Amish Guitar

Well, it's been a long week in the AmishGuitar household. I've been recovering from a nasty head and chest cold and have just realized I didn't post a guitar lesson for this month. I'm afraid, dear readers, that this week the lesson must give way to my pounding sinuses. One is either very clever or not clever at all when one is taking NyQuil.

I did get my Yamaha back from the luthier and the results are . . . adequate. He was able to adjust the neck angle with a truss rod adjustment. He lowered the saddle and tried to lower the nut but cutting the grooves. This, however, proved to be problematic since the nut just disintegrated when he took the file to the plastic. Luckily he had salvaged a nut from a Taylor that fit almost perfectly, so he did not have to construct a brand new nut from bone for me (that would have been $$$ I did not have). He did say that he would not be able to lower the saddle any more than it is now, so any future adjustments would mean a neck reset. That, of course, has already been ruled out as being too expensive for this instrument.

It plays well enough, I suppose. I do find that it is better at fingerpicking that strumming. Fingerpicking brings out the bell like tones, but strumming just sounds all muddled. The action is real easy now at the first few frets, so the kids have been having fun playing around with it.

I've not had much opportunity to play lately. That is, I haven't felt like playing. I haven't been to church for a month now, owing to many factors that are beyond the scope of this blog. Home has been hectic as my wife recovers from her illness (she's healing fine). Frankly, I feel too worn out by the end of the day to do anything but veg out. And then, of course, I've been sick these past few days.

No matter, this too shall pass. I do plan on being at church on Sunday and be in the praise team. That always seems to get my mojo going again.

I've been away for the weekend enjoying myself at our church's annual winter retreat. I apparently looked like I was angry the whole weekend because people kept asking me if I was ok or what I was pissed off about. It was rather surprising as I didn't feel angry. I was, I'll admit, quite stressed. I am an introvert by nature and find it very stressful at these retreats. Being around people, even people I love and think the world of, drains me and can get me pretty sour.

Why was I sharing this? Oh yeah, people kept asking me if I was angry. I wasn't. I've been lost in thought a lot lately. I recently remade contact with an old friend from high school. She was a close friend that meant a lot to me, more than she'll ever know. She was closer than any male friend I've ever had. She was simply a best friend. And I deserted that friendship 15 years ago after a spat that is way too complicated to explain here.

I tried to apologize once over the last 15 years, but I think both of us knew it was a half assed apology. I've been wrestling with my guilt over that dissolution now that we're back in contact. It was that guilt that others were reading on my face.

Saturday evening of the retreat, the common area where we had the talent show had fairly well cleared out. There was a fire in the hearth and the dozen or so members who stuck around were playing games or reading. I had been avoiding playing guitar in the common area partly out of modesty and partly out of not wanting to annoy. But, my mood was getting the better of me and I needed to play. I got out my guitar, sat by the fire and strummed. I played some of my favorite progressions as well as some Travis picking that I'm always trying to do better at. Mostly I just noodled while watching the fire and felt my mind go blank for a while. A friend pulled up a chair next to me and pulled out a book. I asked if I was bothering her after a while and she said no. I got the impression that she was enjoying the music.

The combination of the guitar, the fire and the friend was joy to experience. It was exactly what I had been looking for. It was a time to reflect and make some decisions. It was restoration. It was relief. It was release.

Apparently I still looked pissed off because people still kept asking, but, really, I was just lost in thought.

I've written to my friend from my youth. I decided to offer a full apology in place of the half assed one. I'm afraid that bringing up the past will undo the tentative connection we've reestablished. On the other hand, I know that I have offered myself in sincerity and can now live with myself for finally admitting that I was wrong.

1/26/09 Follow Up for anyone who made it this far: I am forgiven. And another troubling chapter of my past is at peace.

I can't get Sunday out of my mind.

It was an unusual Sunday morning at church. We didn't have a regular service. Our pastor instead lead us through a prayer service, divided into four sections: Praise, Lament, Confession, and Blessing. Interspersed in each section were songs both by the praise team and the 4 part A Capella singing I wrote about in my last post. Normally the team plays their 3-4 song set in one block and then goes back to the pews for the rest of the service. But this Sunday, since that would have meant a lot of up and down, we just stayed on the platform behind the pulpit.

