The Moonlighting Student

Playing around with noise

July 10th, 2008 7:55 am —  54 views

Inspired by various factors, I’ve once again picked up my guitars.

As a way to quiet my mind and exercise my left hand, I’ve taken to practicing my guitar lately. Not that I have a lot of time for this, but a few minutes in the mornings and sometimes in the evenings lets me explore a world of sound.

But honestly I can’t play worth a crap. I can pluck some chords and play some scales, but I don’t have a scientific or pragmatic approach to improving my playing ability. As time and connections permit, I hope to change that. In the past, I quickly hit a plateau of playing and become discouraged. I see it coming.

In thinking about improving my musical skills, I sometimes reflect on why I’m drawn to playing an instrument. Besides dabbling with guitars through the years, I’ve never concentrated on learning how to read music and play something. The more I get into it though, the more I appreciate the precision, sensitive touch, and coordination needed to make noise you can feel.

In short, I play around with noise because it makes me use my brain in a way that I don’t in my daily life. It is exercise for my dumber-than-right left hand as well as parts of my brain that don’t get used much. Working the brain is always worthwhile.

I know fall classes are fast approaching and another moonlighting project is staring at me, waiting to burst out of it’s gates. Maybe my guitars will end up collecting dust like they were before. Or will end up sitting with my watercolor equipment, lonely but not forgotten. There just isn’t enough time.

Image: A picture taken just for this post then deleted from my camera. This is the mess of lesson books, sheet music, guitar picks, and foot pedals that has gathered near my office desk. Quick accessibility to make noise.

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4 Comments 

Comments

4 Responses to “Playing around with noise”

  1. Dawn on July 10th, 2008 6:44 pm

    Music is worth pursuing. There’s that moment when it all comes together and you’re amazed that you’re making that sound…that you’re lucky enough to be in the middle of something so cool. Sort of a runner’s high without the sweat.

  2. Spike on July 10th, 2008 10:07 pm

    Sound versus noise. I can work with that.

    I look forward to that happening someday. I remember a time I played Greensleeves around Christmas in church on my classical guitar. I sat on the steps to the pulpit and worked the sound. This was ages ago…maybe 20 years even.

    Everything was going well until I forgot the pattern of the song. So I just improvised a bit…drew it out and played a few extra bars then wrapped it up. To this day I don’t know if anybody noticed or not, but I knew.

  3. Dawn on July 10th, 2008 10:56 pm

    You’ll always know, but most people don’t know you didn’t mean it to turn out that way. That’s the beauty of music. Most of the time.

  4. Dr. Tom Bibey on July 20th, 2008 5:33 pm

    Hey Spike,

    Thanks for the visit over to my blog.

    As you have read, I am a mandolin player.

    I have a thing I call the ten year rule- I tell folks the transformation to anything- doctor, golfer, or mandolin player takes a decade, so just to enjoy the ride. It comes with time.

    I promised my bluegrass guys I’d learn in ten years. I barely got in under the wire, but after another fifteen years I am getting a handle on it.

    Dr. Tom Bibey

    drtombibey.wordpress.com

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