|
Guitar News Weekly Edition #161 |
||||||||
|
September 24, 2001 |
|||||||||
|
KIRK'S COLUMN Hello again, fellow guitarists. I write this latest article from the other side of September 11th 2001, the day none of us will ever forget. We were preparing for bedtime here in Australia, when the news flash came. We watched live as our World changed forever, and the sorrow and apprehension I feel is profound. I can only imagine what it must be like to have lost friends or loved ones in the destruction we witnessed. My heart goes out to all of you who are in that sorry position. The most moving moment for me, that awful night, was when the Members of Congress spontaneously burst into song after addressing the nation. They all sang so beautifully, so meaningfully. I am not a religious man, but I came as close as I'll ever be, listening to their subdued version of God Bless America. It also struck me that it was Music, capital M, that was helping these men and women, some of the most powerful people on Earth, find comfort in their time of need. What is it about these organized sound waves that has such an effect on us? I have sat daily with my guitar for 42 years now, wondering about that question. The sound of a well tuned chord -- of any description -- still fills me with something I can't put a name to; that we can sing a tune in our heads blows my mind; that songs can bring back moments long gone -- downright spooky; that sound can be crystallized into twelve notes and and generate an infinity of music -- you must be kidding. Before I ever got my first guitar I had already made one: piece of wood, couple of screws and some wire. I just wanted to hear those wires twang when I tightened them up. In fact, I wanted to watch them twang. I realized the sound I was hearing was the blur I was watching. My 11 year old brain had no trouble seeing that low notes equal slow/wide blur, high notes equal fast/narrow. You can imagine how incredibly thrilled I was when I finally had a real instrument all calibrated to make music. I was already in love with the physics of it, now I could get to work on the art of it. I'm still working at it. It's said that music is the first thing we become aware of in the womb. There are a few tunes I can listen to now, big band numbers that were favorites of my father, and I swear I'm remembering a time before I was born. I know he used to play those records daily, and loud. He loved his music. The melodies, instrumentation, arrangements, timing, feel ? everything about them is engrained in my being -- I just know that they precede my first real memories. Perhaps this is why Music has such a hold on us. It is the one sense that was already processing data while we were still in the womb. Music is as familiar, and reassuring, to us as our mother's voice.
In other news, I have finished, finally finished, the book version
of www.guitarforbeginners.com and my wonderful partner Clancy has done a fantastic job organizing the new Slide Rule. She sure knows her way
around an iMac. We are proud to say that we have designed, and now
print and bind our new book, which comes with the new adaptation of the
Slide Rule. The original version from my other book PlaneTalk (http://www.lorange.kirk.net) crystallizes the visualization 'trick' I describe in the book; this new version has six double sided inserts
which show at a glance where all barre chords are, but more importantly,
is a graphic reminder of the guitar works. The site is there of course, free. Please drop in and visit.
Remember, you can download a bunch of free slide guitarry tunes at: Everybody keep on twangin' out there.
All the best,
|
|
|
|
Back To This Week's Contents
Subscribe
|
Archive
|
