I'm Back

It has been pretty nutty at my work and just in general . I need to get back to practicing guitar every night. Part of what is happening is that I got back on my exercise routine of walking an hour each night and then I have guitar practice to do. So overall it is alot to cram into one evening. I should get more disciplined about it.

I am also trying out a new guitar teacher. My usual person is nice but not so organized, so I am trying out another teacher to see how his style and mine work out. He is also $5 cheaper...and that's not bad either.

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F***!
I got rear ended the other day. This is the 2nd time this has happened to me this year. Oye. I am sore and stiff but everyone was okay. This is something I hate about the bay area.....so many people o cell phones...not paying attention. The person that hit me was a 20 something airhead who thought gossiping with her friend on the phone was more important than paying attention to her driving. I was stopped at a read light and she slammed into me....idiot!

So not I am dealing with insurance companies etc. Oh joy.

Okay...enought bitching about that....lets talk about something important...guitar.

What have I done this week well...

SCALES

I taught myself the 1st shape of the minor blues scale. I am still working up speed and accuracy but it is fun. Overall I like scales as it helps me develop my accuracy with both fingering and strings picking.

Guitar Lesson

Yesterday (April 8th also my birthday) was my guitar lesson. I had not been for about 2 weeks as I was sick then my teacher was sick. So it sort of felt like I was out of the loop and had not practiced in awhile which was true.

On a good note, we talked about strumming and my teacher said that I have a innate sense and was able to catch on to strums pretty quickly. That made me rather good, as I figured I was his slowest learner! I know I am his oldest student most folks don' t take up guitar at 34...leave it up to me.

Memphis - Music

I am a tired but happy camper. I walked all over Memphis today.

The Sun Studios tour was pretty cool.
http://www.sunstudio.com

It is just 2 little store fronts. One side used to be a diner and the other was the recording studio. You start out in the diner part then go upstairs for memoriblia stuff. Then you get to go to the recording studio. It is crazy the place has not changed since 1953. You can see all these pictures of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and more when they were recording. It's the same funky old school sound proofing tile on the walls. It is also the same floor. It was pretty cool to be in the same little room that so many music greats have been in. It is still a working studio today after tours close down they record there from 6pm-10pm.

From there I went down to Beale street and stopped into this Dyers Hamburgers .
http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=1251

When the waitress brought me my tea (southern sweet tea, of course) she notice my tattoo on my arm (had short sleeves on) she asked me about it and we got to talking. I said I wanted more someday but not sure when I would get them done. The waitress then suggested I get one on my next birthday. I had to laugh so I told her that was Tuesday. A little bit later the line cook came over and brought me a bowl of ice cream. He said it was an early birthday present! So then I went up to pay after finishing my ice cream and the waitress told me the entire thing was free cuz of my birthday. It goes without saying that I left the waitress a good tip!


After that really cool experience I wondered over to Gibson guitars.
www.gibson.com

I bought a hat and took the tour. The luthiers were not working as it was a weekend but the tour was still fun. I got to see all the stages of the guitar making and it was pretty darn awesome. I also got to play a les paul (those are heavy!). I played a gibson acoustic and it was amazing, it made my little acoustic guitar sound so bad. I was just crazy that I sound that good could come out of that guitar..what a difference from mine....wow! I learned that Gibson manufacured his original design on the guitar from the design of a violin, hence the F holes and the rounded body.

Then after that I walked over W.C. Handy park where they have live music. There was a blues band there called Delta Saturn and they rocked. I also got in for free, you just have to tip the band. While people were still smoking at least it was outside. The band was great and their lead guitar guy kicked butt...it was great to watch him play.

After the band it was like 7pm and I was hungry so I went for some Memphis ribs at a place called The Pig!
http://pigonbeale.com/home.htm

Great ribs...the sauce down here is sweeter than KC bbq. KC bbq in tangy and vinegar based. Down here it is all about the sweet. So a plate of ribs, some potato salad, and some tea....mmmmmmm...yummy.

I am now back in my hotel room and I have to pack up my stuff, this it is off to bed for me.
Even with everything I did today I am looking forward to being home!

Gibson Les Paul

Vox and Les Paul
Originally uploaded by chadworthman

I am going to be in Memphis this weekend for a conference. I play on taking some time and touring the Gibson Les Paul Factory. Someday I want a guitar just like this...love the blue. Currently I don't even begin to play well enough to justify the expense of such a thing. I can hardly even play one song...maybe someday. Perhaps some blues will rub off on me in Memphis and give me some guitar mojo!

air guitar

air guitar
Originally uploaded by schoolbookdepository

Air guitar is all I have been playing the last few days. I am currently wiped out with a cold/flu thing. I haven't even had the energy to practice. I was supposed to have my guitar lesson tonight and I spoke with my guitar teacher. He has this flu too so we just canceled till next week. I am excited though as we are going to start on some blues riffs.

Memories and Music

Today I started learning how to play a song from my childhood. Puff The Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul, and Mary. This is a pretty easy tune only 5 different chords . I chose to learn it because I have such a strong emotional connection with it from childhood. My Dad loved folk music and he had several PP&M albums. We would often have sing a longs in the car when I was quite young. Most often it was to keep my mind off the long road trip. The song was a usual favorite. I actually found myself getting all teary eyed while learning this today. My Dad died very suddenly in September of 2002. Playing this song today made me really miss him but I am happy to have the memory and happy to be able to play this song.

One gray night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more.
And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar.
His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain.
Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane.
Without his lifelong friend, Puff could not be brave
So, Puff that might dragon sadly slipped into his cave.