As it happens, in our praise team we have an Alto (my cousin), a Tenor (not my cousin) and a Bass (me). It has been sooo long since I have sung in an ensemble and I miss it so very much. I love to hear choirs and quartets alike. I love to sing in small groups and get to the point where our voices blend into one sound; no single person's voice dominating the rest.

My cousin is a wonderful Alto with a deep, rich tone and she has had voice training. She often sings the tenor part when she and I are in a group. The Tenor is a fabulous singer who sings the higher notes (G?, A?) like a bird. I'm not half bad myself, having had voice training and singing in the high choirs in college. Add to us three the Song Leader for the hymn singing, a brilliant Soprano and we had a wonderful quartet.

And that's when the magic happened.

There were times I was completely lost in the sound of the four of us singing there on the dais. Each of us knew when to hold back, when to crescendo on the moving parts, how to phrase, how to breathe. There were times when my chest vibrated with the sound of the chords we made, far beyond the note I was singing. It was, for me, a perfect place to be that morning, and I was a little saddened when we finished the last hymn.

But it wasn't all perfection.

Our last song as a praise team was "Come, now is the time to worship." And it's a song that I know fairly well and have no problem with on the guitar. However, as I played, I sounded awful...just awful. I sounded about a half step flat from the lead guitarist (who is amped {I'm not [thankfully]}). I thought maybe I was on the wrong frets as I sometimes do that, but no, I was just out of tune. So I stopped playing. However, even after I stopped playing, my guitar was out of tune. Huh? you might ask. Well, it was the weirdest thing. I must have been standing the right place for the voice of one of the congregation members to echo off my sound board...and he was singing a half step down.

I still couldn't play because the clashing sounds were so distracting. I just concentrated in singing the song at the right pitch. Looking at the guy singing, however, was a beautiful sight. He had no idea just how off key he was, but he was enraptured by the song he was singing. And I decided right there and then I would rather have my congregation off key and enjoying the music than to be timid about making a mistake that they make no music at all.

The things I have learned that are obvious in retrospect:

10. Learning guitar is a journey, not a means to an end. There is a guy that plays in our praise team at church that can just to marvelous things with his guitar. I can't even describe it. He makes the instrument sing, making it another voice in the ensemble rather than just an accompanying sound and rhythm. His skill just amazes and humbles me. And yet, to hear him talk of musicians he's met, I realize that he feels like he's in the same boat as me. He talks of being amazed and humbled by the abilities of others and he is far from being done in his quest in learning more.

9. Guitarists share their knowledge. Unlike other hobbies, and perhaps other musicians, I've yet to meet a guitarist who isn't willing to take a moment and answer the question "how did you do that?" I may not always understand what they've shown me, but I always appreciate it when friends and strangers alike take their time.

8. Everybody has problems with the F chord when beginning. I remember when I first read about barre chords and realized that, if I just learn how to do one, then I can move it up and down the neck and have dozens of chords at my disposal. Well, as we all know, it isn't as simple as all that. It's true that those dozen of chords are available, but it won't come as easily as all that. I've since learned of several guitarists, including professionals, that never learned barre shapes and more than a few who use alternative tunings to avoid the dreaded F. This is a learning curve for everybody.

7. Dings are not the end of the world. Like most guitarists, I would prefer a blemish free instrument. The first ding I got, I thought my world would end. I hadn't even caused it. It happened during the period of time I was laid up with my broken leg. My guitar really needed to have the strings changed and a friend offered to do so when he came by for a visit. When he retrieved my guitar, he didn't see that the case was unlatched. Bang! The drop left a ding about the size of a pencil eraser on the treble side of the upper bout. Doug was about beside himself and I was pretty put out as well. But, accidents happen and I immediately realized that it was bound to happen sooner or later. Now, whenever I see that ding, I don't think of the accident, I think of the day a friend came to visit.

