"Now I'll change your battery pack".

What a thrill it was to work with Micah this past summer and for "Frightmares".

We only had one rough moment and that was all me - sometimes you just wake up on the wrong side of the world you know?

So much to be thankful for - the dead wish they had my problems.

And are they real problems or "first world" problems.

You can guess.

Cheers all!

Mark

Dia de Muertos

The last few years someone has faithfully placed Adrian's picture at the shrine. 

This blesses me and comforts my soul.

Miss you Adrian.

Adrian Maxson Day of Service 2014

So I was just bumming around the internet seeing if anyone covered the event yesterday and I found a beautiful article written by a DaVinci student from last year. It was rainy and cold that day.

"Every stomach filled with happiness and satisfaction as the day came to an end. Adrian's waves of goodbye disguised as the wind blowing through the trees, the rain falling to the ground, his tears of joy..."

Thank you DaVinci Academy for your heartfelt dedication in continuing this tradition of service, and keeping Adrian's spirit of giving back in our hearts.

Booker T. Jones…plays my Strat! UPDATED

 

 Ogden Valley Roots & Blues Festival

August 23, 2014

Fender Strat provided by yours truly. An interesting story for sure. I couldn't take money for this - I'm in hopes of receiving s signed CD. God Bless ya' Booker T!

Update - no CD, I should have known. Anyway, still an interesting story.

So now the question - should I plug it in and see if any BTJ mojo has rubbed off?

Not too many posts lately, Lagoon has kept me busy, and now WSU is about to kick into gear.

Best from Mark

Jazzy ending...

Thanks again to AH for getting me to think outside the "common" chords. The last one is a stretch, but it's worth it.
Have an excellent day guitar friends!
Best from Mark

Seven years.

Adrian Leigh Maxson

August 31, 1988 - April 4, 2007

Scholarship

Goodbye old friend...

Wouldn't that be something if Cowboy was with Adrian - hiking and running in the mountains.

Thanks for being in our lives, and for your unconditional love and companionship.

We love you and we will miss you.

more chords

 See what you think of this.

A ii - V in the key of G, parallel movement in the top 2 voices, C sustained throughout.
Enjoy!

deck chairs

You may have heard this one before…

Something is so messed up that trying to fix it is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

And...

Even if you take the chairs apart, and then put them back together - you're still on the Titanic.

If you paint the chairs a nice new color - still on the Titanic.

Making the chairs believe they are luxurious leather couches - yep.

Sometimes the need to let something sink is the best plan. Hopefully no one will get hurt, and next time you can fly.

Wishing you an excellent day free of icebergs.

Bon voyage! 

Triple Guitar Threat

Saturday is quickly approaching - callbacks for the Lagoon 2014 season. In honor of this event I would like to post the following from "Elm Street". Dig it.

I lifted this straight off the piano arrangement, then we added the bends. Nick and Garret really made this come alive. "Neutron Star Collision", the last vocal tune of the show, followed by "Moby Dick".

Say what you will about them, but I think Muse is an amazing' band. Anyway, the more I listen to this the more I think there may have been a clinker - but hey, it's Rock n' Roll!

Up Way Too Early

So here we are again, 5 AM-ish and nothing better to do. Actually I have plenty to do, but somehow this item came up and I thought I would pass it along. The harmonic analysis is fussy I admit, and as you know there are many ways to label jazz chords. The underlying idea here is the symmetric movement. Use as a tag or outro. From my hands to yours - enjoy!

January 30, 2014

Looking at a busy day today in the lab. I would like to offer this little progression that's been running around in my head lately.

A series of suspensions, the harmonic analysis might be up for conversation.
Until the last chord the second and third voice from the top move in seconds - a very un-guitar sound to make. The first finger plays the top line until you get to the last measure.
Perhaps a nice outro for some standard or another?

Your feedback would be welcome.

Best from Mark

More Jazzy Chords

Another idea I find interesting is moving through a chord progression keeping more than one common note. In this instance the top 2 notes. On the penultimate chord feel free to add open E on the 6th string.

This could be used as an intro or an outro.

As with a lot of jazzy chords their ID can be ambiguous. I think I have it nailed here.

Enjoy!

Best from Mark

The Chord

Once upon a time in my pursuit of all things Allan Holdsworth I came across this beauty. Allan had written a book called "Reaching for the Uncommon Chord" and that's exactly what I was trying to do.

Labeling this can be tricky.

Is it the first 4 notes of a B major scale over an A pedal?

Is it the last 4 notes of an E major scale over an A pedal?

You decide.

If performed with all notes ringing open you get a nice nice "harpy" sound, I almost always arpeggiate this chord from top to bottom.

Thanks to A.H. for opening my mind to chords that are uncommon and beautiful.

Another post celebrating guitar geek-dom.

Your feedback is appreciated.

The Dark Side?

"I feel a presence in the range of 4k. A presence I haven't felt in a long time."
Happy Thursday!

Jazzy Geek Guitar

I am constantly looking for symmetric shapes on the neck. This may not be original but it fell on my fingers and ears, and now yours. Even in a jazz context I will scoop into each voicing with the whammy bar from below. Subtle and cool. I might also use something like this for an ending, or where I have multiple bars of anything major. Try this and give me your feedback. Cheers!

Happy 70th Jimmy Page

A shout out to someone who has influenced me greatly, anyone who plays rock guitar for that matter. The first time I heard "The Song Remains The Same" I was never the same.
God Bless ya' JP.
M.

Giving Thanks

January 5, 2014

Sunday is a good day to think about such things - leading me to recall 3 guitar instructors who went the distance for me when I was a punk kid who thought he was hot stuff.

James Lawrence Reid, Reno, Nevada
Ron Freshman, Reno, Nevada www.ronfreshman.com
Bill Moio, Reno Nevada billmoio.com

Thank you gentlemen, and thanks isn't really the right word.

Mark

January 3, 2014

January 3, 2014
The weekend before a new semester - the place was almost deserted. My ducks are in a row, and then not so much. Spent 45 minutes on the 7-string.
Here's something scary.

"Elm Street" @ Lagoon 2013

B.C. Rich "Son of a Rich" 6-string.

Let's see where this blog thing winds up.
???

Here's a shot of the 80's for you - originally a keyboard part in A flat major.

Be well all!