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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Cruel to be Kine

Cruel to be Kine

by Jewish Steel|  February 16, 201810:00 pm| 60 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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This post was overtaken by fast moving Mueller events earlier today so I’m reposting it now.

Don’t ever let some snooty keyboard player tell you that they invented the Theme and Variations. It was us, the fretboard players! I have a theory why we did so; the particular technical demands of the instrument require lots of practice to get a piece of music under one’s fingers. Guitarists can be trained to sight-read fluently, but in general we don’t. We hole up in our bedrooms or studios or dining room tables and hammer away at something for weeks or months or even years. So, the stuff we learn carves a deep groove. Plus we want to get value for our effort, so we come up with ways to spin stuff out another sixteen bars or times through the verse. Variation comes naturally to us. Even intermediate players feel the call to improvise and compose. Learning guitar music is quite a solitary pursuit, too. There’s no conductor beating time and telling us we’re done with our part, no other musicians to yield to. We can just go on and on if the fancy takes us.  That’s my theory, anyway.

As I mentioned earlier this week, I am working up a set of stuff suitable for background music for happy hours and the like. I’ve decided that it will take the shape of a walk through music history. Partially for aesthetic purposes and also for practical ones. My repertoire is spread pretty evenly from the Renaissance up to the 20th century. I tell you this to illustrate how a a swell idea blossoms into an arduous task, an untenable ordeal, and finally a high-minded failure. But it keeps me off the pavement.

The vihuelaist (the vihuela is a cousin of the guitar) Luis de Narvaez  set of “differencias” or variations was the first ever published. This is his Guardame las Vacas which is in a slightly different in character. It is a set of variations based not on a theme but a ground. That is, a set of chords that repeats over and over. If you listen closely you can hear the harmony I play repeats while what goes over the top becomes increasingly more elaborate. Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe” is a bit like that, for reference. If you listen to his guitar part you will find rather than strumming some set pattern he varies it with almost every iteration. Did he know he was partaking of a centuries old guitar tradition? Very likely, I think!

Still a little rough (I just started it in earnest a few weeks ago), but coming around nicely. I’m like the only classical player I know who doesn’t know this one already. Shameful. Just one of those odd lacunas in one’s education.

I think both Luis de Narvaez and Jimi Hendrix would recognize a tip jar when they see it. And this is mine. It is the fund that’s split between all eventual
Democratic nominees in House districts currently held by Republicans.

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Reader Interactions

60Comments

  1. 1.

    Amir Khalid

    February 16, 2018 at 10:10 pm

    Thanks for the words on what it is to be a guitarist. This novice needs to hear such things.

  2. 2.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 16, 2018 at 10:10 pm

    I commented earlier, before you pulled it, that this thread title is AWESOME!

    The cow-kine pair is highly unusual in that the singular and plural forms share no letters. To the best of my knowledge, there are only two other singular-plural pairs (ETA: in English) with no letters in common.

  3. 3.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 16, 2018 at 10:21 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: and those are?

  4. 4.

    DougJ

    February 16, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    In the right measure

  5. 5.

    Steve in the ATL

    February 16, 2018 at 10:22 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: exactly. She’s such a tease.

  6. 6.

    MomSense

    February 16, 2018 at 10:24 pm

    Lovely playing.

  7. 7.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 16, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    @Steve in the ATL: god, it’s been seventeen minutes, I’m dying here

  8. 8.

    Davebo

    February 16, 2018 at 10:28 pm

    Nice!

    As a player myself I’m not sure I’d put something like this out there! A brave and accomplished playa!

  9. 9.

    The Dangerman

    February 16, 2018 at 10:33 pm

    I hear “fretboard” and “background music”, I instantly think Chapman Stick (maybe as I’d love to be able to play one, but I have more than my fair share of thumbs):

    Example

    ETA: Friday night, + ???

  10. 10.

    Frank Wilhoit

    February 16, 2018 at 10:36 pm

    You’re assuming that all variations are figural variations. For a different perspective, check out my Variations on a Theme of Thomas Campion.

  11. 11.

    bystander

    February 16, 2018 at 10:40 pm

    I was hoping it was thread about Three’s Company second banana Richard Kine.

    Since I can’t revel in that, may I remind everyone we haven’t heard anything about Wretched Gretchen forever?

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 16, 2018 at 10:45 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    What, you think I’m just going to hand you the answer? It’s a puzzle.

  13. 13.

    efgoldman

    February 16, 2018 at 10:46 pm

    Don’t ever let some snooty keyboard player tell you that they invented the Theme and Variations. It was us, the fretboard players!

    Woa! You’re way older than I thought. You were extant in the 15th century?