6. The price of a guitar isn't what makes one happy. I have a plywood guitar. No, it isn't going to sound like a solid top and it certainly isn't going to sound like a custom build. But I really like the sound of my Art & Lutherie Folk. I can honestly say that I am not envious of the more expensive guitars my friends have nor do I have the dreaded GAS (Guitar Acquisition Syndrome). I'm happy with what I have and to go beyond would be, for me, a waste of my hard earned dollar. I don't begrudge any friend or any player that has a more expensive piece or think they've spent too much. Some play semi-professionally. Others have been blessed with the means to buy at a higher scale. I am very happy for them. Someday I would like a third guitar, probably a solid top dred, but I'm in no hurry.

5. Not everyone is going to be as enthused about guitars as I am. Even friends who play guitars. Even though I am approaching two years since I learned my first chord, it is still very new and exciting. Having had a musical life before guitar, I'm vaguely aware of what possibilities there are out there to still learn. It is easy for me to become a fanatic and want everyone to share in my excitement. However, not everyone is going to want to hear me play. Not everyone will want to endure listening to me noodle. And, more to the point, not all of my guitar playing friends will have the same level of interest that I have right now--perhaps it's old hat for them now, or perhaps it doesn't mean the same thing to them as it does to me. Learning to curb my enthusiasm and choose when and where to play goes a long way in earning respect as a player.

4. Get a good set up. A bad guitar can possibly be tweaked to be a decent guitar. A good guitar can definitely be adjusted to be a great guitar. A bad guitar forces the player to adjust to the instrument. A good set up adjusts the instrument to the player. But, I'm cautious of who I have work on my guitar. The shop were I purchased my guitar has a set up and repair service. I might trust them with simple repairs or nut replacement. But, when I asked about setting up the guitar to adjust the action, their response was to "crank down the truss rod." Well, I've read enough to know that's not the right way to do it. I have had great luck in taking my guitars into a local luthier. A little pricier and a little longer wait, but worth it.

3. Changing strings can be fun. It used to drive me nuts. Trying to keep the pins in, keeping the coils on the machine heads nice and neat. Bah! However, after learning some of the basic skills in doing so, I now look forward to changing strings. I look forward to it in an almost "Zen and the art of Guitar Maintenance" sort of way. It gives me a chance to, pardon the pun, unwind. I take the time to look over every inch of the instrument, wipe down all the fingerprints and clean out the frets. I've realized that it isn't a race to get it over and done with as soon as possible. It's a chance to forget everything else and focus in on one task. And the end result is guaranteed to be an improvement on what I started with.

2. Music is moving. Well duh. Still, I am constantly surprised at hearing my emotions in the chords, rhythms, syncopation, volume, tempo, harmonies and vibrations flowing forth from my guitar. All too often I'm not even consciously aware of what I'm feeling until I hear it. Playing has been, at times, a gift from God in getting me through some hard times. Other times it is just a joy to play because it just makes me happy.

1. Playing guitar is fun. It wasn't always. Looking through this list and I can remember times along the way I didn't know or believe or want to believe what I've just written. That guitar playing is fun is definitely one of them. At times, playing, or more to the point, learning to play, is nothing more than an exercise in pure frustration. Trying to hit that C chord cleanly after a G can still give me fits. But, with time and practice, I have come to the point that I know each time I pick up Jane or Patrick, I will make music. I may not achieve my goals for the time. I may not be able to push past the barriers I have in my skills. But, what I can do, is sufficient, if I let it be so.

For the past year I have been periodically searching the web for a lyric sheet generating software. Preferably free. I've wanted a program to write out lyrics with chords in the correct position without a lot of fussing. The few I've found have been difficult to use (read non-intuitive), complicated (read feature bloat) or expensive (read not free).

Imagine my surprise when I ran a search in Google Sunday afternoon and came across Chord Chart Wizard. This bit of freeware has everything I've been looking for.

The software opens with what the creators call the Song Editor tab: a simple, plain text, fixed font note pad to enter lyrics and chord notation. If you're careful enough to alternate chord lines with lyric lines, the program will interpret your entries accordingly and create a lyric sheet in the next tab, appropriately called the Chord Chart (more on that later). If you're not careful enough, you can click on the left margin of a line and force the program to identify the line as either a lyric or a set of chords. Brilliant!

