Notes_Norton

I learned to play guitar and bass in my first road band. We played the college circuit and eventually opening for headliners in concert. The guitarist had an Epiphone Sheraton I, and it was a beautiful guitar. He also had a Kay guitar that he kept as a backup. It had a neck like a baseball bat and strings about a mile away from the fretboard. He taught me how to play barre chords on it so that when the songwriter didn't have the good sense to put a sax part in the song, I could play rhythm guitar. The bass player also played guitar, so he taught me how to play bass. In the same group the drummer was a good singer, and since my first instrument was drums, I would sit at the kit a few times a night, so he could get out front and sing. As time went on, I got better at all 3. I never got to play the Sheraton, and I always struggled with the Kay. After that band broke up I bought a Gibson ES-330 and found out how comparatively easy one could play on a guitar with a decent neck. I still have that 330. But to this day, I greatly dislike Kay guitars. Notes

Exactly. Or the drummer who didn't come back from break and was found in a van with a girl, they were both naked and snorting coke. True story follows ... ... ... ... ... ... ... The last band Mrs. Notes and I were in together was a 5 piece group. The bass player quit, and we were out of work for 2 months auditioning new players and teaching the new guy all our songs. A couple of months later, the drummer quit. We were out of work 1 month, as drummers are easier to work in since they don't have to learn the chords, only the beat and arrangements. That was 1/4 the year spent unemployed. The new drummer had a small kit, she kept good time, set down good grooves, played tasty fills that enhanced the song, and could even sing back-up harmony. We got to our first gig. It was at a huge country club. The dining room was packed to see us return, so the management pulled back the accordion pleat 'wall' and asked us to set up in the lounge. The new drummer said, "God will never forgive me if I play in a bar." (Where did she think we were going to play?) I responded with, "God will have to forgive me for homicide if you don't play in the bar tonight." She got the idea The next day I bought a keyboard with a sequencer built in and the then future Mrs. Notes and I gave our notice. I spent a couple of months sequencing backing tracks, then we got a 3-weeks-with-options contract on a Carnival cruise ship. That 3-week contract lasted 3-years until we decided that we had enough of sea life and gave Carnival our notice. From a financial and stress-free point of view, buying that sequencer was the best thing we ever did. I am lucky to be able to play drums, bass, guitar, and keys as well as sax, flute and wind synth, so I can make my own backing tracks, in our best key, and in our arrangement (leaving room for the solo hog - that's me - to play some improvisation in the song). The duo between the missus and me gave us ultimate freedom. Insights and incites by Notes

It's evil. One thing leads to another, and another, and another, and pretty soon you end up spending your life savings on gear you don't even know how to use yet. But don't resist, there is no cure. Notes

I use startpage.com Same results as google, but they don't track you and sell your info to spammers. I've often wondered if the 'normal' guitars are really lefty guitars. Why? My left hand does a lot more work and configures itself into more tangled configurations than my right. Of course there could be something I don't understand about that. I gigged with a guy who was a lefty, and could turn is guitar around mid-song (he played left with right-handed strings). It was good for entertainment appeal. He said he preferred it right-handed. Now, I know the saxophone is a left-handed instrument, and they don't make right-handed saxophones. I can play the notes G, G#, A Bb, B, C, C#, in two octaves and the highest D and Eb with only my left hand. I can only play one note without my right hand, the middle octave C#. Flutes, clarinets and wind synthesizers are similar. How about pianos? Are they left or right-handed instruments? And why don't they come in both? That's OT but I couldn't resist. You could use the advanced search in starpage https://www.startpage.com/en/advanced-search.html and but left-handed in the exact phrase slot. Worth a try anyway. Insights and icites by Notes

I'd Rather Go Blind - Etta James (It's a blues classic)

Ouch ^ ^ ^

Spooky - Classics IV

I use a pedal with amp modeling included. Digitech RP-355. They don't make that model anymore. But guitar isn't my primary instrument, sax/wind-synth is. What I play on the guitar is limited, but I play well within my limits. When I was young, playing the singles bars, the 'old timers' told me that once I left the bars and started playing country clubs, I'd never want to go back to the bars. They were right. Mrs. Notes and I play yacht clubs, country clubs, retirement developments (a huge market here in South Florida), condominiums, private parties, and during the season, once a week in an outdoor, waterfront restaurant in the dead time between lunch & dinner (12 years and running, we draw a nice crowd, and it's a good place for prospective clients to hear us). There is never a dead Thursday night were a couple of salesmen would rather watch TV and the manager scowls at the band. It's always a party and there is an enthusiastic crowd. No bar fights. 3 hour gigs - 4 is usually max. Two of these a week pays as much as 5 nights in a bar. Mrs. Notes and I enjoy playing music together, and we both have strong 'work' ethics. We play what they want to hear, we watch the audience and do our best to play the right songs at the right time, we skip breaks when the room is jamming (often paid back by going home early), and until COVID we worked steadily. As much as I would sometimes like to be back in a bigger band, where I all I have to be concerned with is my sax and vocal parts -- no making backing tracks - no lugging PA gear - being surprised by and working with live musicians - and so on - unless things change drastically, I'll never go back to that. Notes PS (self-serving plug) If you want to work with Backing Tracks - PG Music's Band-in-a-Box is a good tool and I sell a lot of aftermarket style and song collections for BiaB