  14. 14.

    debbie

    February 16, 2018 at 10:53 pm

    I’m not a musician, but I’ve had roommates who were, and many years ago, one of them taught me “Axis Bold as Love.” Hendrix had very, very large hands.

  15. 15.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 16, 2018 at 10:54 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    god, it’s been seventeen minutes, I’m dying here

    It took me a couple of days to come up with the answers. ?

  16. 16.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 16, 2018 at 10:55 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: ??‍♂️

  17. 17.

    Another Scott

    February 16, 2018 at 10:56 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I did not know that.

    :-)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  18. 18.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 16, 2018 at 11:09 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: ?

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 16, 2018 at 11:11 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: ?

    ETA wordpress version of smiling moon emoji sux boo

  20. 20.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 16, 2018 at 11:30 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    ??

    ETA: You’re right, the one that posts is nothing like the one in the emoji library — or the preview post, for that matter.

  21. 21.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 16, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yeah the Apple version (or something like it) is what I was hoping for.

  22. 22.

    DanR2

    February 16, 2018 at 11:32 pm

    If you want to see the happier side of the internet, look up some guitar tutorials and song covers on youtube. You can actually read the comments and feel good about humanity.

  23. 23.

    Jerzy Russian

    February 16, 2018 at 11:34 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    How about I (singular) and we (plural)? Or me (singular) and us (plural)?

  24. 24.

    Aleta

    February 16, 2018 at 11:34 pm

    Thought of one, but it can’t be right. No confidence. But seems to be one.

  25. 25.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 16, 2018 at 11:34 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: I assumed pronouns didn’t count, but I also didn’t want to ask and start thinking about it too hard or I’d go crazy.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 16, 2018 at 11:35 pm

    @Jerzy Russian:

    You got it! Exactly right!

  27. 27.

    Jewish Steel

    February 16, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    @Amir Khalid: I know some real boneheads who play guitar. You got this, Amir. It just takes patient, persistent pressure.

    @SiubhanDuinne: It’s such a brutal pun I fully expect to be brought up before the blogger ethics panel. But don’t leave us hangin’! What are they?

    @DougJ: Married Carlene Carter, the sly limey!

  28. 28.

    Aleta

    February 16, 2018 at 11:38 pm

    @Jerzy Russian: I’m thinking of that 2nd one.

  29. 29.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 16, 2018 at 11:40 pm

    @Jewish Steel:

    Jerzy Russian got them both @23: I/we and me/us.

    So easy to assume that it’s limited to nouns but that’s what makes it a bit challenging.

  30. 30.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 16, 2018 at 11:41 pm

    This funky cut provided 20 minutes of shake.

    The Crossrhodes

  31. 31.

    Another Scott

    February 16, 2018 at 11:41 pm

    TheHill:

    [ Image – “Text WAKANDA to 91990 to Register to Vote” ]

    An activist group has launched a voter registration effort aimed at black voters at screenings of the “Black Panther” movie nationwide.

    Members of the Electoral Justice Project, an offshoot of the Movement for Black Lives, are seeking to “mobilize the black electorate” and increase political engagement with the #WakandaTheVote campaign, the website Blavity reported.

    Wakanda is the fictional African nation featured in the long-anticipated Marvel film “Black Panther.”

    Kayla Reed, Jessica Byrd and Rukia Lumumba founded the Electoral Justice Project last year, and told Blavity that the movement has been effective “because we meet our communities where they are, whether that’s in the streets, at the city council meeting, or in the movie theater.”

    […]

    Excellent.

    More of things like this, please.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  32. 32.

    Jewish Steel

    February 16, 2018 at 11:41 pm

    @MomSense:
    @Davebo: Thanks, you guys!

    @The Dangerman: I’ve heard these before. That is one kooky instrument!

  33. 33.

    Omnes Omnibus

    February 16, 2018 at 11:42 pm

    @Another Scott: Co-sign.

  34. 34.

    Mike J

    February 16, 2018 at 11:44 pm

    Special counsel Robert Mueller’s office has told a federal judge it has found evidence that Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman, committed bank fraud not addressed by the indictment last October in which he was charged with money laundering and failure to register as a foreign agent.

    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/02/16/mueller-manafort-bank-fraud-accusations-416509

  35. 35.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 16, 2018 at 11:45 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ah, it was personal pronouns!

    One of my favorite lexical forms is the causative verb, which is a form of [transitive verb x] that means “to cause [object] to [x1]”. Older Germanic languages show the tense and voice of many verbs by inflecting the vowel; in English these have stuck around for things like run/ran, sing/sang/sung. There used to be a causative inflection, which means that you could make a verb into a causative verb by changing the core sound in a certain way. This survives in modern English as ‘fell’, or ‘to cause [object] to fall’. I believe that’s the only example, though I seem to remember a second being taught to me at some point.

