The latest episode of The Blue Six String podcast is posted at http://bluesixstring.libsyn.com/ and includes the new song “Taking Off My Clown Shoes” written by me and featuring a guest drummer who brings the funk. Check it out along with the previous episodes and make sure to pick up a better quality audio download at bluesixstring.com.
Hello to everyone. Just a quick note that I’ve started a weekly podcast that can be found HERE. Make sure to subscribe, leave comments and tell your friends.
Sometimes, after extended periods of rest or an open vamp, publishers will be nice enough to put a vocal cue in the music so we don’t have to count and can focus on checking our Facebook and texting instead. In the case of Avenue Q, where much of the material is a little blue, this can lead to some interesting markings on your score.
I can say with 100% certainty that nowhere in the guitar book for Showboat does it say “If you were queer…” The funny thing is that all the songs that involve Rod (the gay puppet in the show) feature banjo so a lot of my banjo cues have strange phrases. It also begs the question, when did the banjo become an audio cue for gayness?
Another strange marking from Avenue Q. This is supposed to be a tempo marking…or phrasing? Not really sure. It is safe to assume that everyone knows Judy Garland but is it safe to assume that everyone remembers her CBS special (that ran for 20 some odd episodes in 1963) and can reference that special for ideas on timing, phrasing or style? Probably not seeing as nobody born in the last 30 years has ever seen it!
That being said, I, at 29, did sort of know what it meant and added all the shmaltz I could offer.
One of the great benefits of modern musical theater is that they can give you direction like “Funky Ass Groove” and you know exactly what they mean. This is from the guitar book to Avenue Q which is filled with interesting cues and directions.
This crazy interval (a 17th) is from the trombone book of Urinetown. At just over two octaves, it’s quite an extreme for a brass player to handle and I probably cheated it most nights.
I’ve been a bad blogger. I am sorry for the absence. It is not that I have had nothing to write about as there is always something to write about, I’ve just been too busy and undisciplined to write every day like I used to. I’ll be better, I promise.
That being said, I’m going to start a short series of photos that I’ve taken at various gigs. I hope you enjoy.
I am constantly asked to recommend musicians for gigs and, often, my list of names is short. The best of those names is often booked and I end up being no help at all. For a while I’ve been thinking about creating a website that had the resumes and contact info for musicians in the bay area, separated by instrument and rated by their peers and now I’ve created it. Bay Musician is an online community where musicians can create a page and people in search of instrumentalists, vocalists, bands or conductors can find the right player for the job.
It’s very new but is generating positive response and is slowly building a database of fine musicians. It is completely free and there are special pages, including a music forum and music classifieds, solely for members of the site. I encourage every musician that reads this, and lives in the bay area, who wants to get called for more gigs to sign up and submit your bio/resume today!
“A guy calls the musician’s union to get a quote on a six piece band for a wedding. The rep says “Off the top of my head, about two thousand dollars”. He says”WHAT? FOR MUSIC?. “The rep responds ” I’ll tell you what. Call the plumbers’ union & ask for six plumbers to work from 6 to 12 o’clock on a Saturday night. Whatever they charge you, we’ll work for half.” “I get your point” he said.”
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For most people, this time of year is marked by a holiday in nearly every religion but for the few, the proud, the band teacher, this time of year is the end of semester concert season. I’ve gone to a couple of my private student’s concerts and, of course, had my own high school concerts to prep for and played in a couple concerts myself. One thing that cannot be overstated, at any level of education or performance, is that all these programs need more money.
I went to the concert for my old high school. I went there for four years, taught there for four years and continue to teach many of the students in the program privately. The band director made an announcement that a very large company had given them a $500 grant and the crowd cheered and he mentioned how much they need the money. Really? 500 bucks is going to help that much? As it turns out, with the slashing these programs have taken in this economy, that 500 dollars makes a huge difference. This particular district has cut music at the fifth grade level effective this year meaning, soon, a high school freshman will only have three years of playing experience under their belt, effectively destroying the high school program which demands a certain level of proficiency to be able to compete in the fall season.
I’m not going to bore you with all the grim details of how teachers are getting laid off and the remaining teachers are having their slashed salaries supplemented by band booster programs or how none of these programs can afford instrument repairs, new music or, in some cases, copies and paper. But what I will bore you with is how you can help.
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past two decades, you know that a number of studies have, repeatedly, shown the importance of music education in a young persons life. Test scores go up, math is easier learned, and the social benefits to belonging to the largest club on campus can never be truly measured. The majority of “band kids” look back on those years as the most fun, important times of high school and count their bandmates as life long friends. It was band that led me to my wife!
In my high school years, if I remember correctly, the band and color guard consisted of about 145 people or, roughly 12% of the school population. What other club can claim 12% membership? None. What other teacher on campus can claim that they have a class with 145 students every morning, every Saturday, every Wednesday night and that this class goes unchanged, except for freshmen replacing graduates, for four years? None. I’m not saying that band is the most important extra-curricular activity but when it comes time to slashing funding, why do they always pick the one program that services the most students at the least cost?
Sports are important too and I’m not going to engage that debate but try telling the school administration that your band isn’t going to football games anymore and they will blow a gasket. At the school I teach at, the band is expected to be in uniform at every football game, perform at every rally, and we have to send a pep band to every basketball game and, as a private school, we are often asked to perform for mass services and other ceremonial events. Clearly, it is viewed with great import to have a music program in the school so why, then, are so many districts insisting on slashing these programs?
If you’ve ever been in band, take a few minutes to write a check or ask your company to give a donation or donate your own time or services to help these guys out. The teachers are stretched thin, often having to teach at their primary school and several elementary schools, with hardly fair compensation for their time. It is so important to keep these programs alive, to continue to inspire kids to learn about music, to refine their education to include arts, to support the sports and theater groups on school and, in cases like mine, to teach a skill set that is marketable and specialized for a life long career.
I’ve gone on long enough but let’s not also forget that community colleges and state universities also fall victim to these budget cuts and their programs are suffering as well. I play in a night band at a local college where a brand new, beautiful theater was just completed (built with money received when the economy was booming) and they don’t have any money to actually mount shows. Does this seem right? These aren’t performance groups out of some guys garage, these are schools, institutions for education and the foundation for our society. If you’ve elected a representative that signed off on any budget cuts to any educational program, change your vote next time around and, like I said above, support the local music programs in your area. It’s as simple as going to the concert and dropping five bucks at the ticket window.
Please, help.
Twas the night before morning and riding along
The Beach Boys were singing a holiday song.
The harmonies all were crafted with glee
In hopes that a hit their new song would be.
But amongst all the lyrics and jingle bell hop
I only sang along when that one guy yelled bop.
The Beach Boys Christmas album has joined the ranks of Phil Spector and Elvis Presley as a classic collection of pop holiday music from the 1960’s and for all the great music on their album, I can only sing along with the “Bop” in the background vocals to “The Man With All The Toys.” I tried singing to the rest, I don’t even know the words but man, when they start bopping, I start hopping. It has become a Christmas tradition for me and I’m sure I’m not the only one so, in the spirit of giving, I give to you a classic Christmas sing-along tune. Enjoy.
Luckily, fairy jazz is one of my specialties. I love some of the directions you get in musical theater books. I just did a show where the direction was “not James Bond guitar.” The thought had never crossed my mind until I read that!
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“There’s nothing classier than boring jazz music.” — Michael Scott, The Office