Same Old Lang Syne

Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling Christmas Eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
And I touched her on the sleeve
She didn’t recognize the face at first
But then her eyes flew open wide
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
And we laughed until we cried

We took her groceries to the checkout stand
The food was totalled up and bagged
We stood there lost in our embarrassment
As the conversation dragged
We went to have ourselves a drink or two
But couldn’t find an open bar
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store
And we drank it in her car

We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how

She said she’d married her an architect
Who kept her warm and safe and dry
She would have liked to say she loved the man
But she didn’t like to lie
I said the years had been a friend to her
And that her eyes were still as blue
But in those eyes I wasn’t sure if I saw doubt or gratitude
She said she saw me in the record stores
And that I must be doing well
I said the audience was heavenly but the traveling was hell

We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness but neither one knew how
We drank a toast to innocence, we drank a toast to time
Reliving in our eloquence, another ‘auld lang syne’

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired
And running out of things to say
She gave a kiss to me as I got out and I watched her drive away
Just for a moment I was back at school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home
The snow turned in to rain…

Another one of my favorites is Leader Of The Band, written as a tribute to his Dad ….

Leader of the Band

An only child alone and wild, a cabinet maker’s son
His hands were meant for different work
And his heart was known to none
He left his home and went his lone and solitary way
And he gave to me a gift I know I never can repay
A quiet man of music denied a simpler fate
He tried to be a soldier once, but his music wouldn’t wait
He earned his love through discipline– a thundering, velvet hand
His gentle means of sculpting souls took me years to understand
(Chorus)
The leader of the band is tired and his eyes are growing old
But his blood runs through my instrument and his song is in my soul
My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the man
I’m just a living legacy to the leader of the band

My brothers’ lives were different for they heard another call
One went to Chicago and the other to St Paul
And I’m in Colorado when I’m not in some hotel
Living out this life I’ve chose and have come to know so well

I thank you for the music and your stories of the road
I thank you for the freedom when it came my time to go
I thank you for the kindness and the times when you got tough
And, papa, I don’t think I said ‘I love you’ near enough
(Chorus)
I am a living legacy to the leader of the band

www.danfogelberg.com/

I’m a strong advocate of practicing on a regular basis because
with good guitar technique, you can play anything! If you think
about it, it makes perfect sense. If you can alternate pick most
any any lick or picking pattern, then any time you’re trying to
learn something new you’ll be able to pick it up much more
quickly then if you don’t have good technique.

Obviously you want to practice things that you have difficulty
playing, or create your own exercises that are similar to those
things you struggle with. By focusing your practice time on
these things, you will improve much quicker. Then in the future
when you encounter things you previously used to struggle with,
you’ll breeze right through it!

Think about it.if all you practice are power chords, you just
really limit yourself as to what you can potentially play. By
focusing on certain techniques, you’ll be able to do so much
more. But you can still play power chords if you choose. I
don’t know, maybe some people are happy only playing power
chords, but I digress.

Now I’m not saying that you should go out and start practicing
for 10+ hours per day. I never practiced for more then 3-4
hours per day. I think that what you practice is more important
then how long you practice. Of course it’s ultimately up to you.
This is just how I view the guitar.

About The Author: Chris Thomas writes articles and does reviews
of the top online guitar lessons at
www.guitarlessoncomparisons.com

However, let’s not underestimate the great value of a good teacher. A teacher can help the student in many ways. The teacher can accomplish the following if the student is willing.

1. Help the student develop good technique.

2. Help the student learn how to read music.

3. Help the student learn to listen (ear training)

4. Help the student prepare for contests, auditions and work situations.

5 Provide encouragement and support.

6.Offer criticism and re-evaluation when the student begins to over-estimate their accomplishments.

7. Suggest players for the student to listen to that otherwise might be overlooked.

8. Help the student develop an awareness and understanding of different styles.

9. Discuss the students problems in confidence. Some of the best lessons are this type.

10. Help the student learn the fundamentals of music as well as guitar.

Now, here’s a few guidelines on choosing a teacher which might be helpful:

1. Try to set up an interview with the teacher or talk with some of his/her students. This will give you some idea of what the teacher specializes in and what you can expect to learn. Not every teacher can offer what you are most interested in. it will depend to some degree on the teacher’s experience in music and what he or she feels is important to emphasize with students.

2. Avoid teachers who spend a lot of time criticizing name guitarists or other teachers.

3. Avoid any teacher who constantly plays more during the lesson than the student. There may be times when this is necessary to make a point, but it should be the exception and not a regular occurence.

The best teachers stress the fundamentals of music and guitar playing. They strive to help the student develop the tools and knowledge he or she will need to develop their own style. By sharing their experience they can save a young guitarist lots of time by avoiding obvious pitfalls and bad habits.

The most important person in the learning process is the student. In the final analysis, each one of us determines to a great degree how much we will learn. Attitude, desire, willingness to work coupled with natural ability are the key ingredients for learning. Your most important tools are your mind, your ears, and the drive to succeed.