  36. 36.

    Jewish Steel

    February 16, 2018 at 11:49 pm

    @Frank Wilhoit: Wow! Very interesting. I’ve bookmarked this to give it some real attention.

    @efgoldman: Clean livin’, my friend. Clean livin’.

    @debbie: From some of the films I’ve seen it looks like his middle phalanx is as wide as the fretboard. Big hands aren’t necessarily an advantage, but his seemed to do him no harm.

  37. 37.

    Villago Delenda Est

    February 16, 2018 at 11:50 pm

    It’s a very good time.

    @Another Scott: Also co-signing.

  38. 38.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 16, 2018 at 11:54 pm

    Wow Hanyu just crushed it.

  39. 39.

    Jewish Steel

    February 16, 2018 at 11:56 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Ah, that’s a good puzzle.

    @HumboldtBlue: I’m digging the affirmative action white guitarist.

    @Mike J: If Mueller wants to drop more fun every time I put this post up THEN I WILL POST THIS UNTIL MY FINGERS BLEED.

  40. 40.

    Jewish Steel

    February 17, 2018 at 12:07 am

    @Mike J: And if I read this correctly it sure looks like Mueller squeezing Manafort’s balls in the barber chair a la Gene Hackman in Mississippi Burning. Satisfying.

  41. 41.

    Aleta

    February 17, 2018 at 12:16 am

    @Major Major Major Major: He’s unbelievable. Like a very old soul. Rippon makes me tear up though.

  42. 42.

    HumboldtBlue

    February 17, 2018 at 12:18 am

    @Jewish Steel:

    Represent.

  43. 43.

    JWR

    February 17, 2018 at 12:34 am

    Nice playing, Jewish Steel! As for me, a Rock centric guitarist, back in my late teens, early 20’s, I learned the first and probably only “classical” piece I remember being drawn to, which was Steve Howe’s “Mood For A Day”. It was a fun little piece to play, and not really Classical, but sadly, I’ve never been into classical guitar, either in playing or even listening to it. (Gimme my Page; my Hendrix; my Blackmore, my Beck, my Iommi, and on and on Ad nauseam.) And so good for you for being a “real” guitarist. ;-)

  44. 44.

    mike in dc

    February 17, 2018 at 12:38 am

    Another common guitar trick is to strum the chord, then play the individual notes of the chord as a melodic lead over the rhythm, taking advantage of the fact that the chords will resonate for a few moments after being played.

  45. 45.

    Jewish Steel

    February 17, 2018 at 12:55 am

    @JWR: Aw, man. I love all that stuff too.

    @mike in dc: Totally. That’s where it starts for us. We can be our own accompanist.

  46. 46.

    Jerzy Russian

    February 17, 2018 at 1:15 am

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I know what you mean. I had a student once who seemed full of these sorts of puzzles, like “name all of the countries that start with the letter I”, or “what English word changes its pronunciation when it is capitalized?” Great way to pass the night when you are at the telescope observing.

  47. 47.

    JWR

    February 17, 2018 at 1:23 am

    @Jewish Steel:

    @Amir Khalid: I know some real boneheads who play guitar. You got this, Amir. It just takes patient, persistent pressure.

    Not to mention that this patient persistence comes much more easily when one is 9-10 years old. But you’re right about @Amir Khalid being on the right track.

  48. 48.

    JWR

    February 17, 2018 at 1:25 am

    @Jewish Steel:

    @JWR: Aw, man. I love all that stuff too.

    I kinda figured as much. ;-)

  49. 49.

    JWR

    February 17, 2018 at 1:47 am

    @JWR: Just extending my comment… What I wrote about learning to play geetar being easier the younger one is also has to do with a balls-out, stubborn belief that one day I’d really be able to play this or that riff or song. At least that’s how it was for me, and I never let that feeling go.

    ETA: “Never give up!” is my motto.

  50. 50.

    Jewish Steel

    February 17, 2018 at 1:48 am

    @JWR: My best students always came from the sticks. The tiny little towns out in the cornfields around my city. Nothin’ to do out there but practice!

  51. 51.

    Jewish Steel

    February 17, 2018 at 1:51 am

    @JWR: Yeah, as a young musician I had a lot of older players tell me that they were definitely not the best player in their cohort. Just the most persistent. I took that to heart for sure.

  52. 52.

    JWR

    February 17, 2018 at 2:17 am

    @Jewish Steel:

    I had a lot of older players tell me that they were definitely not the best player in their cohort. Just the most persistent.

