the pool. The pool is a place to consider the steps and the technique of whatever it is you are trying to perfect for whitewater. At least I think so.
In the same light, practicing guitar should not be confused with jamming or having fun, not that it can't be fun, but to me these days practicing guitar should be about goals. Which necessitates having goals. ;-)
Without a goal, what are you doing? Are you practicing? Learning? Learning what?
I have a new book - Guitar Fretboard Workbook - and it is great. I can do the written exercises at work while rendering a composite, and when I get home and practice on guitar the lessons remain relevant. I even posted a little review of it on Amazon, something I never do, because I like the book so much.
I decided to count my rolls last night in the pool, and I counted 52. I did this because I want to make sure I exercise the muscles I use rolling when an opportunity like an indoor pool presents itself. I took breaks between every 15 or so - literally getting out of the boat. And my technique? Not so hot. I did come up every time though.
I guess I can get pretty meticulous.
This came to my mind as I practiced rolling and trying to initiate the bow last night. I think it's pertinent. The hard thing is, rolling should become something that happens without thought. But perhaps not in the pool. The pool is a place to consider the steps and the technique of whatever it is you are trying to perfect for whitewater. At least I think so.
In the same light, practicing guitar should not be confused with jamming or having fun, not that it can't be fun, but to me these days practicing guitar should be about goals. Which necessitates having goals. ;-)
Without a goal, what are you doing? Are you practicing? Learning? Learning what?
I have a new book - Guitar Fretboard Workbook - and it is great. I can do the written exercises at work while rendering a composite, and when I get home and practice on guitar the lessons remain relevant. I even posted a little review of it on Amazon, something I never do, because I like the book so much.
I decided to count my rolls last night in the pool, and I counted 52. I did this because I want to make sure I exercise the muscles I use rolling when an opportunity like an indoor pool presents itself. I took breaks between every 15 or so - literally getting out of the boat. And my technique? Not so hot. I did come up every time though.
I guess I can get pretty meticulous.
Guitar Tuning
This is a repost from a blog I put on myspace on Jan 4th 08.
I've been reading Richard Lloyd's website a lot and in it he talks about even temperament and guitar tuning. There is a way to tune a guitar by ear that makes a nice agreeable sound. I am geeking out on it this fine morning. I thought you might like trying it so here 'tis.
"First tune the bottom E. string to a tuning fork or tuning machine. Next, fret the E. string at the tenth fret. This will give you a D. Tune the D. string to this note by ear. Next, fret the D. string at the fifth fret. Tune the G. string to the D. string at the fifth fret. Now fret the G. string at the second fret. This gives you an A. Tune the A. string from this note. Now fret the A. string at the second fret. Tune the B. string from this note. It will be an octave up. Next, fret the D. string at the second fret. This gives you E. Tune your high E from this. Again this will be an octave."
He explains why this sounds nice, and why tuning to a machine sounds off, in the rest of the lesson here:
http://www.richardlloyd.com/lessons/index.htm Click on 'Musical Q&A'. It is the second question and answer. Interesting stuff. But if you don't want to read it all and just want to hear what I mean, tune your guitar the way posted here and strum a few tunes. It's very cool!
For more on temperament go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperament
and here:
http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~oneskull/3.6.04.htm
I've been reading Richard Lloyd's website a lot and in it he talks about even temperament and guitar tuning. There is a way to tune a guitar by ear that makes a nice agreeable sound. I am geeking out on it this fine morning. I thought you might like trying it so here 'tis.
"First tune the bottom E. string to a tuning fork or tuning machine. Next, fret the E. string at the tenth fret. This will give you a D. Tune the D. string to this note by ear. Next, fret the D. string at the fifth fret. Tune the G. string to the D. string at the fifth fret. Now fret the G. string at the second fret. This gives you an A. Tune the A. string from this note. Now fret the A. string at the second fret. Tune the B. string from this note. It will be an octave up. Next, fret the D. string at the second fret. This gives you E. Tune your high E from this. Again this will be an octave."
He explains why this sounds nice, and why tuning to a machine sounds off, in the rest of the lesson here:
http://www.richardlloyd.com/lessons/index.htm Click on 'Musical Q&A'. It is the second question and answer. Interesting stuff. But if you don't want to read it all and just want to hear what I mean, tune your guitar the way posted here and strum a few tunes. It's very cool!
