played my first gig!

It went very well. The day before i was nervous, but then when i actually performed i was not nervous at all. My hands shook slightly, but that was it. I played 2 songs, Sapphiric Lightning and The Gold Falls, both went very well. I dont think most of the audience understood the songs,but thats ok, i had an amazingly fun time playing.

I played at an open mic night up in Beacon ny. Its a very nice place, great crowd and musicians with great acoustics.

Needless to say, afterwards, (today) I felt motivated to begin writing again. It took me a while to jam out some ideas but now i have got them. I am writing music, distorted and clean, to be played along with a female singer. The idea is for me to perform duets, just guitar and vocals. I was also inspired to begin practicing vocals, yet again. I think this time im going to be sticking with it. I would also like to start writing about voice technique, at least from the little that i understand of it. The other music I am going to be exploring, learning, and writing will be derived from middle eastern music. I just started working with the harmonic minor and the phrygian with a raised 5th. They are both basically the same, just constructed differently. A Bphrygian#5 is the same as the E harmonic minor. I have found a very useful sight with a lot of different middle eastern pieces, and i will be printing them out and studying them and playing through them. I will also be eucating myself about the culture/music.

This may seem rather random of me, but I assure you it isnt. I was very attached to the middle easter sound after hearing John McLaughlin play with Shakti. Hes one of my favorite guitar players. Also, last night, there was a middle eastern couple who played. It sounded great. I have taking much liking to the middle eastern scale a bit more than the normal major and minor thus far. Just from improvising in it, it feels easier to move around within the scale and its just really fucking fun.

I think thats enough for this update :)

havent updated in a while

well, ive had some ups and downs with practicing, but ultimately im learning and progressing. I have 3 songs 100% complete, plus 2 that im working on. One is half finished. Demo will 90% be out this year. I took a break from learning jazz chords and all that, just need a break from it. Ive been doing a lot with scales (though not enough) Scales can be very fun, especially once you pass major and minor. Im working mostly with modes at this point. Not a whole lot to update

so i figured out why ive been so inconsistent lately. Its because of stress. Stress from my family/living situation. I wish there was a way around that. All other stress is fine to me, i can easily deal with it. Not only that but there is constant noise in my apartment, and i mean constant. It really drives me insane. I get home from work and either my parents are shouting or the radio is blasting. Its wrong and immature. Id just like some peace and quiet for once, whats so hard about that?

silence is just as important as sound

long update

So ive noticed, no more wrist pain. When i played, i would always push too hard with my left hand and put strain on my tendons ad joints. I have finally learned to relax enough and not have this problem, it feels great and helps tremendously of course.
I also noticed, this may sound obvious, that just playing makes you a better player. I was unsure of what to practice, so i was kinda just playing notes and improvising over nothing, and low and behold i felt some improvement.
Another thing, i am taking more frequent breaks when i play. Its harder for me to concentrate on exercises for a long time. Distractions end up doing some good.
I have been practicing 3-4 hours a day, besides today and one other day. I have noticed great improvement and my songs are coming together a lot quicker.
A great way to learn scales...scale ladder technique. Basically its where you play the scale on the top string. Then start it on the top string but then switch to the next string, etc. Doing this and going back and forth in different positions helps put all the missing links together, its what ive been needing to do. Practicising ascending and descending scales in one pattern wont do too much good. Right now ill be woking with a major, relative minor, and a mode. I will choose one key and do it till it feels comfortable then move on.
Of course, ive been working more with the blues scale. I also just learned a 12 bar blues, but i kinda suck at improvising over it. Thats just because i dont listen to much blues, but thats going to change. Im working on using the blues scale in differet positions right now.
So ive got this idea. I like how in jazz, they have alternate takes of the same songs. Im going to pretty much make variations of m songs and have music written for more instruments. Ive already begun experimenting with one song, but i need to get to know the others more first. This will be an eventual goal of mine. Theres so much you can do with one song and most musicians never touch upon this aspect. Its always one song, played this way, with the exception of some live performances but they usually dont deviate from the actual composed piece.
Another thing id like to do is write liner notes in my demo, ep, cd whatever. I think its very fascinating to get into the mind of a musician, and thats what i want to write about. I want to tell people what i was thinking when i wrote a song, or how i wrote it, what the recording process was like, what i imagine when i hear the song, etc etc. With that being said ill start with one song of mind.It started late at night, i dont remember the time, but i should have been in bed. I just started playing this short melody with A as a bass note. I thought it sounded good and then continued from there. After that, nearly every other note was done in one take. I just played and naturally, the first thing i played sounded good. The song came about naturally. I then had the song go into this dark, augmented seciton which i am currently writing now. When im playing the song it reminds me of blue colors, as if the strings turn blue and engage my mind completely. Its hard to explain and i will expand on this idea further.
Another thing, I need to learn how to transition from one topic to the next lol.
I started to learn a bit about jazz song structures, mostly from listening. Jazz is becoming much more familiar with me and doesnt sound like such a blur. That realization made me want to analyze the structures of my songs thus far. I noticed that each song is like a collage of multiple songs, but they are strng together in a smooth manner. Its a really cool concept, and knowing this will give me more creative control when i write another song. I will be able to decide if i should deviate from that strucuture or change it up in some way.

LASTLY, heres a poem i wroteI need all of you,but outwardly wont admit it.A stonw structure and stoic sculptureatared with acidity, through my broken eyes.
I never knew how to feel,but i have learned.Love for something nullifieswhat you had always thought to search for

I continued the song i was working on. Its coming out fantastic, though now im unsure where to go from here. The song makes me visualize the color blue a lot, i might name it something to do with blue. Other than that im practicing scales in different positions as well as working oln my speed picking. I got in a good amount of practice time today, probably at least two hours

started on a new song

I just started playing something and it came out fuckin great. Its a classical-ish piece. Has a melody and accompaniment so far. Sounds gorgeous. Its in Dminor, by accident. I just went with me ear. Im not sure where im going to go with this phrase yet.


more to come

Ok, Ive practiced at least 2 hours so far, probably a bit more. Im going back to practicing death metal for a number of reasons. It greatly develops better dexterity in both hands and since its very fast it can increase your reaction time. Above all else, death metal is still fun to play. Im also going back to Augmented. I love this song still. I can play it a lot better now but its still tricky. Im also learning severed savior, One by One.