The Chord Chart tab, then, is the song lyrics and chord notations formatted from the plain text. The program does interpret the first two lines as title and author, and centers this information when formatting. It changes font size according to predefined settings so chords and lyrics can appear slightly different (or greatly different, if you choose to mess with the settings). Print it off and you're good to go.

The third tab, called the Lyric tab, formats the song from the plain text but strips out the chord information, making it ideal for song sheets for an audience to read without confusing them with unnecessary music information. Too Cool. Or, as the young people say these days, w00t!

The program has several other neat features. It is smart enough to determine what key your song is in and can transpose it for you if you so desire. It can also recognize the term "Capo" and transpose it down if you choose to "un-capo" the song. It also has an extensive library of chord fingerings and can add chord charts from the information it finds in the chord lines.

The software was clearly designed with the church song leader/praise team in mind. It comes with predefined categories for worship tags and whatnot. It also has a function to create PowerPoint slide shows from the song data you've entered (though I've not yet been able to make that work).

There are some prerequisites. It requires Java and with the Openware office suite OpenOffice to work. There are similar requirements for MAC OS and Linux, though I've not really look at what those might be. As I am a fan of Openware, that was not a problem for me, but if you already have a commercial suite, such as MS Office, you may not want to bother downloading a second office suite. One nice thing about OpenOffice is native support for PDF files, so I can save my songs in this format.

Simply put, this program is exactly what I've been looking for, with extra features I'm sure to enjoy. Simple to use and creates sharp looking song sheets, the Wizard is worth looking at. Personally, I can't believe the author is offering it for free. It comes packaged with a sister program, Set Creator, to create songbooks, but I've not taken the time to look at that yet. Perhaps a future Amish Guitar post...

Fall has gripped my little slice of Northern Indiana with a beautiful weekend and mild temperatures. I wish I had time to enjoy it. It frightens me how quickly this year has passed by and can scarce believe October is around the corner. Cross country meets, church business, work, homework, housework, diet, exercise, family obligations, money, money, money. It's all taking a toll. Well, that sounds rather drastic. I'm just feeling pulled a hundred different ways and none in the direction I want to go.

One of the things shoved to the side by these bulldozing aspects of modern day life has been time spent with my guitar. I just haven't had the time to really play. I get a few moments at work with Patrick, but precious little at home with Jane. I look back at my calendar and I have had meetings or work every evening for the last three weeks. When I get home, I'd rather spend time with my kids and wife. Silly me.

Tonight I got out Jane, sat by an open window and played to my heart's content. I asked my youngest daughter to choose a song book for me from the piano room. She brought me two books of Broadway tunes. Hmmmm.... it had been awhile since I cracked those two volumes. They were too advanced for my skills at the time, about 6 months ago. But, I was in a good mood for a challenge and jumped in. Now, most tunes I don't even know, and the ones I do know are still too advanced with keys in sharps and flats. Sorry, I don't have the Bbm7add9 fingering down yet.

Still, two songs that I found impossible 6 months ago seemed very easy tonight. The first was Memory from Cats. I've written about this before, but this arrangement is much more challenging than that. The second was Try to Remember from The Fantasticks. Not a difficult song in terms of chords, but I could never get the rhythm before (plus I struggled on a few of Major7 chords). Both were so much fun! And my evening was so relaxing. Just me, sitting by the bay window as the sun set.

Ah, summer's end and autumn's birth in Northern Indiana. It is my favorite season. I want time to slow down so I can enjoy it like this as long as I can.

The gig got canceled due to flooding.

I should explain a bit. There is a county park just to the south of our church and every September the park service holds a celebration there. Think arts and crafts, food, old tractors. See, part of the park is an operating grain mill powered by the local river that has been operating since the late 1800s. So the celebration hearkens back to a simpler life.

Our church has had a food booth there for something like 22 years. Recently we've also been involved in the community worship service there. That was the service our praise band was going to play at.

