Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Guest: Guitarist and Music Instructor Roger Humphrey
34 Plays3 months ago
We take a deep dive into pedagogy as Musician and Educator Roger Humphrey tells us about how music has helped him and his students build confidence, cope with tragedy and loss, and the permissions that being a musician gives. Also, process versus results, weird versus foreign, and tablature versus standard notation.
Recommended
Transcript
Impact of Neurodivergence and Trauma on Art
00:00:02
Speaker
You are listening to The Mentally Oddcast, where we talk with creatives about neurodivergence, trauma, addiction, and all the other things that impact and inform our art. Our goal is to show everyone that no matter what you're going through, you are not alone and you can make art about it.
Introduction of Roger Humphrey and Music's Healing Power
00:00:34
Speaker
Hi friends, you are listening to The Mentally Oddcast brought to you by sometimes hilarious horror. My name is Wednesday Lee Friday and this week we have Roger Humphrey who is a guitarist and a music educator, a veteran and a dad.
00:00:51
Speaker
He is a firm believer in the power of music to heal. And he's been teaching private guitar lessons for longer than I have been alive. Sorry, dude, you're even older than me. He's also a friend of mine from undergrad, which means he could probably dish on me if he wanted to. So I think I'll not give him a reason to do that. Hi, Rog. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
00:01:16
Speaker
No, it is my pleasure.
Music in Horror Films and Personal Fulfillment
00:01:18
Speaker
um we ah We actually like to start the show by asking guests to tell the story of their first horror movie. So let's hear it.
00:01:30
Speaker
um ah Truthfully, um i when I was a kid, we didn't go to horror movies at the movie house. But these all these old movies, ah so ah just the post silent era coming in from the 30s, they were replaying them on television, black and white back in the day when TV was in its infancy. And so I remember watching several, of you know Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, ah the original.
00:02:03
Speaker
with Lon Chaney, which was a silent at the time. you know and and And music was added later. So it's yeah, so those are those are my earliest ones. And then, of course,
00:02:15
Speaker
um three Stooges meet Frankenstein. yeah had Had to toss that one in there. yeah so Well, there's all those great Abbott and Costello movies where they be meeting, you know, the universal monsters. It's so fun.
00:02:32
Speaker
um So you actually mentioned the the old universal stuff, Frankenstein and and so forth. Music played such a big part in that. Now, I was actually shocked, like as a teenager, when I found out that when Dracula was shown in theaters, there was literally an orchestra playing music along with the movies. That's just fascinating. And they they had in in in the smaller in the smaller movie houses, most of the towns had one, but they would have a local pianist come in.
00:03:03
Speaker
And the scores would be sent ahead and the pianist would sight read a lot of that stuff while and while the movie was playing. They would have somebody, you know, Mrs. Johnson from Next Door come in and play and play the music to the to the movie for people.
00:03:18
Speaker
That's so wild because, I mean, before the internet, even more so than now, there are so many people walking around with just insane levels of talent and skill. And they just, you know, go on about their day like they don't deserve to be
Private Musical Talents and Personal Growth
00:03:33
Speaker
superstars. um Well, I think ah one of the things that I've come across and is a number of people who their art is extraordinarily private. It is ah It is for them. you know And I have ah a fun story. I had a young boy who started taking lessons with me when he was seven. And he was a very talented, very motivated young student. He was really good at it. And and he was about 16 or so. And like I talked to his mom about it. He was very quiet. He was he wasn't he he wasn't a talker. Some kids really and really talk, but he never did. He wouldn't say two words to me in a half an hour.
00:04:17
Speaker
He'd smile a lot, not a lot, but he wouldn't speak a lot. And so anyway, um his his parents used to complain that they never heard him play. He'd go to his room and close the door and they'd have to put their ear to the door to hear him play.
00:04:31
Speaker
Um, so one day I get a new student and he's about the same age and I find out he goes to the same school. I said, I got a student that goes to your school. Uh, do you know? And I mentioned his name and his kid looked at him. me He said, do I know him? He says, he's been like my best friend for the last eight years. And he says, he plays guitar. Wow. He had no idea. I mean, he had absolutely no idea. And, and, uh, so
00:05:00
Speaker
it's So, I had to apologize to my students. I said, I outed you, dude. I didn't mean to, you know. And I'll try not to do that again, you know. But but yeah, with a lot of people, the music is something that they do for themselves.