For more on temperament go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_temperament
and here:
http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~oneskull/3.6.04.htm
Guitar Stuff
This is a repost of a blog I put on myspace on Christmas Day.
My first moment of clarity came from a lesson on youtube from Richard Lloyd, whereby he plays a major scale up the fretboard to illustrate the circle of fourths. Since a guitar is tuned in fourths (except, yeah I know) this is a good way to think about moving around on the instrument.
Next moment of clarity - I read in an online guitar forum about an exercise that (legend has it) Mr. Satriani describes, which I will relate to you now. And here is the irritating part, because I am not going to lie to you - it's annoying as hell to do this exercise. But I think it will help me. Simply put, start with a note (let's do E first) and find it everywhere on the fretboard, to the beat of a metronome(lots free online). And once you get to where you find the E on every spot on the fretboard, speed up the metronome a bit and find the E's faster. And faster. And if you mess up, go back to the first E. And when you have the E down pretty damn well try another note. I'm still on E so I have not decided whether or not my next note will be F or A. I am going to stay on E for quite awhile, folks.
Days? A week? Who knows?
p.s. feel free to give me crap for being a Satch fan, because I am not, but hell if this helps me I'll buy his music in gratitude... lol
Third idea - future - t'was recommended to me to learn the fretboard via arpeggios, but seriously, can I until I know where the heck I am?
This wasn't an issue, any of it, on piano, because piano keys all look different (in context) and once you learn 'em, you got 'em. I had my last lesson at 11 and I can play 'guess the note' with you on a keyboard all day and get them right. But this fretboard... oh man, as I wrote a friend, I wander thru the fretboard forest looking for crumbs. Well, here are some crumbs!
For those of you who might murmer, "Circle of what? Fourths fifths huh? I didn't learn that in piano class", well yes you did, you just didn't realize it. The way to read key signatures on the staff illustrates the circle of fifths. I remember being a kid and learning this, because I had to in order to read music. Remember, no sharps - key of C? One sharp meant the key of G? Two sharps - key of D? Three Sharps - key of A? Four sharps - key of E? Five sharps - whew what a thing to play - key of B? I still remember seeing those 'key of B' sharps on the staff and going, Oh yeah all those black keys. Then you got into weird territory where the whole key was sharp like F sharp. BTW this blog won't let me use the symbol for sharp in it so I'm writing "sharp".
0- C
1 - G
2 - D
3 - A
4- E
5 - B
Well that is the circle of fifths.
..
And if you run that pattern backwards, it's the circle of fourths, which happens to be what guitars are tuned in (except for, yeah I know) - fourths.
I hope this information didn't make your face melt. I am all about it. Would love some feedback.
Merry Christmas!!!
Guitar stuff. Warning I am going to ramble.
Current mood: 
My first moment of clarity came from a lesson on youtube from Richard Lloyd, whereby he plays a major scale up the fretboard to illustrate the circle of fourths. Since a guitar is tuned in fourths (except, yeah I know) this is a good way to think about moving around on the instrument.
Next moment of clarity - I read in an online guitar forum about an exercise that (legend has it) Mr. Satriani describes, which I will relate to you now. And here is the irritating part, because I am not going to lie to you - it's annoying as hell to do this exercise. But I think it will help me. Simply put, start with a note (let's do E first) and find it everywhere on the fretboard, to the beat of a metronome(lots free online). And once you get to where you find the E on every spot on the fretboard, speed up the metronome a bit and find the E's faster. And faster. And if you mess up, go back to the first E. And when you have the E down pretty damn well try another note. I'm still on E so I have not decided whether or not my next note will be F or A. I am going to stay on E for quite awhile, folks.
Days? A week? Who knows?
p.s. feel free to give me crap for being a Satch fan, because I am not, but hell if this helps me I'll buy his music in gratitude... lol
Third idea - future - t'was recommended to me to learn the fretboard via arpeggios, but seriously, can I until I know where the heck I am?
This wasn't an issue, any of it, on piano, because piano keys all look different (in context) and once you learn 'em, you got 'em. I had my last lesson at 11 and I can play 'guess the note' with you on a keyboard all day and get them right. But this fretboard... oh man, as I wrote a friend, I wander thru the fretboard forest looking for crumbs. Well, here are some crumbs!
