Color Bloom

Aloha,

Writers try to be as colorful as possible, but sometimes it is just a matter of "timing." It is very important to keep a journal and write EVERYDAY so you can continually surprise yourself with little "discoveries." Then you will be pleasantly surprised when a piece of your writing comes into a full "color bloom," like a Bird of Paradise. I made my "discovery" of this little guy at just the right "time."         Enjoy!

                 

Genre: Nouveau Hawaiian

                       The Heart of the View

The moment you soared you were one of the few

With a joy so contagious your smile into view

Clearly outrageous so much life left to do

You blast and you jump into the heart of the view

Restless hearts talk and promises before sailing the blue 

So questless a start for a passionate few

Set sail keeping only uncharted water in view

Confiding in someone special like you

Out there in the heart of the view 

Do your part see your way through 

Wide worlds may wonder as you sail on the blue 

Of heart's little thunder in the heart of the view  

Down deep inside is your heart of a dream

That's the part of your story it's what makes you scream

It's the heart of the matter it's what makes you "you"

As you blast and you jump into the heart of the view

 

Genre: Jazz Blues

                         Just Now

A little lateral thinking, collateral drain

Couldn't we endure just a little more pain

Would you please leap, just a little sideways

A little outside of your, ingrained byways

As you pattern my image, spatter my spinach

Hey buddy does it really matter, my vintage?

Oh please don't simplify

I like those, complicated eyes

Someday I'll realize, how you...

Looked at me just now

There it is again, never knew where or when

But until then, I will endure and abide, somehow

Forever and a day, how you...

Looked at me just now

Surrealistic realism, bridges the schism

As you start to continue, you chisel my heart

I'll remember forever, and from now

When my last breath takes a bow, how you...

Looked at me just now

Hey buddy can you spare a dime?

Well OK maybe next time

Can you chime in later with some chow?

And then only then I may know, I'll make that show

On how you... looked at me, Just Now

   

Genre: Environmental Poetry

                           Charm Yourself 

So warm in your way, so charming your day

Are we really talking global?

No harm to say yes, they swarm I must confess

I must say, we do pay, day in and day out

What's that you say, expect and convey, a drought

Charm yourself out

Something out there, holds this thing together

So slight and fluffy, just like a feather

How is your father's father? And, what did Mother say?

Sooner or later, there's gonna' be love to pay

Nature will have her say, in this there can be no doubt, so

Charm yourself out

Comes a new day, let's all get together in our own way

By the way, how's the weather? Sonny, what's that you say? 

Sunny and warm, that's what they say

The upcoming trend, just around the bend

Brings a new day, more on its way

Hey! I figured it out, here's what it's all about

Charm yourself out

Guitar Lesson #3

Aloha!

                   Welcome to Beginning Jazz Guitar Lesson #3. As you have seen in Lesson #1 and #2, the left hand has been holding steady on the Fmajor7 (Fmaj7) chord. In this lesson we activate the little finger (pinky) of the left hand. By FRETTING the 3rd fret(D note) of the 2nd string (B string) with the little finger (pinky) of the left hand, we add a D note to our our Fmaj7 chord. This new chord also has another name: D minor with an added E note (with the "open" first string ringing). If you don't play the open E string (and on the video I'm not), you have simply a D minor(Dm) chord. Just by adding the left-hand little finger  pinky), you have added a new chord (Dm) to your repertoire! 

Watch and listen to the video.    

       As usual, I'm playing the guitar with my 5-finger right-hand style. As you listen, notice the light jazzy sound of the Fmaj7 chord for 4 beats (with the high open E note ringing). The next 4 beats, I place my pinky on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string (I don't strike the E string during these 4 beats), and play the new Dm chord with 4 fingers of my right hand. Notice on the video the dark TEXTURE of the Dm chord. This repeats back to 4 beats of light-textured Fmaj7 chord then  then back to 4 beats of dark-textured Dm chord in a cycle. 

       As guitarists, we want to change chords as seamlessly and painlessly as possible. Arriving at a new chord by simply altering one guitar note allows us to more easily play our SONG.

       By the way, did you hear Roswell singing on the video? If... you look closely, you can see the little guy.                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                   Enjoy!   