    Unfortunately for me, the only older player I regularly saw was one of those “snooty” jazz guitarists who looked down at little people like me and my ilk. His name was Kenton Youngstrom, who I think is still around, playing and teaching professionally.

    PS. Yep, here he is. Good for him. Really!

  53. 53.

    Matt

    February 17, 2018 at 6:17 am

    My favorite theme and variations was Ponce’s on Folia d’Espagna. Variation IX makes a very nice encore. I first heard that one with the credits on an old Segovia video. My only solo concert, way back when, had Berkeley’s Theme and Variations in it. Unfortunately even though it went better than anything else, there’s no recording of it on the net. Instead there are OT things like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crs18iFjoo0&t=63s

  54. 54.

    HeartlandLiberal

    February 17, 2018 at 7:22 am

    What a pleasure to hear you play. Beautiful.

    At retirement six years ago my wife bought me a new guitar, to replace the one I had from teen years my mother gave me (it is now enshrined for that reason, of course), so I could try and relearn the few chords I knew as a stripling so many decades ago (half a century sounds about right). I have worked at it, along with learning picking patterns, in order to accompany myself singing my favorite songs, mostly Gordon Lightfoot, Ian Tyson, traditional ballads, some country stuff like Johnny Cash, an occasional heavily covered and reworked rock song. How could anyone not dream of playing like Neil Young? Or was it the guitar that played him. Never quite sure.

    What is funny, though, is how the arthritis that seems to come with age makes it hard as hell. But I persist anyway, because there is just so much satisfaction and joy.

    to complicate this tale a little more, my wife’s hearing has gotten so bad that even with her new hearing aids set on music program, it is hard for her to listen and “hear” the music anymore. At least the new hearing aids are letting her listen to music again and derive some enjoyment. It had become impossible with the first hearing aids which were four years old.

    My advice to everyone as I loom on 72nd birthday Monday (looking at you, John Cole), get in shape early and keep in shape, because old age is NOT for the unprepared and out of shape.

  55. 55.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    February 17, 2018 at 7:53 am

    Thread probably dead, but I just wanted to say if you ever get bored with the guitar, check out the harp guitar:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz7MAQzgiSs

    We have the CD this guy, John Doan, made of this music, and it gets played A LOT. A friend of ours, an accomplished classical guitarist, just bought himself a harp-guitar a year ago and taught himself one of these tracks.

  56. 56.

    cmorenc

    February 17, 2018 at 9:29 am

    @Jewish Steel:

    Guitarists can be trained to sight-read fluently, but in general we don’t. We hole up in our bedrooms or studios or dining room tables and hammer away at something for weeks or months or even years. So, the stuff we learn carves a deep groove. Plus we want to get value for our effort, so we come up with ways to spin stuff out another sixteen bars or times through the verse.

    A splendid example of this is the seemingly simple Carter Family classic that is most often, the first tune folks undertaking to learn flatpicking a guitar bluegrass or country-folk style undertake. As one fellow student put it: “it’s a very simple song to learn to play, a very hard song to learn to play well”. Although the song’s got a very simple chord structure (I-IV-V with a brief seventh chord passage early in the B section) and the essential melody notes are easy for even a novice to figure out by ear – nevertheless the heart of the tune involves playing a cascading quick sequence of hammer-ons, pull-offs, and string jumps that require extensive solo practice to pull off smoothly and in time. After mastering a basic version, there are more challenging versions filled with crosspicking passages and improvisational licks – which also typically require long practice alone e.g. in a bedroom repeating a challenging passage over and over initially at such slow speed the tune is almost unrecognizable, incrementally over time increasing speed toward normal song tempo.

  57. 57.

    laura

    February 17, 2018 at 9:31 am

    Nick Lowe for the Win?

  58. 58.

    Steeplejack

    February 17, 2018 at 10:33 am

    @cmorenc:

    Would it be an imposition to ask for the name of the “seemingly simple Carter Family classic”?

  59. 59.

    Jewish Steel

    February 17, 2018 at 1:12 pm

    @Matt: I sneaked a fragment of Mauro Guiliani’s Folias Variations into a version of St James Infirmary I used to play with an old band. True story!

    @HeartlandLiberal: I had more than a few retirees for students over my career. And quite a few people battling arthritis. Keep playing! It’s supposed to help keep the joints oiled up, so to speak.

    @cmorenc: Yes! part of my teaching repertoire.

  60. 60.

    Jewish Steel

    February 17, 2018 at 1:16 pm

    @laura: FTW

    @Steeplejack: Worried Man Blues, very likely. That’s the one I used. I can get you playing it in 15 minutes even if you’ve never touched a guitar in your life.

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