For those of you who might murmer, "Circle of what? Fourths fifths huh? I didn't learn that in piano class", well yes you did, you just didn't realize it. The way to read key signatures on the staff illustrates the circle of fifths. I remember being a kid and learning this, because I had to in order to read music. Remember, no sharps - key of C? One sharp meant the key of G? Two sharps - key of D? Three Sharps - key of A? Four sharps - key of E? Five sharps - whew what a thing to play - key of B? I still remember seeing those 'key of B' sharps on the staff and going, Oh yeah all those black keys. Then you got into weird territory where the whole key was sharp like F sharp. BTW this blog won't let me use the symbol for sharp in it so I'm writing "sharp".
0- C
1 - G
2 - D
3 - A
4- E
5 - B
Well that is the circle of fifths.
..
And if you run that pattern backwards, it's the circle of fourths, which happens to be what guitars are tuned in (except for, yeah I know) - fourths.
I hope this information didn't make your face melt. I am all about it. Would love some feedback.
Merry Christmas!!!
January 6, 2008
Mr. Gip's Juke Joint
Last night I went to a juke joint in the west part of town. It is behind the house of a man named Mr. Gip, who turned 86, so the party was in honor of his birthday. That's Mr. Gip with the hat and cup.
My brother and sister-in-law have been going to this juke joint for a year or so, but I had never managed to go with them until last night. My sister and my cousin went with us too. My brother first found out about the juke joint because of the B'ham Blues Society becoming aware of it. I think some of the main players at the joint must have gone to a blues society jam or something.
To get there, you have to drive quite a ways west of town, under a train trestle, through some projects, and follow directions like, 'turn at the tire store sign', and follow some twisty little roads to the house.
We parked and went in and immediately I said to my brother, "I want a juke joint!" He laughed and said, "You just need a place to put it."
Mr. Gip worked for a funeral home, so many of the chairs have covers on them like you would see at a funeral. It was pretty packed and lots of people were dancing. After awhile I got up and played bass and my brother played harmonica.
I wanna bring a guitar next time. ;-) I used the bass that the previous bass player brought. That's the second time I've borrowed his bass at a jam - I owe that guy a beer or three, it's a nice Fender Precision. Then a guy got up and played a cigar box slide guitar thing.
I also got to meet Mrs. Gip, and several of their kids.
I don't think I can really tell a trip report about it, it was just a cool scene. The pictures will do a better job of telling the story I think. Here is a link to the rest of the pictures.
It was a fine time, and I hope to go back soon.
My brother and sister-in-law have been going to this juke joint for a year or so, but I had never managed to go with them until last night. My sister and my cousin went with us too. My brother first found out about the juke joint because of the B'ham Blues Society becoming aware of it. I think some of the main players at the joint must have gone to a blues society jam or something.
To get there, you have to drive quite a ways west of town, under a train trestle, through some projects, and follow directions like, 'turn at the tire store sign', and follow some twisty little roads to the house.
We parked and went in and immediately I said to my brother, "I want a juke joint!" He laughed and said, "You just need a place to put it."
Mr. Gip worked for a funeral home, so many of the chairs have covers on them like you would see at a funeral. It was pretty packed and lots of people were dancing. After awhile I got up and played bass and my brother played harmonica.
I wanna bring a guitar next time. ;-) I used the bass that the previous bass player brought. That's the second time I've borrowed his bass at a jam - I owe that guy a beer or three, it's a nice Fender Precision. Then a guy got up and played a cigar box slide guitar thing.I also got to meet Mrs. Gip, and several of their kids.
I don't think I can really tell a trip report about it, it was just a cool scene. The pictures will do a better job of telling the story I think. Here is a link to the rest of the pictures.
It was a fine time, and I hope to go back soon.
December 31, 2007
Family History Stuff
My sister Kathy emailed me this. I decided to post it. Some of it is obviously quoted from a document she must have on her computer.
My Father's Mother, Maria Marino Ranelli, came from a small town in Sicily called Sutera. Sutera is on a hillside near the farming village of Campofranco in Southern-Mid Sicily. My Father's Father, Francesco Ranelli was from Campofranco. The Raneli's used to spell their name with one "L" - another was added in America, I am not sure why. The Father of Maria Marino - Giovanni Marino had agreed to a marriage between his daughter and the son of Francesco Raneli. Then an argument occured between the two fathers and Giovanni called off the marriage. Young Francesco was already smitten and ready to marry so he and his friends went to Sutera and got Maria. She and Francesco were married without her father's permission - something quite rare in those days in rural, European culture. They had not been married long before they decided to leave Sicily for America. Francesco would leave first and go to New York to stay with a cousin and see.
