Dave Matthews Band Binge

Lately I've been listening to a lot of Dave Matthews Band. Nonstop. So much so, that when I try to go to sleep it's stuck in my head. It practically haunts me, and I don't mind.

Some of the particulars I've been listening to have been:

Ants Marching (I suggest the live version over any other)
You and Me (Beats Lifehouse's song any day)
Gravedigger (Only a bit somber)
Funny the Way It (Really makes you think)
Where Are You Going (Used to listen to this on the radio all the time)
The Space Between (Makes a good point, about the same point as Ants Marching, except more personal)

Overall, I wish I had a Dave Matthews Band CD, but for now I'm waiting on my The Music Lesson by Victor Wooten, which is coming with his album A Show of Hands. Expect some initial expectations when they arrive, and some reviews once I've spent some time with them.

Memories and Living Life

Now, I've heard many wishes for being young again, or that they didn't have to "grow up", or that all of those "terrible" things never happened.

I don't think people realize that growing up simply means accepting everyone for who they are, and only disagreeing when you earnestly disagree with what they have to say. The only thing you really do when you disagree is state your opinion and your reasons behind, rather then beat them up about how "stupid" you think they are for having a different idea about things. Growing up isn't saying good-bye to saying odd things, or doing crazy stunts. Rather, it opens up more possibilities.

Those terrible things that happen in your life are part of what shapes who you are. Likely, your most important memories are attached to something "bad" that happened. Most of how you act and why you act like that are also likely attached to some very strong emotions and very different situations that may have done quite the number to you for a while.

This post was influenced by a small realization about growing up, and by The Worthing Saga by Orson Scott Card. I suggest reading it, as it's as strong a piece of literature as any AP book.

A Week of Gigs

On Monday I performed with two Jazz Combos and a Percussion Ensemble. The Jazz tunes were Mercy, Mercy, Mercy and Take Five - I played Bass -, and the Percussion song was Diner's Club.

It went fairly well, on both ends.

On Tuesday I got some musicianship awards, and ate some food.

On Wednesday I performed My Girl by The Temptations on Bass with a choir at their concert.

On Thursday I performed with my trio, currently called "The Vultures", playing Cold Duck Time and Little Wing. And then with the Jazz Band, and out of the 7 songs we played, I was on 6 of them for various things, 3 of them I was on Bass.

On Friday my trio performed at the Talent Show playing Gravity and I played with the Percussion Ensemble for Diner's Club again. At night was Concerto Aria, where I accompanied - with the rest of the Orchestra- five soloists. I was on Bass.

On Saturday we ended up having a gig at a market cause they were doing some sort of drawing, and we played various tunes, such as "Watermelon Man", "Cantaloupe Island", "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", "Freddie Freeloader", "Blue Bossa", "Take Five", and "The Chicken".

It was a good week for performing.

Hey fellow Americans, let's get over ourselves, shall we?

I see it every day online.

I hear it every where outside.

I taste it everywhere I eat.

We have a serious issue.

We've confused being patriotic with being prejudice.

It's proved by our constant refusal to learn other languages. Communication is a very important part of living life, and of fixing misunderstandings, and if you can't even bother with that, then why are you living in the land of the free? The home of the brave? Do you find it brave to refuse to try and understand? Do you think freedom is about cutting down everyone else's freedom?

What are you trying to do to the world?

It's already problematic as it is, so why make it harder for everyone else?

It's a lot of nonsense.

Three Reasons

There's a few people who've kept me from sinking, from losing what makes me more then just another "human", but a person. They're the reasons I'm not dead inside. You want to know more?

"The Friend"
She's the last remnants of my old close friends, and the only one who's personality is still intact. Not a fake, not a lie. Though she does have those moments where she takes pity instead of says the honest thing, not everyone can be that harsh.

"The Girl"
She's not my girlfriend, or anything like that, but I didn't know what else to call her. Perhaps "The Nerd"? But, at any rate, she's my nerd pal. She's the one who puts a smile on my face and leaves it there. Sure, I'm probably just that weird nerdy kid who sits in the band room all day to her, but that's alright. It wouldn't matter either way, cause she means just that much to me.

"The Sister"
This girl is (and excuse my bad English in this section, there's only so many ways to describe awesome) the greatest, bestest, most amazingest twin sister of all sisters in the world of sisterliness... and such. She's the ninja of the Ninja Pirate Llama gang (I am ninja, you are a pirate, llama llama duck!)! And gosh darnit, she had her ax dun go tag that sin! -Don't worry, you're not supposed to get it- And you know what? I don't think anyone else can have as much fun as us sitting (technically I had to stand, but, you get the point) at opposite ends of the room, while playing Jazz even! -Here's what she has to say-

These three mean the world to me, and I could spend hours typing away about them and why they're so amazing, but I've saved you the trouble and did what I'm good at, getting to the point and ranting at the same time.

