any good sci fi out there on TV?

STOS & STNG: so, we're watching an episode of star trek (orginal) and star trek next generation. in those two shows we get a reference to Shakespeare (Tempest), a discussion of consciousness as an emergent property, and a discussion of how truth and beauty do not coincide. Where in current TV programs can I get this type of content?

new strings

got tired of the fender super bullet 9's on my fender. they were heck to bend! so stiff -- way harder then the 10's on my gibson and epiphone. so i put on a set of ernie ball 9's on the strat and now it's much better. easier to bend like 9's should be. i also bought a set of ernie ball 10's for the gibson. i'll put them on some time in the future. the EB strings are the slinky ones.

early blues guitarists

trying to get a handle on the history of blues guitar...

1870-1948 Henry Sloan

1891-1934 Charlie Patton

1893-1929 Blind Lemon Jefferson

1902-1988 Son House

1910-1975 T-Bone Walker

1910-1976 Howlin' Wolf

1911-1938 Robert Johnson

1912-1982 Lightnin' Hopkins

1917-2001 John Lee Hooker

1925- B.B. King

I know there are tons more, but I'm not going to list them all! I'm dealing with the names I'm familiar with at this point. I'll add more over time.

the jazz thing must wait

no time for jazz now. guitar lessons have started, and I've got my blues piano to work on. also, the 3 volume set of books on blues guitar arrived last week. it's the set that my teacher has been xeroxing for my lessons. now i've got the complete set. It gives me a sense of what needs to be done in blues guitar. i'm glad to see that. i like to have the big picture when i'm working on something. so jazz as an interest will be put on hold.

more guitar practice. tom is having me work on switching from minor to major pentatonic in solos. and he's having me read sections of the blues books. also I gotta practice piano. I don't expect to record anything until summer time, or the end of the semester.

i'm getting better at bending string a full step. it's a little tough with the fender -- the strings are really stiff. much easier with the gibson. odd, 'cause the fender should have 9 gauge and the gibson should have 10 gauge strings. they both still have the original strings, and both need new strings.

Blues piano !

yup...... I got out the old Casio keyboard I got in Japan in 98. Looked at a few youtube videos on boogie woogie piano and C minor pentatonic scale, and I'm staring to mess around with blues piano. I think it will be a nice addition to playing guitar - and I can use my old piano knowledge and muscle memory. I'm thinking that I can record a piano bass line with the keyboard on the apple garageband and then solo over it with the Gibson.

Makes me wonder about the combination of piano and guitar. Wouldn't that make a good duo? but I don't think I've seen that... at all. both instruments can do rhythm and lead pretty well. A jazz trio can be piano, bass, and drums. Jazz guitar works with a jazz band of various sizes. But just piano and guitar. Does anyone do that much? I can see them exchanging riffs and comping each other. It would sound great!

Well, I've got plenty of work to do. My boogie woogie lines are pretty slow, and my improvs on the keyboard are rudimentary at best. I need to see some more video lessons and pick up some common riffs.

Anyone else out there play guitar and piano? C'mon, people -- put something together on garage band and post it on youtube! blues, jazz, whatever.

jazz improv with wah!

ok, here's a sunday morning improv with wah

jazz improv with wah

i like the wah! i need to get some more backing tracks to work from, but i can still do a few improvs with this one.

new jazz improv video

ok, here it is:

jazz improv video

it's an improv on a ii v i in C from a youtube backing track. done with apple garage band and my trusty 339. next time i'll change the settings for the guitar input and give it some more character. west coast wah or something.