Saturday morning, 11:14am…
Back running again this morning, now I’m snow and illness free, which always makes for a good start to the day. I’ve also been able to get back on the bike now the ice has gone, which means no more awful commuting on trains! I need to ramp up the training as it’s 4 weeks until the Silverstone Half Marathon, and 10 weeks or so until the London Marathon! I should really think about getting some sponsorship, or the MS Society will shun me from future fundraising events!
The 6 nations starts today. I shall be watching England vs Scotland at the in-laws house, which is always an interesting experience as they’re Scottish (as is the wife, by birth).
It’s been a busy week, I’m working on projects in Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Oxford at the moment, therefore I’m being spread thinly! I also went to the official opening of the library building I’ve talked about previously. The Lord and Lady Mayoress of Birmingham were there and everything! It was good to see the building looking so well, and basking in the glow of very positive reviews from both staff, students and visitors!
Anyway, back to the title of the post. We’ll start with tapping, before I wax lyrical about ‘what’s in a name’, with particular reference to the success of bands. The Beatles rewrite track I put onto Fandalism and Soundcloud a fortnight ago has generated almost 2,500 listens, which has prompted me towards more writing and arranging, and as such more time practising guitar, most notably tapping! I’m hoping that Vanessa makes contact soon, unless she didn’t like the track of course!!
Saturday evening, 7:45pm…
Now, I’ve always thought of tapping as being a bit like the marmite of guitar playing. People either love it or hate it. Those who love it see it as the pinnacle of technical ability, those who hate it see it as the mainstay of hair metal, and something that should be left in the ’80’s! I’m on both sides of the fence, as different players use it in different ways. There’s the EVH, Nuno, Steve Vai etc school of heavy metal tapping, then there’s the more considered Brian May esque school, where it’s used sparingly and more melodically.
Personally, I like it more than loathe it, as I’m on the metal side of tapping, where it’s fast and furious! I have fallen in and out of love with it over the years, as my dedication to the guitar peaked and troughed. I will say though that I’ve always stayed true to the music I like. I never jumped on the ‘easy come easy go ‘brit pop’ bandwagon, and never left behind the bands I was into as a teenager. They shaped who I am as a person as much as they shaped the kind of guitar player I became. The reason I’m talking about tapping is that I’ve been practising a lot of tapping scales and arpeggios this week, as a device for both songwriting and composition, and to help me generate a better understanding of note theory and what works well together, especially in minor and major scales.
Putting tapping aside, I often think about band names, and the association that a band name can have with whether that band is successful or not. In my view, and this may not be linked, or even relevant, bands with cool names seem to have a lot of success, such as Guns n’ Roses, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin etc, unlike those that don’t have very cool names, such as, erm, Gay Dad (remember them), The Holloways, Let Loose (Ha Ha Ha Ha!!) etc. This may be a little tenuous but I think there’s something in it. Agree?
Anyway, that’s it for this week. Just a few thoughts. The rugby was awesome, hope you all enjoyed it! Have a good week!
