Are you doing proper warmups on your instrument when you practise?

 [To the melody of 'Going to the Zoo']

I'm going to a jam today,

Jam today, jam today.

I'm going to a jam today,

It'll feel like I've stayed all day.

I'm going to a jam, jam, jam,

Pete won't give a damn, damn, damn,

Playing tunes in F, Bb, C and Am,

I'm going to a jam, jam, jam.

Listen HERE if you don't know the tune.

I'll be taking my violin, but how will I be heard over those trumpets and saxophones? I have a small, and easy to carry, battery powered amp and a cordless receiver on my violin that is also battery powered. I can easily compete with those other instruments AND I can play much higher notes on my violin than the average trumpet player can manage. Most musos at this jam will have charts (music) in front of them. I don't do this. I have enough jazz standards in my head, and I can hear my way through most songs that might come up. Playing by ear is an important skill. Hey, singers do it all the time!

I'll do my regular warmup exercises this morning while Shelley is reading the Sunday paper. When she has finished, I'll take the paper over to our elderly neighbour. She loves a chat, so it'll take me about an hour to drop off the paper. Hey, she's a lovely lady so I'm happy to chat! 

Never forget, when you're warming up, that tone and intonation come first. Then you should have things that you repeat every day. For me that's double stops, 3 - 7 voicings and arpeggios. Why not scales? Well, I actually do them a lot too. Then there's the chord progressions to my four solo pieces and any tricky bits, like the chorus to The Orange Blossom Special with its Hokum Bowing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16. These are double stops with the bold underlined notes using higher strings. 

Peter is in Wellington AND it appears that he found his carpark at his new apartment! He even found time to leave a lengthy, though not proofread, comment on my last post. I assume that things are going well for him and Lynn. 

Robert had a little post on display yesterday, but today it's back to this.

I know that he's now doing quite a few AI posts on Facebook AND he has even reverted to his correct name! I can never work out why he frequently deletes his blog posts. Maybe it's something to do with being a cellist? Maybe a priest tells him to? Who really knows?

Well, it's nearly time to start thinking about practice. I'll leave you there for today.

Ciao tutti.

A big black ute is the way to go!

 

Okay, don’t get me wrong, I’m doing okay, but lately I’d been feeling that there was something missing in my life. I’d noticed those world leaders (you all know them) who seem to be extremely rich and who seem to do exactly as they please. No one seems to be able to stop them. Compared to them, my existence seemed to go by pretty well unnoticed. Often when I spoke, people weren’t really listening. I just didn’t seem to be making an impact. I was sitting in a bar one day and, by chance, I met a guy whose name was Bob Adil. Hey, that name reminded me of a word in the English language that is spelt the same but doesn’t have a space in the middle. I can’t recall what it means. Anyway, we got talking. A few wines opened me up a bit and I started telling him about how I felt. He listened reasonably intently and then he said, “Yeah, I’ve been there, but I know how to fix your problems. You need a ute, a big black one.”

I wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but I listened. He talked on quite a bit and, among the other stuff, I remember him saying, “No one messes with a guy in a big black ute!”

He told me that, if you want to be ‘the man’ you need to have power over other people. They need to be a bit scared of you. Then he carried on, “Look at how most people drive in this country. There don’t seem to be many cops around. People drive fast. The speed limit for trucks is 90kph, but do you see them sticking to it? Drive down any highway at 100kph. There’ll be lots of people passing you. Driving fast is a great way to look cool. People will try to pass each other but, take my word for it, no one messes with a big black ute!”

Then he told me about those slow drivers, like I had always been, who stutter along at 80 or 90kph. “Get right up their arse!” he told me, “Those wankers shouldn’t be driving on a highway! Haven’t they seen those 100kph signs?” I tried to interject by saying that 100kph was the speed limit, not how fast you need to go, but he just laughed. “Get a big black ute,” he interrupted, “and I will teach you.”

I had a bit of savings and was able to use hire purchase to acquire a big black ute. They’re not cheap. True to his word, he gave me lessons. He showed me how to speed up the Wainuiomata hill road, even on a stormy day, to show everyone else who was the boss around here. It was true, no one except for the odd truck, wanted to take on that big black ute!

