Songwriting

I have written far more here about performing than songwriting. Songwriting is another whole 'thing'. When people ask me how I do it, I don't really know. Sometimes I have words and I can sense a melody/mood/chords. Sometimes I have music and the words don't come....until a phrase sticks in my head and the whole song gets written around it. Sometimes it all comes at once. I don't really believe right now in 'inspiration'....if you mean inspiration as a deep feeling that takes you away and makes you have to write. I write next to nothing that is not an assignment from class...but what i write on assignment gets as good review as what i write because the 'muse' moves....

I went to a song writers song circle last night. I had no idea of what I was going into....but these are professional (!!!!!!) songwriters who make their living writing/performing. I was more than a little out of my league. I know I will certainly benefit from my experience, but likely more as a guitar player than a writer....they challenged every one of my song not on the melody or lyrics or feel, but on the 'old three or four chord thing', while also telling me, some of the most known songs are built on three chords!!!! They challenged me (it was me, a man and a woman) to add sevenths and sixths and minors and get rid of the pick....

Last night it didn't feel like a challenge, last night it felt like they were telling me I wasn't good enough. Today it feels like a challenge to learn my scales so I can add those notes in my guitar playing, not just my melody (that was very helpful...now that i think of it.....C. told me 'you are singing an A, it is in your melody, add it to the guitar part there')

I don't know how you do that stuff while singing, though....LOL...

Other songwriting experiences I have had so far, and recently....hearing an mp3 of a friend doing my song. Wow. Did it better than I did it, too.... Strange to hear someone take your words and melody for themselves.

I also recently heard one of my songs played with a band acoustic and another song played with a band electric, and some other songs played late at night accompanied by a friend who seemed to hear what i had in my head, he was so ON THE MARK. Sharing my songs with other musicians is a blast and i hope to do much more of that. I have had people comment to me after listening to my mp3s here (not the best way to hear my music, btw) and played for people live in private settings (much better than the recordings). All in all, it has been a positive experience and I thank all of you who appreciate what i am doing and let me know (oh, and i also appreciate you folks who don't like my stuff and refrain from flames!!!)

Time to get ready to go to my next experience....a song circle set up as a performance....last time it was GREAT playing there....Ramsdell Library, Housatonic, MA at 2pm if you are around....

Neil Young Photo

Ok. I really like this picture and want to post it here....

Weekend Jam

What a great weekend!! Sorry to those who couldn't make it...we had a great time.

Friday night found some of us stuffed (i have a tiny house) into my livingroom for an acoustic warmup evening....we played guitar and sang until about 2am.....Neil, Dylan, Williams, Prine....lots of different music--got us in the groove for sure....

Saturday we got up and hung around and played a bit but mostly talked and got ready to head out to Davids at noon....
I, Marilyn, was actually EARLY to get to someplace....thanks to my friends here, I am sure....

We pulled up to Davids house, which is really like going to a retreat somewhere....a large house in the Berkshires on the side of the ski slope...yes RIGHT THERE. We set up and started playing and although we each took short breaks, as a band I don't think we really stopped until dinner....supplied by nan and david--delicious!!!!--and it was back to the music. We again played a wide variety of songs and styles (we did a round robin/song circle, so that everyone had a chance to play the songs they liked best). David played us his new acoustic fingerpicking song, which I just love....Powderfinger and Time Fades Away got new treatment with a banjo solo....we found new harmonies and guitar parts for other songs....there was a lot of great creativity happening, which we did not capture in recordings at all.....but we who were there know the good sounds that got made, and we even have an audience that will verify (except i was told that if we played surfer joe one more time, i might have been hit....LOL)

While we were still moving, we packed up davids space and left for our next destination....Jill's country home....where we finally winded down another acoustic songfest about 3am....needless to say, no one picked up the guitar Sunday morning, I think my fingers have blisters on top of the callous'!!!!!

I want to thank you all for coming....Jim for the great drumming (i wished we had been a little more attentive to your song requests!!!!), Mark for his great choices of D C G songs, guitar playing and vocals, Nan for her harmony, guitar and songs.....David for hosting us, feeding us, providing whatever interesting instruments to spice up the sound, playing bass for us, and some of those leads were RIPPING!!!! Very, very cool......Deb, thanks for being the greatest audience, Jill for the bed, food and laughs, Kathy for the wonderful friendship and Wanda for once again making me laugh!!!

I had needed this weekend so badly and today i feel like i am energized for the coming week....thank you all so much for making it such a great time!!!!!

Sing Alongs

I just recently sent this to a mailing list, but it is much like the sort of stuff i like to put here....so here it is!!

sing alongs....

one of my favorite singing moments (and yeah, i am wracking them up as much as i can ....ie, i play and sing with folks every single chance i can....)

i was at a song circle and it was late and it was my turn, but half the group decided to leave (yeah, right when it was MY turn!!!)

so i started to play 'leaving on a jet plane'
i know, hokey song, but people LIKE it
and you know, all those people stopped shuffling their things, some guitars got pulled back out of their cases, and we all sang that song together...it was SO COOL, made me feel so good.....i love pulling people into a song like that...

happened again when i played a bar song circle and had all the drunk folks at the bar, singing that song!!!!
THAT is fun...didn't matter what it SOUNDED like....the looks on peoples faces as they sang at the top of their lungs and smiled and dreamed....it was SO COOL....

so, my thing is....just sing/play and be happy....
it is all good
music is for the good feel, not the perfection....

1000 Hits

I have had 1000 hits to my blog since I started counting....Who are all you folks? LOL!!! Just for the record, *I* was the 1000th....