I had a straight job once, got laid off, went back to playing music, now I'm self-employed, I can't fire myself, I guess I could still quit. Good luck to you, I hope it works out for the better. Notes

By The Rivers Of Babylon - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Good luck. I hope you come out of this unscathed. Notes

Mrs. Notes and I are in a duo together. I make all the backing tracks myself from scratch (I play sax, flute, wind synth, bass, drums, guitars, keyboards and voice). It's nice not having to depend on other musicians to make a living. You know the kind, those who show up late, take long breaks, miss rehearsals, are more interested in getting laid than making music, get high on the gig, etc. On the other hand, since I play all the parts myself, I miss the input from other musicians who have different ideas about what to play than I do. In other words, no surprises in the backing 'band'. But we worked steadily from 1985 until COVID, we paid off the mortgage, we are debt free, and even though small groups aren't as glamorous, we take home more money per person. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Insights and incites by Notes

Diggin' Up Bones - Randy Travis

A young man walked into our insurance office to purchase coverage for his new motorcycle. Only one question confused him. "Do you have a lien holder on the vehicle?" "I've got a kickstand," the prospect replied. "Is that the same thing?"

Or perhaps after bruising children with yardsticks for 30 years, they enter a mellowing out stage

Without a good foundation, the other instrument players don't know exactly how to play their parts to fall into a unified groove. In the recording studio, for pop songs anyway, the drummer is the king. Everybody syncs with the groove the drummer establishes. The bass player and drummer should work as a team, if not the groove is messy or lost. (In Latin American music, it's usually the clave player who sets the groove.) Then, if everyone else is listening and locking to that groove, the result will be a tight rhythm section instead of a sloppy one. When I lay down the drum part for a backing track I'm making for my duo, I 'sing along' the melody and bass line in my head while I'm playing the drum part. In that way, the groove fits the song and takes care of itself. I dislike drum machines for two reasons. 1) Each song needs its individual groove. Even if the variation is only slightly different from similar songs 2) The drum patterns and fills IMO must be tailored to each individual song as well. Of course, if you can't play drums, you have to find your best compromise. But keeping these things in mind might make your selection of a pre-played drum pattern a wiser choice. Insights and incites by Notes I've played in pop/rock/funk/Latin bands since I was a kid in Jr. High School. I learned to double on bass, rhythm guitar, and keys because every songwriter doesn't have the good sense to write a sax part. In the band I was on the road with for years, the drummer was a decent singer. Since my first instrument was drums, I knew how to keep time, I knew the first dozen or so rudiments, and I could do it, I'd sit behind the kit for 4 or more songs every night, so the drummer could get up and sing in front of the band. It impressed the girls, when I switched from sax to bass or guitar (most called them both guitars), keys, drums, sax, and flute. They would say something like, "How many instruments DO you play?" Another thing about learning all those instruments, is when arranging, making backing tracks, or writing styles for Band-in-a-Box, the experience lets me know the gifts and limitations of each instrument, and how the different instruments should interact with each other. Now I'm sure I couldn't keep up with the majority of good guitarists, bassists, or drummers, but I'm OK with that. Wind-Synth / Sax is my main axe.

Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) - Eurythmics

I had 6 years of Catholic school. Vampires and werewolves are fictitious, they don't scare me. Nuns are real and they definitely scare me. ? What they did to the kids back then would have them thrown in jail today.

When I see my peers leaving life's stage, I consider myself a survivor. That doesn't mean I don't miss them though. Notes

I probably can't help because I play my own drum parts. My first instrument was drums. When I make a backing track, I play the drum part first using MIDI drum controllers and then the bass part. The two work together as a unit. Then I layer other parts on, the order depends on the song itself. I always save the two most fun parts of the song out of the backing tracks for Mrs. Notes and me to play live on top of the tracks. Notes

Willie And The Hand Jive - Johnny Otis

Yellow Days - Frank Sinatra