Merry Christmas To All

Getting colder....

Yesterday was a challenge with a good outcome. Some subzero temperatures combined with a wicked windchill was the cause of a frozen water pipe - pro tip if you live in a locality prone to severe winter weather (and in fairness we haven’t had a winter with temps this low, this early for a number of years in the Upper Left Corner), a hairdryer is a handy thing to have close. I actually got the water moving again just a few minutes after I posted the “No Post Today” from yesterday, but spent the rest of the day periodically checking for leaks and other frozen pipes, now it looks like we’ll be out of the below zero and single digit temps for a week or so anyway. Thanks, polar vortex….

Last Week’s Bonus Round: "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" is a song recorded by American country music artist Darius Rucker, lead singer of the band Hootie & the Blowfish. The song, co-written by Rucker and Clay Mills, was released in May 2008 as Rucker's first single from his album Learn to Live. The song made Rucker the first new individual black artist to chart a number one country hit since Charley Pride's "Night Games" reached the top of the charts in September 1983.” Credit: Wikipedia

Very cool song, fun to play - written in AMaj, capo on 2 for the easy version, leave the capo off to challenge yourself with a few barre chords, common time (4/4) and a relatively slow 75 BPM. Find the chord chart on Ultimate Guitar or play along with it on Chordify.

Gotta be honest, this wasn’t a random Bonus Round choice. Note that Mr. Rucker co-wrote this with Mr. Clay Mills, who authored the article we discussed over the last couple of weeks, The Art Of Choosing ("Choosing" - Clay Mills). Last week I said I would write a comment to the folks at Songtown with an invitation to Mr. Mills to comment or even guest author on Michael Acoustic. I did, no response (yet), but it’s the season for miracles, so I’ll let you know…

And just for the record (get it?), I’d love to offer Mr. Rucker the same opportunity to guest author or do an interview, after all, it really is the season for miracles, might as well dream big….

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For today, since yesterday I was busy enjoying the joys of home ownership and the all too often need for associated maintenance and small repairs, some links, a not so traditional Christmas Spotify playlist and a wish for all.

The links:

Exploring the co-write subject a little further with Mr. Mills’ co-writer Mr. Marty Dodson at Songtown:

Co-writing Questions

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From Griff Hamlin at Blues Guitar Unleashed, a video and tab:

Acoustic 8 Bar Blues

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From Acoustic Guitar Magazine’s podcast series - it’s a 2 part series and part 2 may be behind a paywall, not sure:

Electronics in Acoustics

For the record, I’m a big fan of onboard electronics - trying to mic an acoustic is difficut under really great conditions, which are all too rare.

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From Disc Makers, 5 separate links packed with cool stuff. Definite warning: some of these are way down in the weeds - but that’s a place you need to go sometimes to understand the “why” of music rather than just relying on the “how” alone. The two questions help answer each other (kinda cryptic, but true):

Math And Music

Find that next chord - yeah, ok - waaay down there - but if you’re writing, this concept can turn a 3 or 4 chord “wonder” into something special

Sequencing An Album

Songs For Your Voice - this is about finding songs to cover in your vocal range, but you can turn that on it’s head once you find some in order to write your own songs in your vocal range - and that kinda goes to knowing how to transpose to and from different keys - see previous posts about the Nashville Notation (Numbering) System to help with that.

Difference Between An Engineer And A Producer

So with that I’m going to watch Die Hard and A Charlie Brown Christmas and make a dessert for a family Christmas dinner - a thank you and Merry Christmas to all my readers!

Bonus Round: Gordon wrote, Nanci covered

What I’m Listening To For Christmas - not the traditional/usual…but some of my favorites

Cheers and keep playing!!

Michael Acoustic