This weekend I had a goal.

I wanted to play every song I had ever learned to play on the guitar. I would play each song once, and move on to the next song. I would start with the song that I am currently learning (Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful Tonight’) and end with the first song I learned. (The Beatles ‘Hey Jude’)

In my estimation, over the 2-1/4 years, I’ve learned about 300 songs. I didn’t come close to playing them all.

I sat down with my music on Saturday afternoon. I cranked through about 20 songs pretty quickly. Eric Clapton, Beatles, Paul Simon, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, The Eagles, Pure Prairie League, The Allman Brothers, The Rolling Stones and even solos from John Lennon and George Harrison.

But I couldn’t play each song only once.

I found myself trying to improve small mistakes and difficult parts. I would go back and play a certain section over and over. Then I’d tackle the entire song again. I found myself trying to fuse together acoustic and electric parts together into one mega part – so I could play all my favorite parts of a song.

I started experimenting with playing songs in different keys, to make them easier for me to sing. (Down ½ step from standard tuning seems to be my magic key.) And of course, I played with different guitars, depending on the song, to see if I liked the way one guitar sounded over the other.

By the time that I realized that I was breaking my own rules, I decided that I was never going to make it through all the songs I’d ever learned.  So I started cheating. Tunes that are basically the same musically over and over again – I would play about ½ the song. Verse, bridge, chorus. Done. Maybe I’d play the ending, if it had an interesting change at the end.  But mostly, I’d just stop.

By Sunday morning, I had made my way through about 75 songs. I will admit my hands were tired. Somewhere I decided to figure out some interesting ‘walk up and walk downs’ to a song to give the impression of the bass line while playing the rhythm part. I switched to an hour of finger picking (which I’m not very good at doing, and I just wanted to force myself to do something that’s not easy for me to do.)

After a huge break to watch a football game, I got back to it after dinner on Sunday. At some point, my son joined me and started jamming with me on the drums. That was fun for a few minutes.

And then it hit me. Somewhere in the middle of playing a Neil Young song I realized that I didn’t have to finish. Pink Floyd would have to wait until another day. As would Lynard Skynyrd, Mountain and Boston and The Yardbird and The White Stripes, The Youngbloods, ZZ Top and dozens more.

But I did play ‘Hey Jude’ to end my weekend. I think it was a perfect song to finish on. It was the first song I learned. The song that got me hooked. The band that made me fall in love with popular music.  And I could sing along without changing the key.

What could be better.

I’m looking for more song suggestions. Please comment below some songs you think I’d enjoy playing.  Thanks and have a great week.

R

10.07.13

In case you’re interested I did the following (but not in this order):

• Went skiing
• Had drinks with friends (a few times)
• Hosted New Years Eve
• Played a lot of guitar
• Hosted friends for the weekend
• Helped teach someone to snowboard (keep in mind, I don’t snowboard)
• Opened gifts
• Ate a lot
• Cooked a lot
• Went out to dinner a few times
• Slept
• Played Madden 13 on both a Wii (which I know how to control) and an Xbox (which I don’t)
• Opened Champagne
• Harassed a 10 year old (It’s a long story)
• Ate chocolate covered pretzels and cashews
• Took pictures
• Danced to 70’s disco classics
• Entered a ‘dead pool’
• Sent out holiday cards a week too late
• Looked at work e-mail exactly 2 times

Things I didn’t do

• Watch TV – I did not watch a single TV show over the break
• Hurt myself skiing (which I do from time to time)
• Do any impulse shopping
• Look at FACEBOOK
• Read a book (which is unusual for me)
• Say “Boy, I wish I was at work today”
• Have a guitar lesson
• Go to the bagel store (which I do all the time)
• Go to the hardware store
• Fill up may car with gas

So that’s about it. I spent the past week doing a lot of nothing. Which is exactly what I needed. I’m looking forward to the new year.  Here’s to doing a lot of good stuff in 2013.

By the way – My new office has a view of the Empire State Building. I’ll post the view out my window from time to time.

R

01.02.13

July 4th brings back a flood of memories for me.

I was brought up in a very patriotic family. My father served in WWII and was a flag waving democrat. He cried when JFK died, woke us up when Bobby was shot and never understood all the fuss over Viet Nam.

And he loved the 4th of July.  This was America’s holiday. The flag went outside early and stayed out late. We had a very large, very old cloth American flag. It was proudly and properly rolled in our hallway closet. And on Memorial Day, Flag Day and especially Independence Day – my father would take great pride in unrolling it and placing it outside for all to see.

