Tomorrow Never Knows

so i started playing today.  parts of the 3rd sonata, Mozart.  A little of Fur Elise, Beethoven.  Also got out my Hanon (?) exercises.  haven't started them yet.  It's nice to have a room upstairs just for the piano.  My wrists still need rest, but I don't get additional pain.  I cancelled a bunch of guitar-related email lists -- got to go Cold Turkey.  Stopped listing guitar blogs on my page here.  the final part are my YouTube subscriptions.  That will take more time.

Listening to Mozart piano concerto 19 on youtube, on the ipad.  and in the car, my Mozart CDs.  Got to immerse myself.

piano....

yeah, that's on the horizon.  Piano.  It doesn't hurt my hand.  I like reading sheet music.  I can go back to Mozart's piano sonatas, and play bits and pieces of them.  I have the keyboard set up in the spare room upstairs.  I should also get a basic book on music theory.  Another way to enjoy music is through study and reading.

Goodbye, Again, to the Music

Once again I've overdone it.  The wrist feels numb.  So out with the guitars.  They are all in their cases.  The amp is upstairs.  Pandora is switched from Wes Montgomery to Franz Liszt.  No more guitars.  No more Minecraft.  Just silence, and writing.

playing a little guitar

well, it seems I can play a little guitar.  Wrist feels better.  Pain and numbness are gone.  But I only play a little.  When I feel some wrist stress I have to stop.  I've experimented with various right hand work, and I think that A) ragtime is out.  Too much stress with thumbed bass.  B) Fingerstyle jazz chords seems to be out too.  Tried some today and felt a little stress.  C)  Using a pick and playing single notes leads might be the least stressful.  So, blues with backing tracks, using a pick.

I pulled out my VG stratocaster and have been playing it.  I put the Pawn Shop 72 Strat away.  I was using the Roland pickup set to 12 string hum bucker to get a nice lush sound.  However, the batteries run out so fast it's somewhat annoying.  Today I pulled out the batteries and used the regular pickups.  By accident I had the amp (Fender G-DEC junior) set on chorus (must have bumped the knob -- it's usually set on reverb) and I had the pickup selector on middle pickup alone.  Wow, does it sound nice!  Lush and rich.  Even better then the neck pickup along.

So, a nice new sound to play with!

Oddly Optimistic

The wrist is doing well -- feeling stronger.  No more pain.  Just gonna let it strengthen up.  No more Minecraft now -- that addiction is gone!  Cutting back on iPad usage, and using the stylus at all times. Even using a stylus for the touchpads on the Macbook laptops.  Less wrist stress is the key.  Then, at some time, I'll work on the blues pieces.  No rush.

Blue is the color

During this time of Silence I"m planning for the next step, once my wrist is healed.  Got to keep it simple.  Solo guitar will have to be mostly single note with a backing track.  Some chords and double stops, too.  But the backing track method will allow me to do a lot less and still make some music.  So, it's back to the blues.  the Blues.  I keep running away, and I keep coming back.  Next week, maybe?  We'll see.  Still feel twinges when typing or using the ipad.  Need more rest.

The Sound of Silence

so the wrist went a little bonkers after I played some jazz chords (Hey There) with walking bassline.  Feels better now but it hurt for a while.  Somehow working the thumb too much is still not good.  So that leaves.... nothing.  Silence.  I should put my guitars away for a while.  Also, I haven't played Minecraft in days.  I think that is over.  So....nothing.  Writing.

OK, Jazz, You Win!

so, I'm back to my book of Jazz standards.  Back with "Hey There."  Adding some walking bass to the chords.  Keeping it simple and slow to accommodate the wrist.  A little walking bass, some nice chords, slow and simple:  that's it.

The Wrist of the Story

so as usual my wrist is giving me problems.  Most likely because ragtime guitar demands a lot from the right hand, with syncopated thumb baseline and three fingers doing the melody.  All seems to be too much for the wrist.  So I'm taking a few days off from guitar, which is not easy!  Then, when I return, it will have to be another genre.  Maybe back to slow jazz.  Maybe some Beatles pieces, slow chords with some bass notes.  Something that's not so intensive for the right hand.

today's word count

start: 10,158
end: 10, 487

329 words today.

thumbpick and ragtime guitar

Today I've added a thumb pick to my playing, and it really brings the bass line out.  I'm going back to the old ragtime songs in the Kenny Sultan book and re-learning them with a better alternating bass line than in the past.  Sounds much better.  So far I'm reworking the Kenny Sultan versions of Blind Blakes, "That'll Never Happen No More" and "Blakes Breakdown," Sultan's version of Blind Boy Fuller's "Keep On Truckin' Mama" and Rev. Gary Davis' "Buck Dance."  Mind you these are Kenny Sultan versions, not the originals.  They are much simpler.  And then I change them for myself.  Soon I'll add the Blind Boy Fuller classic "Wabash Rag," Sultan version.  Good stuff!