But not this year. For the first time in it's 33 year history, the celebration has been cancelled due to torrential rains and flooding. Yeah for me, bad for our church. We're stuck with 75 homemade pies, dozens of sheets of cornbread, about 5 gallons of homemade ham and bean soup and about 40 pounds of sloppy joe meat. Sadly, I'm on a strict diet or I would consider it my duty to help out.

Getting back to the subject at hand, as this is a guitar blog, I am both relieved and disappointed at the same time. I guess part of me wanted to prove I could do it, or at least see how far I could go playing by ear. I'll be playing before my home congregation tomorrow instead. Since no one really had anything planned, we're just going to do the same thing we had planned for the community service: old fashioned hymn sing, sermon, pass the plate and get out by eleven. It will be easier to play in front of this crowd.

Last night the praise team had another practice for the upcoming community worship I wrote about earlier. One of the members had gone through most the hymns and chorded them out, so that's good. I still feel very unprepared, but I'm going to do it anyway. Why? Because my modus operandi seems to be that I worry and fret and fear performances and it always turns out ok. And, if it doesn't, I can stop playing and just sing.

Thankfully I've learned not to change strings the night before a performance. :^)

Some good news is in order, however. I played my song Caitlyn's Starshine for my friend Doug. Some of you longtime readers may remember Doug from when I asked him to critique another song of mine. He was honest then and it hurt. This time, however, he really liked it and wanted me to show him the chords.

Yeah me!

I am in way over my head. Our church praise team was asked to lead an old fashioned hymn sing at a community worship next Sunday. I thought it would be mostly the same songs we play Sunday mornings. Nope. Old Time Gospel. And no chord notation.

Now, I've got enough music theory under my belt that when they said, 'Don't worry, most gospels are based on I, IV and V,' I knew what they meant. The major chords built on the first, fourth and fifth tone in a given scale. That's all well and good. It's another thing to play by ear to it. Especially if it's some weird a** key like A flat.

Thankfully, I'm not the only one in the group who feels completely unprepared. Another fella in the group plays exclusively off of chord notation. So, we're going to stand in the back and do the strumming equivalent of mouthing "watermelon watermelon" during the service. :^)

Wish me luck. I'm gonna work on I, IV, V in the more common keys this week.

Hoo boy.

Today marks one full year of Amish Guitar. I suppose it is cliche to review the last year, but I'm going to do it anyway. The reasons for continuing with my blog are roughly the same as they were a year ago. I'm still a hack guitarist looking to bring music back into my life. I still have no inclinations to going pro or learning hot licks. I still have paper thin skin when it comes opening up my songwriting and playing to other people's critique. And I still worry at times at whether I am a musician, or just a guy who knows the mechanics of playing but has no soul. This does not surprise me in the least, as it all jives with my introverted nature and my perpetual self doubt.

However, I look back on the year and I see success as well. I play with the church praise team regularly now. I've played accompaniment for my daughters in church. I've learned some Travis style finger picking, many new chords and feel oh so much more comfortable with chord changes. I've learned to keep my guitar playing in perspective. That is, I've learned to stop obsessing on my playing when I have so many other things I enjoy or have responsibilities for.

I suppose my grandest moment is when I felt I could begin thinking of myself as a player instead of someone learning how to play. That was a huge hurdle to overcome. In many ways, having made that transition has made it more difficult for me to think of subjects for this blog. I conceived of this blog as a journal of my journey toward becoming a player. What do I talk about now? Well, there's still plenty to discover. If I haven't been too active here in the blogosphere, you can be sure it is only because life gets in the way. Its not that I've given up on my playing and enjoyment.

As I look back on the year, the posts that really strike a chord (sorry) are the ones involving me, my guitar and some emotional troubles I've worked through. Picking up the guitar in the first place was to be an exercise in pouring my negative energy into something constructive. It has been more effective than I've ever imagined possible. Like many, I'm sure, I've got a lot locked away in this head and heart that I don't even know about. My guitar has been my key in letting some of that out. I can hear it in the harmonies, in the rhythms, in the tone and in (oh Lord, this is corny!) the music.

Amish Guitar will continue after this brief interruption...