Buteras and Giardinas.
-->
Age at Arrival: 21y Gender: F Marital Status: MShip of Travel: Teutonic Port of Departure: Liverpool
-->Mar 28, 1901
Age at Arrival: 24y Gender: M Marital Status: M Ship of Travel: Teutonic Port of Departure: Liverpool Manifest Line Number: 0010
Thomas Williamson came to Alabama to work in the coal mines. He worked in Coal Mine number 8, behind their house.
The Marino's and Ranelli's
 |
On the left is my grandfather Papa Frank Ranelli, not sure about man in center of picture, the right is Zio Onorfrio Baldone
|
My Father's Mother, Maria Marino Ranelli, came from a small town in Sicily called Sutera. Sutera is on a hillside near the farming village of Campofranco in Southern-Mid Sicily. My Father's Father, Francesco Ranelli was from Campofranco. The Raneli's used to spell their name with one "L" - another was added in America, I am not sure why. The Father of Maria Marino - Giovanni Marino had agreed to a marriage between his daughter and the son of Francesco Raneli. Then an argument occured between the two fathers and Giovanni called off the marriage. Young Francesco was already smitten and ready to marry so he and his friends went to Sutera and got Maria. She and Francesco were married without her father's permission - something quite rare in those days in rural, European culture. They had not been married long before they decided to leave Sicily for America. Francesco would leave first and go to New York to stay with a cousin and see.
Buteras and Giardinas.
I spoke with Mom recently and she said that they got grandmother Sara Giardina Butera's name wrong on the Ellis Island records.
Great-great grandmother Teresa had a daughter Rosalia who was 18 but the manifest also says there was another Rosalia who was 22, but this was actually Rosaria - like the Rosary and she was called Saria or Sara.
07. Teresa Varca (Giardina) 49yrs - Husband died (Maybe Charles or
Carlo)and she gathered up all her children,
including married daughter Rosalia (Rosaria called Sara) Giardina Butera and her Husband
Andrea Butera, his daughter from a previous marriage Rosalia (Lily)
Butera -6yrs and Sara and Andrea's baby boy Guiseppi -1 yr old.
08. Teresa's daughter or daughter in law, niece? Rosalia Giardina - 18
yrs - perhaps Ramiano's wife?
09. Ramiano - 16 yrs perhaps a cousin? Maybe married to the 18 yr old
Rosalia?
10. Teresa's daughter Croce - 13 yrs
11. Teresa's son Paul - 11 yrs- married step-niece Lily - one son Big
Charlie Giardina - had Rosalind Giardina Ranelli married Big Frank
12. Teresa's son Mike - 9 yrs
13. Andrew Butera 34yrs married her daughter Rosalia (Rosaria) called Sara
14. Rosalia Butera - 6 yrs - Andrew Butera's daughter from a previous
marriage - Called Lily and married step-brother Paul - one child - Big
Charlie Giardina
15. Andrew and Sara's first Son Joe 1yr
16. Teresa;s married daughter Rosalia (Rosaria)Giardina Butera - called Sara 22yrs
My Giardina Family came over on this ship which you can find at
ellisisland.org
Date: October 22, 1898
Ship of Travel: Victoria
Port of Departure: Naples
Manifest Line Number: 0008
On that ship manifest - the Victoria, arriving on October 22, 1898 were My
Great-great Grandmother Teresa Varca (Giardina) but they mispelled her
name when transfering it to text - the text document spells her maiden
name "Karea" but it is really Varca (Giardina.)
My mother says that
Teresa's husband - I am not sure of his first name, but probably Charles,
Paul or Michael - He had a grain Mill in Sicily on a river. One night
there was a storm and he knew that he should go out and grind some wheat
while the river was moving so fast. When he got there, he sliped and hit
his head on a rock and died. So the widow, Teresa Varca Giardina, gathered
up all of her children, including her oldest daughter Sara (Rosalia) and
her Husband Andrea Butera and came over on the Victoria in 1898.