I'm out.

On Auditions

Auditions are some of the most important things for Musicians, and doing bad at an audition can be rather disheartening, but there's something important about not letting it get to you.

As soon as you look at yourself, and say "I suck" it will end up being true. There are a few exceptions to that, and that's when you overcome the fear of sucking. See, saying "I suck" and giving up never the way to go about getting somewhere. You've got to practice, you've got to keep working, and maybe even find a way to work with the group you'd like to be in, even if that means audition on a different instrument.

As soon as you stop practicing, as soon as you say "I give up", you've lost a very important mind game, and will likely have a very unproductive (at least, in you're musical talent) life.

It's very important to choose a song that you can play if you're audition involves a solo, but it's also important for it to show off you're playing style/styles, so do your best to find a diverse song to play. Most importantly, make sure it's not too long.

Good luck on your next audition!

My next post will be on something a bit different!

Some ol' Poetry

I'm afraid I haven't gotten anything new to talk about today, so instead, I'll give you guys some poetry I wrote a few years ago. Some of them might take a few read-throughs, but hopefully they make sense.

Take that stupid Media
The white men watch,
as the black man sings.
The racist man with no money,
yells out a comment,
and no one pays him heed.
The white man watches,
the black man sings,
The rich one yells,
and dead is he.

Analogies
When the rock falls from the cliff
is the rock running,
or is it being shoved?
Would the answer change be it boulder
Or pebble that was kindly sitting there?
But who's head would this be running through,
the man who pushed the rock,
or the man who stands beneath.

Something with a Moral .. I think
What was it the little bird couldn't say?
For when the little bird can't sing,
Would it talk?
Would it walk?
or would it just fly away from the old man,
patiently sitting on his bench with crumbs in his hand?
For what would the little bird do to eat,
when the old man's time was gone?
and would that old man want to know,
what really happens when time is gone,
if he had already known what would happen?

This a Story about a Lock

Now, most locks involve keys, or a combination of some sort, but this lock is far different from that one, but this lock, this lock is not that kind of lock.

It creeps behind your eyes, and breathes inside your ears.

It slides along your tongue and takes root around your heart.

It tells you to forget reason, and to throw away rhyme, the world is there for you to hate.

It shares it's favorite colors, and whispers which to hate.

Whether it's the color of their skin, or the kindness in their eyes, you lock yourself away from them without knowing your way out.

Blues and Jazz

This is a piece of the world of music that people are missing out on. Some people are quite adamant about having people listen and learn solely classical music. I think it's absolutely absurd to say anything of the kind, especially when you're trying to get the group of people who've spent most of their lives listening to Rap and Pop to try out some new genres of music.

There are several genres in between Rap and Classical, but more importantly, it's a far cry to get them to Classical.

You might get them over to Rock, and from there you might get them to Blues, but you might not catch them going past there.

It makes Jazz a bit of an underground genre, though I've seen it coming back in quite a few places.

So here, I make some suggestions:

It's a .. thang...

Jazz Thing by Guru

Rock it up
Frankenstein by Marcus Miller

Good ol' Blues..
I Don't Need No Doctor by Ray Charles (John Mayer version)

Slow it down there..

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy by Joe Zawinul

Get your Latin groove on..
Watermelon Man by Herbie Hancock

Badly Advertised

With so many things advertised nowadays, there's a lot that's getting overlooked. Drumline and Marching Band is one of those things, but school music in general is rather ignored. High School sports are grand and all, but the music programs get no school coverage. Granted, a High School Marching Band gets ton of coverage just by walking through a parade, but how often does the school hear "Our Marching Band won _ at _"?

It doesn't matter whether or not they did, it's hardly ever announced or talked about by anyone not in the band. It's ridiculous. My High School in particular is ridiculous about it as well, and we've got a darn good Music program here. Every group went off to State, and what do we hear in the announcements? "The Football team lost another game."

It's grand.

That's it for my rant.

An Update: A Busy Bit There

Drumline Clinics and going to State Concert Band Festival took a bit there, so I guess I'll take the time and talk about music today.

There are a few John Mayer songs that you need to check out if you're a guitar player. For the acoustic players there's In Your Atmosphere and Neon. They've got some pretty intense bits, and learning to play them will surely give you a few ideas on songwriting.

For the electric players, you've got to check out the solos in Gravity along with the solos in Vultures. The improvisation going on there is amazing, and if you feel too lazy to learn your scales and chords, there's some inspiration on why you should.

Weird.. I didn't talk about bass, haha, that's a first.