Before you think there is even the faintest hint of trying to be patronizing, know that you can only hope to have a musical knowledge as comprehensive as what Cat is carrying. She's not only heard every musician there ever was, she remembers them and how to find them. It's a bit like my ol' Dad after visiting Warren Bennis, then President of the University of Cincinnati, in his library. He said later that Bennis had shelves of books from floor to ceiling on all four walls and ... he knew where they all were and what was in them.
I'm not the only one who wants to be cool enough for Cat as everyone who plays there knows she can hear every tiniest part of a piece ... and she is listening. The MusikCircus isn't a venue in which there are shills constantly throwing up message distractions to tell you to come to the Fish Fry on Sunday. It's all about music, really about music ... so it's got to be cool. This maybe makes it seem like she is harsh but that's not it as she gives you magic on coming there and it's on you to turn it into something.
Voodoo said quietly the other day that I was playing a lot of stuff in E minor and he was right but I hadn't been paying that much attention. E minor, for me, is easiest and a sketch will often start out there. Maybe it goes to another key later if I want to screw with the vibe but E minor is like a pair of old slippers as your feet can find them in the dark. Voodoo is very cool as this is not something he would ever say in public chat as in, "HEY, FELLA, YOU SURE PLAY A LOT IN FUCKIN' E MINOR. FUHGEDDABOUDIT." (That's the New York version. New Yorkers say 'forget about it' a lot. I don't remember why.)
So this one is in F minor and, sure, that's only a letter but now do it on a piano. Going from E minor to F minor is simple on a guitar as you just move up the fingerboard a little and do the same thing. On a piano, however, those pesky black keys get into it, don't they. In fact a lot of them get into it.
For a guitarist, working with a piano gives a very much better perspective on the differences between keys. If you only play a guitar, changing a key really doesn't mean much. Start here and you're in G, start there and you're in C. It all feels to the fingers pretty much the same. (That's also how a capo works as it lets you change keys without knowing what you're doing.)
However, if you change keys on a piano then the actual physical distances between the keys become much more apparent and this gives a much better appreciation of intervals (i.e. the musical distance between notes). Obviously the keys sound different but a piano gives the best perspective on why.
No need to go into detail on the new tune as that would give the impression that I actually think about what I play. As to when the Internet will stay up long enough to let me play it for Cat, we shall see.
I'm not the only one who wants to be cool enough for Cat as everyone who plays there knows she can hear every tiniest part of a piece ... and she is listening. The MusikCircus isn't a venue in which there are shills constantly throwing up message distractions to tell you to come to the Fish Fry on Sunday. It's all about music, really about music ... so it's got to be cool. This maybe makes it seem like she is harsh but that's not it as she gives you magic on coming there and it's on you to turn it into something.
Voodoo said quietly the other day that I was playing a lot of stuff in E minor and he was right but I hadn't been paying that much attention. E minor, for me, is easiest and a sketch will often start out there. Maybe it goes to another key later if I want to screw with the vibe but E minor is like a pair of old slippers as your feet can find them in the dark. Voodoo is very cool as this is not something he would ever say in public chat as in, "HEY, FELLA, YOU SURE PLAY A LOT IN FUCKIN' E MINOR. FUHGEDDABOUDIT." (That's the New York version. New Yorkers say 'forget about it' a lot. I don't remember why.)
So this one is in F minor and, sure, that's only a letter but now do it on a piano. Going from E minor to F minor is simple on a guitar as you just move up the fingerboard a little and do the same thing. On a piano, however, those pesky black keys get into it, don't they. In fact a lot of them get into it.
For a guitarist, working with a piano gives a very much better perspective on the differences between keys. If you only play a guitar, changing a key really doesn't mean much. Start here and you're in G, start there and you're in C. It all feels to the fingers pretty much the same. (That's also how a capo works as it lets you change keys without knowing what you're doing.)
However, if you change keys on a piano then the actual physical distances between the keys become much more apparent and this gives a much better appreciation of intervals (i.e. the musical distance between notes). Obviously the keys sound different but a piano gives the best perspective on why.
No need to go into detail on the new tune as that would give the impression that I actually think about what I play. As to when the Internet will stay up long enough to let me play it for Cat, we shall see.
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