No Shortcuts

Believe it or not I have another off day(after a brutal 6a to 3p yesterday). Managed to get in a guitar lesson which is the first in 3 weeks. I'm making progress but it is becoming evident that I am going to have to get deeper into the musical theory than I thought. This is especially true since I am focusing on the blues which uses a lot of the fret board. The key to moving around on the fret board is using the different patterns of the pentatonic scale(for the most part) and maintaining the same key. I have the patterns pretty well nailed(it's not automatic as I have to think about it but it is coming along). My problem is that any given pattern of notes for the one of the "boxes" can be either major or minor and that drives where the next box starts and how you transition and what chords will harmonize. Today my teacher shared the trick of finding your way around in this mess. Major pinkie! In the first "box" the pinkie hits the last note of the scale and that note is the major key and the first finger hits the second to the last note of the scale and denotes the minor scale. Revelation! For example, the A major scale is the same as the F # minor scale. Since all the "boxes" share notes in the transitions you can figure where to go pretty easily. It will take practice and a lot of repetition but I think I have it now.

Well, that was boring for all you not trying to learn guitar so I won't go into how to play effective blues you have to learn how and when to mix major and minor and why you have to bring in notes that aren't even part of the scale at certain times. Exciting stuff no? I keep thinking that all these old time blues boys didn't know all this stuff but knew what sounded right then again maybe they did.

Nothing Much

Just some wind here about from Sandy for which I am thankful. I really feel for all those in the Northeast that are getting hit. Every time one of these "able to prepare for" events comes up I am just amazed or ashamed or aghast that no one talks about the folks that are just scraping by. Everyone of them has long since used their food stamp money as it is the end of the month and won't see any more until Thursday at the earliest. The talking heads go on and on about stocking up on batteries and canned food and water and all that but the reality is that there are probably millions of families that don't have two nickels this time of month in Sandy's path. What should have happened is that all their food stamp debit cards should have had an emergency addition a day or two ago and they might have been able to buy a cheap flash light and a can of beans. It's just really depressing. All I have to complain about is that it turned a bit chillier than I expected and thus I wasn't properly prepared for my outdoor shift in the garden center last night. Only got down to about 50F but with the wind I nearly froze.

Finally got another day off today which allowed me to actually get to the gym for the first time in nearly a week. I had pans to do a little gardening today but it is just too windy. I'll spend some time practicing the guitar and cooking. I need to charge my batteries because I'm scheduled almost a full 40 hours this week....so much for part time.

Speaking of cooking...
The cool and windy weather has prompted me to make a nice beef stew for dinner...a nice little piece of top round chunked up and braised in red wine and a mirepoix, a little tomato paste and some beef broth, a couple of bay leaves and a tablespoon of dried thyme. It will braise in a slow oven for a few hours and then before serving I will add pan roasted whole shallots and some sauteed(in butter) baby portabellas and crisp lardons. Just have to decide on the wine but I am leaning toward an Italian old vine Zin which should pair well. It was only 6 bucks at Trader Joe's and it is a very good value. I had the first bottle with a lamb stew I made last week which was also a slow braise BTW and it was excellent.

Speaking of guitar...
My teacher gave me a tough assignment to nail before the next lesson and that is master all five "boxes" of the pentatonic scale in "E". If you know anything about guitar and pentatonic scales it is the shapes that are important and if you can do it all in E then you can do any scale by just starting on another note. It is important in that it lets you utilize the entire fret board. I can do them slowly with only the occasional flub but speed is eluding me. I'll get it but it is not easy. I still haven't understood why the pentatonic scales leave out the C and F of the sacred basic C scale but I.m sure there is a good reason or at least some monk in the middle ages thought there was.

Rainy Monday

It's raining here in the Northern burbs of Atlanta and it is making for a lazy day. I don't have to go to work until 5p so I have the day to do whatever. The new beds/boxes in the greenhouse need thinning already. (I told you the proper potting soil would make a big difference.) There is also a lot of new guitar stuff to try and get under my belt as well so that will take a few hours minimum. I'm trying to do at least 2 hours a day on the guitar and it is starting to pay off. The new PRS guitar is much easier to play than the El Cheapo I had so 2 hours goes by pretty quick. I also think I am going to blow off the gym today and just be a slug.

The big annual Historical Society "Flea Fling" for the Hembree Farm preservation is coming up the 6th so I also have to start thinking about my contribution to the bake sale. I usually do a couple of batches of biscotti which go over pretty well. Last year I did cranberry/almond and chocolate but this year I think it will be pistachio and maybe apricot....we'll see. I am also on the hook to be the hot dog vendor all day so I have to gather up all the stuff for that as well. I grill them over charcoal and have grilled onions for a garnish and they seem to be popular. Before I agree to do the dogs I insist that we use all beef dogs with natural casings so at least they are a little cut above the usual offering. Nothing ruins a tube steak faster than one of those mushy skinless wieners.

Off to murder some baby pants. Everybody play nice.

In case anyone cares I found a cool German guitar site that focuses on the blues. One of the nifty things on there is a midi generator that allows you to create 12 bar backing tracks in any key and with various rhythms and stuff. Nice for practicing.