Growing up, we lived on a fairly main road. And when ever our town had a parade – it would pass right past our front door. For years, I proudly marched by my father’s side in our Memorial Day parade. I carried a flag in an Independence Day parade. And every year we would have a huge cookout in our back yard and the parade went past the front. And that giant old flag proudly waved in the summer breeze for all to see. This house is proud to be an American.

I’m sad to say, I don’t know what happened to that flag.

When my parents moved out of the house, the flag disappeared. Maybe it was too old and too tattered to be saved. Perhaps my father bought a new one. Perhaps it’s still in the house – being used by the new owners. But the flag is gone.

Now I have a flag. It’s new. It doesn’t have the same history. And it’s rolled up proudly in my front hall closet. I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t put it out yesterday. I don’t know why – I had plenty of time to do it. I think it’s because this flag doesn’t have the same history for me as the old one.  But that’s just an excuse. I think I have to change that thinking – and start some history of my own.

Next year – the flag goes up early and stays out late. It’s the least I can do for my father.

Happy July 4th.

My daughter Kristen got engaged on Saturday afternoon.

It wasn’t that much of a shock, since her fiancé asked permission a few months ago. I knew it was coming. In fact, since we’re meeting his family this coming Saturday, I expected that it would happen before we met.

Ian (we call him I-an Mil-ler – like the groom in ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’) did everything right. He asked permission (huge), bought a vintage ring (perfect for my daughter’s taste) and proposed on a picture perfect Saturday at a botanical garden. They will remember that day for their entire life.

The interesting part for me is that everyone asks how I feel about it. Really? I’m thrilled for my daughter. I’m thrilled for Ian. I’m excited to help plan a wedding. I’m excited to watch my daughter enter the next stage of her life. (Just for the record – Ian is an incredible guy. The kind of guy I hoped Kristen would meet.)

And now the planning begins. Sometime after Saturday, I’m sure we’ll begin talking about when, where, who, how many, what kind, what color and all the details which make a wedding a wedding.

A date not too close, and yet not too far away. Something that doesn’t far on a major holiday weekend or someone else’s event. (Like Adam’s bar mitzvah next year)

Let’s avoid hurricane season. Let’s avoid rainy April. Let make sure it doesn’t fall on anyone’s birthday or anniversary. And most of all – let’s make sure it’s not a full moon. OK, I may be overthinking this already.

And since it’s never too early to plan – I have a few requests: The band can’t plan ‘Celebrate’ and the best man’s speech has to be short. I want to dance with my daughter but I don’t want a cheesy song. Perhaps ‘what a wonderful world’ from our favorite movie. (…when Harry met Sally) And of course, I want the details to be just right. Because it’s all about the details. Just like asking permission, a vintage ring and Longwood Gardens.

Because this should be a night, they’ll never forget.

Please join me in congratulating Kristen and Ian.

4.17.12

Thanks to American Idol and The Voice, my son has discovered cleavage.

Yes, my (now) 10-year-old son who misses nothing — has noticed that the women on these shows like to show off their ‘chest crack’ (the phrase he was using).

First there was Christina Aguilera on The Voice. Check out the outfit on National TV.

After you get past the stupid hat, you almost can’t miss the neck line. I know my son didn’t.

Next there was Nicki Manaj

17 million people watched this episode – include the very same 10-year-old. And thanks to the wonder of DVR – he’s watched her almost have a wardrobe malfunction more than once. In fact, we got so tired of hearing him talk about her ‘chest crack’ we decided to teach him the word ‘cleavage’ — which isn’t the usual thing we teach our son — so at least if he was going to talk about it, he’d use the correct terminology.

When did it become OK to dress like a stripper on national TV? I thought Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake ended that years ago. When did American Idol – the king of middle America decide to let it all hang out? Am I over reacting? I don’t think so. But I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please fill out the poll below. I’ll let you know how much ‘chest crack’ I see on this week’s episodes.

4.16.12

I know many of you have written ‘where’s the post from your son?’

I’m sorry, he blew me off. He had better things to do. Like watch American Idol, do his homework, and have a play date with a couple of his friends. I was putting too much pressure on him to write. And I think he just decided it was too much work.

Damn. It would have been funny. Maybe someday he’ll be a guest blogger. Just not this week.

Apologies again.

My normal post for today will follow shortly.

3.2.12