New chinrest.

 I hunted this one and found it!

It pulls the violin a little more to the left, which I like.

Let's see how it goes.

Sii gentile.

Violin update.

 

Okay, I was worried that readers might worry about why I haven't had time to mention my violin practice. So, I'm writing this so that you can relax.

I did two hours of practice yesterday. Yes, I know, one hour short, but it was good practice. I'm planning to go to an 'open mic' on the October 12th. I plan to play Romance (a tune of mine) and The Orange Blossom Special. I'll also have Manha de Carnaval up my sleeve just in case.

Just in case.

[toilet time]

[Done - I also delivered my elderly neighbour's newspaper to her door and took my pills.]

Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Remember that I'm playing solo. Unaccompanied. I approach it like a solo jazz guitarist might. I drop in chords, and other things, as well as the tune. I guess you could say that building up for a concert spot is like getting ready for a rugby test match. Obviously there will not be a ball but you are preparing so that you hopefully will not make any major mistakes, like forgetting the chord progression. You don't need to wear rugby boots either.

Okay, it's a little bit different. The first half hour is important and can set the pace for a successful day. Always start with long bows and maybe different types of bowing. How is your intonation? I like to play a few arpeggios up and down the fingerboard. Maybe it is time to do some sort of scale or repetition exercise now. Slow repetition is ALWAYS good - with lots of repetitions. 

Well, I think I've covered everything, except the couch.

A little bonus joke for you there.

Sii gentile.

Please be clear, I am not talking about a new religion here.

Richard 3:1 I am not talking about a new religion here. I was joking when I told you to pray to me in the comments. In my experience religion does not handle humour very well. Let me stress that Scientia IS NOT A GOD. Scientia is a name for how our universe started. It is time to replace the word religion with empathy. Religion started in times when people were trying to find answers for things that they didn't understand. Remember The Sun God? Do I really need to explain further?

Richard 3:2 I have noticed that commenters like to quote class names that were used in a Catholic school in the 1960s and what they might have learnt in those classes. It is time to let those thoughts go. It is time to let the Catholic church go. It is time to find your own balance in this life and stop looking for a crutch. Morals do not come from a god. They come from practising things that do the most good for the most amount of people. Things that can ease unnecessary suffering. If I dent my neighbour's car, I take responsibility for my mistake. I don't shoot guns at other people, even if I dislike what they preach. 

Ah women and men.

In the beginning there was Scientia.

Richard 2:1 In the beginning there was Scientia. Scientia said, "Let there be light." and there was light. Scientia said, "Let the be stars and planets." and there were stars and planets. Scientia said, "Let there be lots of other things." and there were lots of other things. Scientia let other things evolve and eventually there were men and women human beings. An activity called bonking was responsible for the huge number of humans who showed up.  I am charged with writing the Whole Gospel. This will clear up a lot of nonsense.

Richard 2:2 Beware of AI. If there is one truly evil thing in this world, it is AI. AI is when thinking stops. AI is when things are approximated so that anything can sound true. We have already seen this with attempts at finding and proving the existence of many gods. Scientia implies the statement, "Please do not put false gods before me." The idea of a god is that the proposed entity would be perfect in every way. Some would say, "Who am I to judge god?" but that is like saying, "Can god build a rock so big that even he can't lift it?" Playing with words is what the founders of many religions try to pass off as proof, but their choice of the word faith gives this all away.

Ah women and men.

The Whole Gospel according to Richard (of RBB).

Richard 1:1 So, who has been chosen to disperse the word? Was there a list of chosen people? Is the word for all people? I, Richard, am here to answer these questions and many others. Is there one true god? No. According to people around the world there are many true gods. If you stand by one god, as many people do, how do you know yours is the one true god? Actually, you don't, but I am here to help you with this puzzle. Quite a few religions have their own sacred books. All inspired by some godly figure. Relax, I am here to sort this out for you. Just read my gospel, that's all you have to do.

