It's been a fun month, and I've been learning alot. First off, breathing. Week #5 definitely required that I pay closer attention to my breathing. Also, the fingerstyle was really a challenge - up to now I really haven't done much more than fool around with 'Morning Has Broken'. I've also been experimenting to try and get better dynamic flow and interest in every song - using a variety of right-hand techniques and volume control. I used to have only one volume, loud. But now I'm learning that very often 'less is more.'
I'm learning that the seemingly easy songs from the radio are often more complicated than they seem. Challenging ranges from lowest to highest notes. Difficult timing issues. And of course, all the challenges are intensified 10 times, by that little red light.
Here are the songs for February:
Week 5: Hallelujah, Leonard Cohen, 1984
Week 6: Free And Easy Down The Road I Go, Dierks Bentley
Week 7: Remember When, Alan Jackson, 2003.
Week 8: Amazing Grace, William Cowper, 1772
It's funny how the Song Of The Week is affecting my emotions. I knew it would be a big time commitment and that it might be hard to keep up with the constant weekly deadline. But I wasn't prepared for the wierd emotions that would come along with this gig. At weeks #1 and 2 it was a big rush - new and exciting adventure. Weeks #3 - 4 were immense frustration as I seemed to spend more time fighting with broken computers and recording solutions than I actually did working up songs. Week # 5 - 6, I've been feeling like on a treadmill that's wound up full bore and I was afraid I'd crash and burn. I was thinking things like, "What if I get sick, and can't record for a couple weeks (I get bronchitis a couple times per year)? This is crazy busy - how can I possibly maintain this crazy pace for 46 whole more weeks!!! Eeeeeek.
Well, I did a smart thing. I pushed myself to work up a few extra songs over the month instead of the 'required' 1 per week. Now I feel this wonderful sense of relief, and I think I will be able to get back into the fun of playing and recording :-) The other thing I did was to realize that I've finally got a video/audio that while it's not as good as I'd like, it's alot better than when I started and it's perfectly good for what I'm posting on YouTube. I'm going to not worry about perfecting the technical stuff right now, and that's relieved a lot of pressure from this SOTW process. Rock on baby.
Another thing that is funny is the stage fright that comes with recording YT videos. Somebody over on the AcousticGuitarForum.com made reference to the "red light fever" and how I would soon become more comfortable recording. Well it's sort of true - I'm generally feeling more at ease when the red light comes on, but it is amazing how the red light can make you go crazy. I was trying to start out another song with a simple 8 bar arpeggio intro - G///Em///C///D///x2. Do you think I could get it right - took me literally 20 takes. Then there's that sinking feeling in your gut when you get 7/8 of the way through a song and you panic and flub it up. I guess I'm used to making flub ups when I'm playing for a crowd live, I just cover it up, keep smiling, and keep going - alot different when you're under the "red light fever"...
Bring it on March, can't stop me now!
