dixonge

Loved Treme!

So this morning I was tossing and turning and couldn't get an old CCM song out of my head. I started thinking about how I might rework the words in a way that they could apply to a secular crowd, specifically the retired expats here on the lake south of Guadalajara, Mexico. Once I managed to actually work the name of the lake into the song I got so excited I had to get out of bed and start working on it. It was 3:45am Magically, once I changed the lyrics, removing the intense evangelical zealousness, I realized it kinda sounded like a bar song. The more I thought about it the more I wondered if it kinda sounded like something by Billy Joel. And, as it turns out, it was, in fact, using the same chord progression and meter (3/4) as Piano Man! Check it out. https://www.e-chords.com/chords/keith-green/my-eyes-are-dry https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/billy-joel/piano-man-chords-1051336 You can find some minor differences (Dm vs F) but they share the same walking bass, from C down to D. And you can easily sing either one to the other's chords. Did Keith Green, consciously or *un*-consciously, 'steal' this from Billy? Piano Man was '73, My Eyes Are Dry was '78. Any way, maybe someday I'll sing it for a few friends and maybe they'll get a chuckle out of it...

that is part of this week's homework...

I'm sure I will. Theory is a *big* hole in my music knowledge. I got pretty good at chord inversions and just sort of plateaued for a few decades...

So I'm taking music lessons to brush up on the basics, learn some theory and finally maybe figure out how to improvise a bit. Today I was introduced to the blues scale and it's kinda like magic! I was going through a descending exercise and suddenly it triggered something in my brain. I told my teacher that I thought I recognized that from somewhere. Five seconds later I had it - Supertramp, Bloody Well Right, Intro. He pulled it up on his phone and played it over a speaker. Basically the whole intro is one big Gm blues scale improv, but the final measure is just walking up and down the scale accompanied by woodwinds and brass. That's the part I recognized... Here's the intro w/ a transcription:

From a technical/licensing standpoint, words used in a song are generally referred to as lyrics. So Bernie Taupin would be a lyricist. Elton would be a music composer (for lack of a better term) - both of them would split the 'songwriters' rights 50/50. The song/composition would also pay the publisher, generally a company. So composition royalties would be 50% publisher, 25% Elton, 25% Bernie. The sound recording would be 100% Elton, depending on the label contract and which right or licensing is in question (streaming, CD sale, movie soundtrack, etc.) But that's just technical definitions. In the real world, I would just say that Bernie wrote the words, Elton wrote the music and leave it at that.

can't find it now, but saw a chart earlier today that someone compiled. The gist was that advertiser posting and engagement/post was about the same when comparing the 8 months *before* and then *after* Elon first announced his intention to purchase Twitter. FWIW

SpaceX, Tesla, Starlink. All successful, all involve lots of computer code and physical manufacturing (and multitudinous other business interactions) on a GLOBAL scale. Twitter is just code. I'll never understand why people think Elon could be amazingly successful, to the point where he is the richest man in the world, yet taking over Twitter and fixing it is deemed to be an impossible task for him. It defies logic...

I get that. When I play an A chord, I think of it properly - A - C# - E - but I would never refer to a Db chord as C#. I have a lot less trouble envisioning and playing a C# chord than others though. D# is a problem, G#, A# too. F# is ok, I guess because it's all black keys? I wonder if there's a technical or psychological name for this? lol

I am really drawn to a mathematical approach. Definitely need to study up on this some more. Somehow I never realized that every minor 7th contains within it a major triad in the 3-5-7 notes. *mind blown* So C7 could also be played as Eb / C ... wow. OK, so maybe it's *not* just me, thanks!

I don't know if it's my lack of thorough music lessons followed by years of pounding chords, or just my brain, or what. Maybe it's inherent to piano players vs string instruments? But I really struggle with any chord that has a sharp as the root note. For example - if I see an A# chord I would have to work that sucker out manually. But if I see Bb (B-flat) I would instantly be able to find and play it in any inversion. Obviously they are exactly the same notes on the keybed. I've been working on Moon Blue by Stevie Wonder. It is technically written in G# minor. Five sharps! But some kind soul on ultimate-guitar transmogrified some of the gnarlier chords to flats and I can actually work my way through it. For example, it starts with a G# minor w/ a maj 9th, technically, but the ultimate-guitar tabs version shows this as an Ab minor w/ maj 9th. I can just immediately play an Ab minor and I can find the 9th fairly easily, but G# minor requires me to literally play individual notes until it sounds right, and even then I can't just *find* that same chord again without thinking through it a lot. Now multiply this for a *lot* of chords in this song. I am working with a local musician/teacher to try to plug some holes in my music education. Theory and improvisation, specifically. He is mainly a guitar/mandolin/uke guy, so he approaches these sharp chords like it's nothing. He 'fixed' my ultimate-guitar version to correct all the chords back to sharps and I just stare at the page blankly until my eye starts twitching then I give up and go back to my flat-friendly version. So - it is just me? Is it my ADHD brain? Or is this more common based on what instrument you learn music on?

Same place I always end up - north shore of Lake Chapala, south of Guadalajara...

The last album I purchased was probably in 1986 and was most likely some Contemporary Christian group. Maybe Keith Green, hard to say. That was a LONG time ago. Well, that was the last one, until today... Picked this up on Discogs: I guess now I should probably find a turntable and some speakers...? 🤣

ok, so on Musescore, once you have your Midi keyboard connected and recognized (had to switch out a cable) you can go into 'Note' mode, pick a note (whole, half, quarter, etc.) then play your chord. Those notes will then enter the score as designated (whole, half or quarter notes). You then connect everything as needed (dotted, tied, etc.) and then the app can play back. Entering the chord symbols starts with Cmd+K then type it out, hit space to move to the next note. That's about as fast as it gets. I'm so rusty at this I have to look up what things are called (repeats, codas, etc.) so I can look up the appropriate key shortcut. You can then add notes (Verse, Chorus) and lyrics. In the end, you have a printable score! I wish I could just use Chord Symbols and slash fills, but that doesn't give me any way to remember when chords or notes aren't exactly on the beat. Will probably need to memorize those things any way, but hey, one step at a time...

Capo is the bomb! I mean, I can do it by ear, but at least on this tune, with it's 'lush' very distracting soundbed and weird levels that app would have helped. It also caused me to notice I was switching chord references around (E-flat instead of D-sharp, etc.). Very helpful, thanks!