On the ship manifest, ,they put down that their destination was New
Orleans so may they have gone to New Orleans after that for a while, but
evetually ended up here, in Birmingham, Alabama. They were a lot of
immigrants here from her town of Bisaquino and she probably had friends
here. She stared a pasta factory and opened a general store where she sold
all kinds of food and also the pasta she made as well as Italian products
which were probably from New Orleans. She and her Daughter Sara and Son-in-
law Andrea also bought property in Ensley and rented the small houses
that they bought - and were quite wealthy.
Check out the ship's manifest and you will see several Giardina's
(Teresa's children) and a few Butera's (Sara and Andrea's children.
The Williamsons. My English Great Grandparents. My mother's mother's parents.
From the Ellis Island records:
07. Teresa Varca (Giardina) 49yrs - Husband died (Maybe Charles or
Carlo)and she gathered up all her children,
including married daughter Rosalia (Rosaria called Sara) Giardina Butera and her Husband
Andrea Butera, his daughter from a previous marriage Rosalia (Lily)
Butera -6yrs and Sara and Andrea's baby boy Guiseppi -1 yr old.
08. Teresa's daughter or daughter in law, niece? Rosalia Giardina - 18
yrs - perhaps Ramiano's wife?
09. Ramiano - 16 yrs perhaps a cousin? Maybe married to the 18 yr old
Rosalia?
10. Teresa's daughter Croce - 13 yrs
11. Teresa's son Paul - 11 yrs- married step-niece Lily - one son Big
Charlie Giardina - had Rosalind Giardina Ranelli married Big Frank
12. Teresa's son Mike - 9 yrs
13. Andrew Butera 34yrs married her daughter Rosalia (Rosaria) called Sara
14. Rosalia Butera - 6 yrs - Andrew Butera's daughter from a previous
marriage - Called Lily and married step-brother Paul - one child - Big
Charlie Giardina
15. Andrew and Sara's first Son Joe 1yr
16. Teresa;s married daughter Rosalia (Rosaria)Giardina Butera - called Sara 22yrs
My Giardina Family came over on this ship which you can find at
ellisisland.org
Date: October 22, 1898
Ship of Travel: Victoria
Port of Departure: Naples
Manifest Line Number: 0008
On that ship manifest - the Victoria, arriving on October 22, 1898 were My
Great-great Grandmother Teresa Varca (Giardina) but they mispelled her
name when transfering it to text - the text document spells her maiden
name "Karea" but it is really Varca (Giardina.)
My mother says that
Teresa's husband - I am not sure of his first name, but probably Charles,
Paul or Michael - He had a grain Mill in Sicily on a river. One night
there was a storm and he knew that he should go out and grind some wheat
while the river was moving so fast. When he got there, he sliped and hit
his head on a rock and died. So the widow, Teresa Varca Giardina, gathered
up all of her children, including her oldest daughter Sara (Rosalia) and
her Husband Andrea Butera and came over on the Victoria in 1898.
On the ship manifest, ,they put down that their destination was New
Orleans so may they have gone to New Orleans after that for a while, but
evetually ended up here, in Birmingham, Alabama. They were a lot of
immigrants here from her town of Bisaquino and she probably had friends
here. She stared a pasta factory and opened a general store where she sold
all kinds of food and also the pasta she made as well as Italian products
which were probably from New Orleans. She and her Daughter Sara and Son-in-
law Andrea also bought property in Ensley and rented the small houses
that they bought - and were quite wealthy.
Check out the ship's manifest and you will see several Giardina's
(Teresa's children) and a few Butera's (Sara and Andrea's children.
The Williamsons. My English Great Grandparents. My mother's mother's parents.
From the Ellis Island records:
| First Name: | Mary Elizabeth |
| Last Name: | Williamson |
| Ethnicity: | English |
| Last Place of Residence: | Ashington |
| Date of Arrival: | Mar 28, 1901 |
Age at Arrival: 21y Gender: F Marital Status: M
Manifest Line Number:
0011
| First Name: | Thomas |
| Last Name: | Williamson |
| Ethnicity: | English |
| Last Place of Residence: | Ashington |
| Date of Arrival: |
Thomas Williamson came to Alabama to work in the coal mines. He worked in Coal Mine number 8, behind their house.
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