Dreams of Blue

Aloha,

Here are 3 examples of different genres in lyric writing 

for your song. 

Enjoy!

Genre: eFuture Poetry

Flash Bolero

Above the rising sea below the canopy

We seek the safety of our sentiment

Nature drums and motherhood comes

To rise above the sediment

Savage bang an ocean rang

Came the dance of the flash bolero

Fire words hearts stirred 

The dark horse of twilight ground zero

Dreams of blue the beauty of green too

Inspire in the cold and the dark

Muses merge museums emerge

Still the darkhorse of twilight sought its mark

A new canopy the blue sky would be

Above the dance of the flash bolero 

Below raging swells a calm ocean will dwell

Here motherhood awaits her hero

Genre: Blues 

                         What Happens Next

You warm your mind, as her heart grows cold,  

then worry grabs hold, down to your soul

A wise man will tell you, get it out of your head,  

sorry is a word that can end you' up dead

What's your hurry baby? Please tell me, or send me a text

Won't you tell me now baby, What Happens Next?

You manage your way. You say, " Come what may!"

But you can't stop the day, got dues to pay

day in and day out can't you can hear my heart shout?

There's got to be some, kind of way out..

Jimi and Dylan would shout, would say,  

Hey, What Happens Next?

What is going, to happen next?

Somebody tell me or send me a text

Baby won't you please,  don't stack the deck  

Just tell me honey, What Happens Next?

You say step up, drink from the cup, 

then talk to me like some kind of pup

You tell me remember, then you forget.  

Won't somebody tell me, What Happens Next?

Genre: Jazz Swing

                           Hunger the Night

You characterize, so strong

Up to the moment of your momentous little song

You guy wire your tension

Did I mention? This guy is wired for you?

You lead me through. Or is this just

Another little journey to find you, yourself, and you?

I gladly follow with no disguise, baby it's you, you..

Hot wire me wise

Intrigued, never fatigued, surely you must know

When you invite me, excite me, the exits are closed

So close you are, bringing that feeling of home from afar

Can I ride in your car in overdrive? It's true you hot wire me wise

The way I feel when you say you deal right from the heart

It's like we were, when we were right from the start

When we were younger we'd hunger the night, and listen to its cries

Then you would, hot wire me wise

You bring your story, on a stage of glory

In motion, with that look in your eyes, no one denies

Baby it you. You hot wire me wise

Flower Beach Song

Aloha! 

 I shot this on my way home.... the inspiration for today's lyric.

Genre: Jazz Pop

          Flower Beach Song

   

Though some light may

Naturally darken the view

When feelings have their say   

Life remains true

Out now in the bright lights

The glitz the glamor the fame

Mothers and love still remain

Back home from where you came

Do the best tell the world

Your heartfelt little songs

Embrace the human race

Sing the world belongs

And now as the summer goes 

So goes collective souls

Only the winter knows

How long yet thunder rolls

Eyes see clear into view 

Desert sands ocean blue

Stars shine on the morning cool

Warm memories be the jewel

 

Wake those hearts

To a beautiful sway

Start up ramparts

Let dreams have their say

Distant streams float magic boats

Where dreams can honestly say 

Together we made it 

Nothing will fade it

Our little history along the way

 

Paradise Flower

Aloha!

                   Here's a photo I shot a couple weeks ago. It's the inspiration for today's story.

                                 The Event Horizon

      The signature of normalcy that night never arrived. A lone officer dug through the rubble. Near the front of the building, Sgt Annie Anders closed her eyes as if to calm herself. When she opened her eyes she saw it. Her heart pulsed as she approached with her flashlight.

      "Well, I guess this answers one question ," she whispered with a sense of scientific discovery. 

       Her chest rose with deeper breaths now. Her boots left watery impressions as she scanned the remaining rubble through the night wetness with her flashlight, looking for another body. The shear wind was gone, but the drizzle remained.

         "Oh god!" she screamed silently, looking down.

      She imagined that the report would have to say there was no identification, but she knew better. 

     "He has a wedding band," she said softly. "and somewhere a wife and a ..." 

       She thought, a loving man.

       The rain pulsed as Annie's eyes followed her flashlight beam across the darkness over mounds of more rubble. She tried to calm herself, but nothing here gave her any comfort. 