A few weeks ago I blogged about wanting a new beach guitar as my current 2nd guitar was so horrible. It had high action, hard to keep in tune, poor intonation down the neck and so on. Well, an honest look at the family finances made it pretty clear that a new guitar was out of the question. I did decide to have a local luthier give it a proper set up. Wow. I now have a guitar in my office instead of a guitar like thing. The luthier adjusted the truss rod to correct the neck relief, then sanded down the saddle to lower the action. The result is a guitar that plays easy, has very tolerable intonation (my ear can still hear slight problems) and very good tone. I am quite pleased. In fact, I'm pleased enough that the kids and I decided that this guitar deserves a name. Instead of having the OTHER guitar at work, I now have Patrick hanging on my wall.

I've been able to sit outside on the front porch and noodle away the evening. In fact, that sparked a little conflict with my oldest child. He is approaching his teen age years when everything his parents do is specifically designed to embarrass him. He was so afraid someone might hear me play that he threw a small tantrum. I just giggled at him when he glared through screen door. When I started singing along to my playing, he slammed the door. I am just twisted enough to have enjoyed his embarrassment.

Beyond that, I really don't have much more to write about. I'm still feeling quite comfortable where my skills are at this point. I've not played in church for the past few weeks as I've done other duties during the worship service. I am thinking of setting one of my favorite passages of scripture to song, Psalms 13. But, I'm gonna have to think about it for a long time.

PS. For those who might be interested, Patrick is an Oscar Schmidt OF2 Folk guitar.

Mark your calendar. Today is the day. Call the children in. Wake the neighbors. Today is the day I officially announce that I have crossed the line between being someone who is learning guitar and who is a guitar player.

I have groused about this dilemma before on Amish Guitar. And I've come to an early conclusion that one does not ever stop learning guitar. The question has always been about when I describe myself as learning guitar or as a player.

Today, while playing in the praise team at church, the switch happened. It wasn't an epiphany. The sky didn't split open and a golden pick descend as a dove. I simply remarked after church that I was not conscious of my playing. Or should that be self conscious? I just went up on the dais and made music with my friends.

I played guitar on three of the four songs. And, I wasn't perfect. Chord changes weren't as smooth as butter. I got lost a few times. The difference was that I felt I was making music, not organized sound from an odd shaped box with strings.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this. I've written before of frustrations. I've written before of accomplishments. I've written when my playing has gone extremely well; when my guitar sings and I make a place in the sound that is magic. The difference today is that today all the sound, the music, came out natural. The chords came out without my conscious thought. The rhythms were organic. The mistakes came out without hanging a blinking neon sign stating "Newbie". I jumped into that void and found myself on the other side. I found myself contributing to the musical sound of the group instead of being the musical tag-a-long.

I have no illusions that everything will be peachy keen from here on out or that I'll be able to sustain this feeling from now until eternity ends. However, I will remember this time as the first time I felt like I played, I really played.

I was nervous when the girls and I set up for the offertory. But only a little bit. To tell the truth, I was too busy to be nervous. I hadn't realized it, but I had volunteered to be involved in everything musical that morning--song leading, praise team and the offertory.

The girls did great. The deal between us was that they would sing alone. I would only come in if they got lost or started messing up. No need. My guitar playing, on the other hand, wasn't my best. I flubbed a few chords that are usually a no brainer. But I hit those B minors!

I happen to attend a church where the congregation actually applauds in appreciation. Mennonites applauding in church! The girls received two round of adulation, one for each song. My oldest daughter, who is a bit of a ham, did a little courtesy which got a laugh.

I'm lucky to have a church where I'm not expected to be perfect. Where kids, young kids, are encouraged to participate. I am blessed.

Tomorrow I will have what can arguably be my first public solo. Our worship minister has asked my daughters to sing during offertory. They'll only sing if I accompany. So, it looks like I'm playing in church for the first time alone. Usually I have the rest of the praise team to drown out my playing.

We're doing two songs: Magic Penny and Jesus Above All Names. Easy chords for the most part, except Names has a Bm that I have yet to really master.

Wish us luck!