I'm going to try to embed some videos of my playing guitar here. I'm just sticking in the *.wmv file as a link, and assuming you have the plugins available to play them. This stuff is of interest only to family, friends and those who love me for myself.
I've been involved with music all my life. My father was a trumpet and cornet player who had been a soloist with Souza's band, and had played for the Boston Symphony Orchestra during WWII. I started learning trumpet and piano at a very young age, and played trumpet (actually cornet) until I was about 11 or 12, when my father died and I stopped. I'm afraid I was never the most diligent student. Started guitar at around 13 or 14, I think. My first teacher was surprised that I didn't know songs about little green apples. I learned a lot, in my mid-teens from a Berklee teacher named Mark French, who gave private lessons at his Gloucester home. Played the blues in "basement sessions" with my cousin, Michael & a couple of other kids. I was one of three guitarists trying out for spots in the two MIT Jazz bands c. '75. I was the one who didn't make it. It got to the point where I might not pick up the guitar for months at a time, but I finally started playing semi-seriously again a few years back. But it's very introverted playing - I never play with others, and I don't perform. Oughta do something about that, I guess.
The best way to characterize my guitar playing is... trying to play the notes I can almost hear... (Those little pauses when I drop the time for a sec are when I'm asking myself, "Wha' wazzat?")
These files are kinda big, and may take a while to download...
| Chaser... Oh No! | This one is particularly lame, 'cause my reach greatly exceeds my grasp (don't even keep time on the verse!), but I included it because I was actually surprised that I came as close (once or twice) as I actually did. Also posted this on Facebook, because I was annoyed at all those adds to learn to play blues with only 4 notes. This is a blues, and I do believe it has more than four notes... my pathetic attempt at "Straight, No Chaser." |
| Mona Lisa | Couple a short melodic instrumentals with more than a few muffs... "Mona Lisa" and "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White". |
| Cherries and Apples | If I could clean up my act, and use more than two-note harmonies, maybe some of these would actually sound good. |
| Mood I | Now we've got bad singing with a few muffed chords. No wonder my mood is indigo. |
| Satin | Chords, singing and a solo... what were those lyrics again? Well, I gave it a whirl... |
| Some kinda blues... | Couple of weird turnarounds, lots of muffs, but hey, I tried. |
Note: I had to put the actual video files on my other website, 'cause this crappy little Verizon "personal" site didn't have enough space. So don't be surprised when the URL "jumps" to a different domain.