————————

Mike Hayes is a guitar teacher, author, performing musician and session guitarist with over 30 years of professional experience. Mike’s methods are legendary and have earned the praise of top authorities in guitar instruction. He reveals his guitar secrets at www.GuitarCoaching.com

I’ve this creeping
Suspicion that things here are not as they seem
Reassure me
Why do I feel as if I’m in too deep?
Now I’ve been praying
For some way to show them
I’m not what they see
Yes, I have done wrong
But what I did I thought needed be done
I swear

Unholy day
If I leave now I might get away
Oh, but this weighs on me
As heavy as stone and as blue as I go
I was just wondering if you’d come along
To hold up my head when my head won’t hold on
I’ll do the same if the same’s what you want
But if not I’ll go
I will go alone
I’m a long way
From that fool’s mistake
And now forever pay
No, run
I will run and I’ll be ok
I was just wondering if you’d come along
To hold up my head when my head won’t hold on
I’ll do the same if the same’s what you want
But if not I’ll go
I will go alone
I go a long way
To bury the past for I don’t want to pay
Oh, how I wish this
To turn back the clock and do over again
I was just wondering if you’d come along
To hold up my head when my head won’t hold on
I’ll do the same if the same’s what you want
But if not I’ll go
I will go alone

I need so
To stay in your arms, see you smile, hold you close
And it weighs on me
As heavy as stone and a bone chilling cold
I was just wondering if you’d come along
Tell me you will.

Well there is good news. With a deft combination of the internet and today’s software, you can do wonders. While it’s never going to be the same as a true band in a real studio, which you had better hire for that big record company showcase, you can still create great backing tracks.

First, repeat after me. “I love MIDI.” Thank you.

MIDI, to refresh your memory, is like sheet music for a pianist. The paper itself makes no noises, but the pianist gets all the information he needs from it to let us hear Beethoven (especially if the music is also Beethoven!). In your computer set up, the MIDI file is the sheet music, the MIDI sequencer or playback program is the pianist, and your computer’s sound card and synthesizer are the piano. That’s all you need!

Before we get started, I’ll mention the ultimate cover song shortcut - the Internet! There are tons of great MIDI files of almost every piece of popular music out there. All you have to do is find them. If you can’t, or you’ve got your own material, read on. Be legal, though!

If You Play Keyboard or Guitar Well

First, thank your parents for the lessons. Then, get your hands on a sequencer program and record your tracks. Using MIDI, you can choose the instrument sound for everything - all you need to do is input the notes. For drums, you can either record them from your keyboard or use a plug-in drum machine. If you choose to record them, a quick way to do it is to record a couple of measures and then copy/paste to fill out the song. But don’t forget to put in some drum fills!

If Your Playing Is Limited to Little or Not at All

For you there are wonderful programs, like Band in a Box and Jammer, to create backing tracks. They are very stylish, meaning, they function in styles. You must, at the very least, know the chords for your song. You simply enter the chords, choose the appropriate musical style, and click a button called “compose” (or some reasonable facsimile). Before you can say “Holy guacamole, Batman,” your music is playing. The drawback here is that your band will sound canned. And well it should, for it is! But, have no fear, there are ways to mitigate that quite well.

Making it Human

Best thing? Play what you can, at least the melody. That, in and of itself, will help tremendously, as it’s no longer just a band style playing chord progressions.

Next up, record a counterpoint. Counterpoints make ordinary songs exciting. They are secondary melodies that complement the main melody. They usually have a slightly different rhythm, and fill in where the melody has breaks. A great example is in the song “The Winner Takes It All,” by Abba. Listen to the theme that is always playing underneath the melody - it really drives the song.

Another thing you can do to put life into your tracks is to customize the style. Depending on how good you are with your software and its capabilities, you can create your own riffs and mix them into the song. Also, vary similar styles throughout the song to break the monotony. And, again, don’t underestimate drum fills!

Creative use of layering is a very effective technique. When all the tracks play all the time, it can be very boring. Wait to bring in some instruments till later in the song. That creates a “building” feel. Then, at some point towards the end, take them out again briefly to create a “break” or “bridge”. When you bring them back, it is very powerful.

Finally, don’t allow any perfection. Yes, you read that correctly. If your music is perfectly aligned rhythmically, it will sound artificial. Live musicians are never precisely on the beat. Almost all programs have a “humanize” function which corrects this automatically. Otherwise, take the time and slide some notes in the piano roll editor window. If you need quantize (rhythm correction) on the recorded tracks, set it to less than 100%.

When you’ve got your MIDI file, there are two ways to convert it to audio (wav, mp3) for CD burning. The quicker way is with a dedicated program that renders wave files from MIDI files directly. Most software synthesizer programs that have a stand-alone playback feature can do this. Otherwise, open an audio recording program, play the MIDI file, and simultaneously record the output. Make sure your audio recorder is set to receive from the correct input.

If You Play Nothing, and Don’t Know Chords or Theory or Anything

Guess what? You are the one who should hire a musician. Yes, I know that some programs will offer both a chord progression composer and even a melody composer. All you would need to do is choose the style. If you are considering going this route, I have one request for you.

PLEASE DON’T!

Sorry to yell, but think about this. The melody is composed by a computer, the chords are composed by a computer, the band is composed by a computer. It is music that is completely composed by a computer. Oh my gosh! How revolting is that?

No, my friend, hire a qualified musician. You sing the song to them, they create the magic. Do not sell yourself short. Your song is important — it’s part of you! Show it the greatest respect and make it as beautiful as you can.

Seth Lutnick is a singer, songwriter and arranger. Visit his website, www.getitdone.biz for more on creating and using a home recording studio, and personal action planning.