Now I feel empowered. I spend a lot of time driving and a lot of time driving very close to anyone who is silly enough to be on the road in front of me. Hey, I can tell that those slower drivers know that I am the boss!

If you use our roads, I am the guy behind you who is important, and in a hurry, so FFS move over or get off the bloody road!

I haven’t seen much evidence that speeding and aggressive driving do any real harm. If it did, people would all be taking buses and trains.

 

Home alone.

Home alone in this blogging world, unless Peter can post from Wellington. I suppose he probably can, if he finds the right road to take him to his residential carpark.

Robert seems to have moved over to Facebook.

Ah well, I might as well talk about music.

I did my 1 and 3/4 hours of required violin practice yesterday. I warmed up with long bows, worked for quite a while on my double stops, ran over my four solo pieces and worked on my jazz repertoire. No AI was used. Double stops - 3rds or 6ths? I prefer 6ths. You get a wider sound, but the notes are closer together. I'll need to get that double bass practice going again soon. I'm going to a jazz jam on Sunday with my violin, so maybe I'll get the DB going on Monday. Because it is tuned in 4ths, I think that 3rds would work best on the double bass. Fourths and fifths tuning - the two instruments are like mirror images of each other.

Okay, moving right along.

This post needs a picture or two.*

Cuba Street.

Moera.

Wainuiomata, where the girls are smarter.

There have regularly been three bloggers in this community.

Peter, the oldest blogger (age wise), is returning to Wellington (part time at the moment) from Whangarei. His apartment is on Cuba Street, with his parking space is off a street at the back of the building. He is very close to Alistair's Music. Unfortunately, the shop doesn't have any bagpipes at the moment. Still, Alistair is an old friend of mine and, if Peter mentions my name, he and Alistair can be friends too.

Robert is/was the youngest of the three bloggers. He sort of comes and goes. His blog is vacant at the time of writing. He has been 'leaving his message' on Facebook, using a nom de plume (Testore) that he stole from me. He is presently using lots of AI pictures to present the truth of Catholicism. He lives in Moera.

I am quite a bit younger than Peter (at least a week) and was the first of the three to start blogging. That was in 2007. My blog is the foundation of this community and, I think it is fair to say, both the other bloggers aspire to get their blogs up to the same high level. For them that's a work in progress.

Moving right along again.

It is 3 degrees in the Nui this morning. 

We have had this clear sky, frosty weather for about three or four days. It's better than constant rain. On the days I work, it is quite a job to get the ice off the car windows. 

Moving right along, yet again.

I'm going to a jazz jam tomorrow afternoon at 2pm. It's a jam that's open to all levels of playing and is held in the Aro Street community hall. Maybe Peter might show up with his bagpipes? They have a song list and most people read off the music, which doesn't usually happen at jazz jams. I don't do that. They also normally have two bass players playing at the same time. That's a bit weird. Still, it's a chance to have a play.

On Tuesday evening I'm going to an 'audition' with a folk band. They really want a bassist but I'm taking my violin to the first meeting. It's a chance to try out all my double stops. Though, the main trick on a violin, in a situation like this, is not to over play - leave plenty of room for the singer. Most folk songs work around six chords that come from the major scale. The little challenge I've set for myself is listening for these chord changes. It's a great exercise that I would recommend to any musician. As I say to my violin students, "You should be able to play like a singer sings - listening." Many Classical musicians don't really get this experience because they spend most of their time playing other people's music.

Time is moving on, so I'd better wrap this up.

A little pun there for Peter.

Ciao tutti.

* or three

A bit of advice, please don't wear that hat in Wellington!

 

Peter is heading towards Wellington tomorrow and intends to arrive on Sunday. Actually, Wellington is cold enough for a hat like that at the moment. It could work on Cuba Street. Anyway, your first job is to find your parking space when you arrive. It might not pay to look like you've just flown in from Alaska.

I wonder if we'll get a final post today?

* * *

Robert is an AI fan who would like to be the pope.

After all the supposedly false things that someone wrote about the pope using AI, I thought he'd be avoiding it now. But no. Just like Trump he's using AI to look like the pope.