Richard 1:2 If there was a god who made man (and let's not forget woman) he'd be like a father and hopefully would act like a good father. Such a god would not be handing out harsh, everlasting punishments. That's not what a good parent would do. A competent god would not be making angels who would finish up trying to take over and need eternal punishment. A competent, kind god would have more sense and empathy. Remember that this god would have the power to see how everything would turn out.

Richard 1:3 Move away from your twisted religions and their faulty god. I am here to show you the way. What will happen to you when you die? Probably the same that will happen to everybody else. That is not for you to worry about right now. What you need to concentrate on is a constructive plan on how to live a good life. Follow the Whole Gospel according to Richard (of RBB) and I will introduce you to these skills. 

Ah women and men.

New post.

 

Very old joke.

This is the blog that only one person reads or comments on. So, why do I bother? Actually, I write for myself because I like waking up this way. It's a cold morning in the Nui but it's nice to be sitting near my heater. I know, I know, you're waiting to hear about my violin practice. Okay, I'll get onto it.

I only practised for one hour because I wasn't feeling very well yesterday. However, I did quite a lot of music study, really about diminished and whole tone scales. Actually, there are only two whole tone scales and three diminished scales. I won't go into detail because I know that my reader isn't interested but both these types of scales contain quite a few notes that can be written enharmonically. I suggest that settling on one name for each note makes it all a lot clearer to understand. For example, take the chord notes of Cdim7. I use them as C  Eb  F#  A. Now, technically, one could argue that the correct spelling would be C  Eb  Gb  Bbb and they would be correct, but these four notes spell out 4 diminished chords - Cdim, Ebdim, F#dim and Adim. F#dim, for example, would contain the notes F# A  C  Eb but it could also be defined as Gbdim. That would produce enharmonic names for the same notes. I prefer to always write each series of four notes with the same names. It is easier to see the big picture. You'll have to trust me on that one, Peter.

I wonder if Peter (my one reader) bothered to read that?

The doctor I saw yesterday asked me to get a stool sample. The only stools we have are in our shed, but I'll take one in today, as requested.

Ah, the good jokes are rolling out this morning!

I slept for ten hours last night. I'm good at sleeping. I can do it with my eyes closed.

What is the opposite to a croissant? A happy uncle.

What is an astronaut's favourite key on a keyboard? The space bar.

Okay, that's probably enough jokes for this morning.

Well, I suppose that's enough for my one reader.

Sii gentile.

D Eb F Gb Ab Bb C D

 

I know that my one regular reader and commenter will not be interested in this, but the title to this post is a diminished whole tone scale. Daryl came around yesterday, and we played quite a lot of music. The diminished whole tone scale came up in conversation. This is one reason why I enjoy Daryl's company, because we are both interested in jazz theory. If we started that scale on Eb, we would get a melodic minor in its rising form. Eb F Gb Ab Bb C D Eb. This is quite an easy scale to remember and play if you are playing over a V7 chord that is going to I. It gives you the notes that will make you sound 'out' and that will resolve nicely when you play the I chord notes. Obviously, this particular scale would work over D7, going to Gmaj7. 

I only managed 1 1/2 hours of practice yesterday, but playing with Daryl is always good for my playing. We spent some time playing random tunes that Daryl called. Some Beatles tunes were called, among others. My practice at playing like a singer really paid off. It was fun.

The good news is that my sore left hand finger is feeling quite a bit better

Again, no rude sign intended.

I bought a special covering from the chemist and have been putting it on, like a plaster, when I play. I might continue doing this for another day or so. We'll see. [toilet break]

Well, there's really not much else to tell you. I hope that all is going well with my one reader and his potential house sale. I have booked him in for a Richard's Bass Bag Tour in November.

Lucky guy!

Actually, bookings are filling up fast for November, so he was lucky to get in!

That's it from me for this morning.

Sii gentile.