       

       The only standing structure left was on the corner, down at the end of the block, an old Starbucks. Annie eased herself down the street to try to see something. 

       On a normal day, people would be safe inside there, she thought.

       "The weather station will call it a tornado, a night tornado." She looked up and noticed the street lights redden. 

       This was no windstorm, she thought. A tornado doesn't strike the heart of the city. No, this thing had all the earmarks of a gravity event. And this one had a non-random target cycle.

        Annie  went back to the man's body and waited for a response on her radio. She looked straight ahead, once in a while forcing herself to follow the beam of her flashlight. The force had sent things in a direction nobody expected. She looked down again at what she considered to be the body's only form of identification.

          "A gold band around his finger, that's all," she said aloud. "What a funny  thought." 

           This pile of rubble was once some kind of store. The remainder of the building, still standing, had been rented by a local church.

          "Another male seeking shelter." Annie's gaze turned gentle. "The force just crushed its will on him, had its way."

          A slight glimmer of sympathy began a slow melt within Annie. She thought about that golden ring on his hand and those cold hard bricks individually tightening their grip on his lifeless body.                            

           Gravity still having it's say, she thought, indenturing his body with creases like a newly minted jigsaw puzzle. 

           Annie tried her radio again.

           "Doesn't this thing ever work?" she said aloud. The radio remained silent.

           She looked down again, as if to offer a prayer. "... last moments locked in a battle with a pulsed force, until in the end, there was no more pulse for either."

            "Base.....come in base," Annie tried again. Still no answer.

            

 

           

           

   

Review Guitar lessons #1 and #2 from Waikiki

Aloha!

               Let's talk a little about the 1st two lessons of Beginning Jazz Guitar from beautiful Waikiki! 

As you may have noticed, the left hand continues to hold the Fmajor7 (Fmaj7) chord. The form I'm showing you has three "open" strings ringing and three "fretted" strings ringing. It is very important that you use the exact "fingering" I have shown on the videos. This is because we are soon going to want to go to another chord in the SIMPLEST and most PAINLESS way we can, so...make sure your left hand is exactly as I' ve shown you. Remember, a musician's goal is to learn a SONG and PERFORM.

                             Looking at the right hand, you may have noticed I'm using ALL 5 FINGERS of my right hand to play the guitar. This style is a little rare among guitarists, but you may hear the nice TEXTURE this style creates.

                            

                             Remember, the idea is basically simple: Guitar playing requires a "left hand machine" and a "right hand machine." Together these two "machines" will eventually give you MUSIC. As a beginning guitarist, you must work on and PRACTICE each one separately.

Have fun and...see you soon!

   

Guitar Lesson #2

Aloha!     This is a continuation of last month's beginning jazz lesson. If you have questions about the left hand chord form, please read Lesson #1 BLOG. For those of you who already know guitar chord names you can see this is a Fmajor7 (Fmaj7) chord. In this lesson we'll hold the Fmaj7 and look at a  5-finger right hand style. Later we will talk about why I feel this Fmaj7

form is one of the most important chord forms on the guitar. 

  

              Listen and watch the video below. You will hear 2 beats of "chord rhythm" and 2 beats of pattern picking, then the cycle repeats. The left hand Fmaj7 chord gives us the "jazzy" sound and the smooth right hand gives us a tap-your-foot clap-your hand feel. In other words, the right hand gives us the RHYTHM. Some theorists claim that without steady rhythm, nobody will listen to you....for very long anyway. So rhythm is the key(no pun intended) to holding your audience. 

        

               What exactly is "CHORD RHYTHM?"  Well a chord is 2 or more notes played at the same time. Rhythm is the pulse you feel. So 2 or more notes played at the same time to a pulse is a CHORD RHYTHM. The pattern picking on my right hand is thumb(A note)-pinky(E note)-index finger(F note)- ring finger(C note). 

                Just a reminder: This Fmaj7 chord form on the guitar  is.....Low E open

                                                                                                 Low A open 

                                                                                   F note 3rd fret on the D string

                                                        A note 2nd fret on the G string

                                   C note 1st fret on the B string

       High E open string 

Have fun and....see you soon!