* * *

I've got to get a lot of practice done today. I only did 15 minutes yesterday - it was a busy day at school. I'll aim at doing at least 1 hour and 45 minutes today. I see that the PBs are having a jam and that Rob is practising blues scales to get ready for it. If he wants to go that way, he'd be better off practising major and minor pentatonic scales, though major scales would do the trick well too. Ah well, it's his business. 

Personally, I'm getting ready for a folk gig. The music will not be hard, but I want to do a good job. Folkies tend to use the first 6 modes from the major scale to find their chords. I'm practising listening for these chords - it's a good exercise. In C major these chords would be C Dm Em F G7 Am, but they could require transposition to any key - remember that folkies like to use a capo on their guitar. One never goes wrong giving one's ears a workout.

* * *

I feel like writing a song about Peter coming to Wellington.

He hopped in his car,

He was going far,

He listened to Duke Ellington

On the long trip to Wellington.

He'd break up the trip, at some mo',

With a night spent in Taupo.

He listened to Duke Ellington

On the long trip to Wellington.

He'd get to the capital before dark,

He had to find his car park.

He listened to Duke Ellington

On the long trip to Wellington.

This long drive required grit,

He had a carload of unnecessary shit,

He listened to Duke Ellington

On the long trip to Wellington.

He'd stop for a pie and

Thought about Rob and AI.

He could always wear a

Silly hat if he popped into Moera.

His jokes would be new he

Thought, if he popped into the Nui,

He listened to Duke Ellington

On the long trip to Wellington.

Ciao tutti.

1 degree centigrade.

I haven't got much time to post because I need to leave the house by about 7,30am to get to work and do my violin warmup.

I need to have a shower, but it will be freezing in the bathroom. Don't worry, I won't be taking my phone into the bathroom. Why would I need it in there anyway?

Today's reading is from Matthew 17:12.

"Matthew was freezing but he knew that God would be warm up in Heaven. God liked the cold on Earth because he liked watching ice hockey. Moses was already at work putting the finishing touches to his Ark. He wished that God would hurry up and invent heat pumps. However, he knew that there was no way to hurry God along. Matthew put on a lot of warm clothing, but God told him that he was a bit of a sissy. Matthew never liked to question the word of God, but he had worked out that all things were relevant. It's fine to sit up there, warm in Heaven, and be smug. Matthew tried not to question the word of God."

Right, it's shower time. Best to get it over with. 

Ciao tutti.

Don't neglect your music practice, unless you play the bagpipes or the drums. Actually. the silly old bloke down the road, who knows everything, told me that drums AND THE VIOLIN should be practised in a shed. He didn't mention the bagpipes.

"Yes, I agree. Richard is a tool."

 

This is a message that was left on my last post by TC.* I'll take that as a compliment. He's obviously trying to say that I'm a handy guy to have around. Well, I do proofread his posts for him.

Actually, I was just back from the hospital. I was told that I have a bowl disease (I changed that 'b' word so that Robert will understand) but that they can treat it over time. This tool has anxiously been waiting for this meeting with the doctor for some time. Today was good news because they also ruled out another thing. Something worse.

Peter is a wash hand basin.

When I need to wash my hands, after dealing to my bowl (Robert's spelling again), it is good to know that Peter is coming to Wellington. A wash hand basin like Peter could be handy to have around.

Well, there you are, you got two posts today.

Ciao tutti.

* AKA Peter the wash hand basin.

A quick post

 because

I'm bzzzzzzy this morning.

I'll be bzzzzzzy tomorrow morning too but, hopefully, Friday will be a quieter day.

Robert will probably chuckle when he sees my 'bzzzzzzy' statement. I see that he's getting quite heavily into AI.

Here's an RI picture that I created.

I know that Peter likes to use TCI. Here's an example.

TCI want (yes, plural) to take over my blog but I'll use RI to stop them.

Here's an example of what RI can do...

I heard a rumour that players want to change the name chess to chest. Then Robert will have to say, "I've been enjoying playing a lot of online chest. To climb the ladder I just have to play lots of matches, a few of which I inevitably win." Is he talking about the same ladder that Peter uses to climb in and out of his attic? If this is the case, Rob, be careful. It seems to be an easy ladder to fall off. Remember too, Rob, not to light those matches while you're playing chest.

Okay, that's enough RI for this morning. Boys, if you decide to try RI, please be careful. It's a powerful tool.

Ciao tutti.