00:05:16
Speaker
uh and the people closest to them may know that they do it but they minute it's entirely possible that they'll never hear them play or and a lot of them sing uh and and they just don't want anybody else to hear them sing public speaking is one of those things that scares the daylights out of people public singing will actually actually put them in a casket oh my goodness it's just yeah they are absolutely terrified of it so They enjoy it and they'll go home and I'll close the bedroom door and it's their moment. It's also, and and I kind of equate it in this way to to fishing. And as a friend of mine used to say, if you've got a a fishing pole in your hand and you're sitting in the middle of the lake, it's a license to be left alone.
00:06:01
Speaker
and i think if if you're practicing music very often it's the same thing and i'm gonna go practice my guitar now and i go in or violin or whatever instrument you're playing and you go in and as it is a license to be left the heck alone just leave me alone give me give me my time and and then we'll go forward from there wow see that blows my mind because as a writer i get very wrapped up in this culture that the validity of what you do is based predominantly on who is paying attention to it and how much money you're making at it. And what you have said is very much the antithesis of it, and I love it. Well, the antithesis for me, because when I was a kid, you know when I first started hearing music and I would see see musicians on television, I wanted to be them. That's what I wanted to do when I grew up. And and I felt that way. I asked for a guitar for Christmas for three years before I finally got one.
00:07:00
Speaker
and ah wow And I you know ultimately got one. Took lessons for about six months and the guy fired me. and My teacher fired me. i I was really a terrible student. I didn't i don't like the structure of of taking the lessons. I love the structure of giving them, but I don't like the structure of taking them. I'm a terrible student. Sort of like doctors make the worst patients. right say you know A different page on the same book.
00:07:24
Speaker
so anyway um
00:07:29
Speaker
I got this guitar and and and I was learning how to strum and sing. I wanted to be a singer when I grew up. And and and and so that's kind of what I wanted to do. and yeah know And I wanted people to look at me. I mean, that's you know kind of part of it. It's like, look at me, look at me, look at me. I want to play this song for you. Let me sing this song for you.
00:07:46
Speaker
And when I got students who didn't want anything to do with that at all, they didn't even want people to know that they played, it just absolutely fried my circuits. I mean, I thought, holy mackerel, i just like why are you even doing it? It took me a while to get my head around the fact that they do it. They do it for themselves. um and And I had an adult student who was just coming out of a divorce and he was taking lessons from me. and And he said, for him, he practiced every night for 30 to 40 minutes. And he said he said, I come right home from work. He lived alone, had his own apartment, lived alone. He says, I come home from work, and I walk into my bedroom, and I sit down, and I practice for 30 or 40 minutes. And he says, and that takes the place of stopping for a few beers afterward. He says, I can come home. And he and yeah he says, I can go in, I can practice guitar, and I don't care who's in my rearview mirror. so
00:08:42
Speaker
and and right and so And so anyway, that was his buffer between work and and home. And and he he said to me one day, he says, I didn't realize how important that moment was to me. He says, until a couple of days ago, I came home from work. And he says, and my girlfriend was there. She had let herself in. And he says, and she was cooking supper. And so I said, what are you doing? She said, well, I thought I'd surprise you if it makes you be a mom. And he says, and it pissed me off.
00:09:12
Speaker
And he says, ah stay right there. He says, I'll be back in a while. And he says, I disappeared in the bedroom and had my guitar. And then I came back and was able to enjoy her company. i says here He that surprised me. He says, but I was he absolutely a little put out by that. Like, how dare you interfere with my guitar time?
00:09:30
Speaker
Wow. That is neat. I mean, I don't think I'd want to be the girlfriend in that situation, but I'm really not one for surprises.
00:09:42
Speaker
You know, it's it's interesting because like to me, I've tried to play a few instruments and because I felt that I had no natural talent, it it didn't seem worth that the time and the effort to put it in knowing that I would never be great at it.
00:09:57
Speaker
And if I was going to do it, my like I used to work at Char. I worked at Char for like five years selling violins. And at first, by my dream was like, I'm going to learn how to play a simple song, like something a a seven-year-old would play. And I would play it in front of people to show my mastery of this instrument. And I didn't even get that far.
00:10:20
Speaker
um And it occurs to me when you talk about people learning to play an instrument and keeping it just for themselves. Like I do do that with ah with singing. I sing all the time around the apartment. I when I had cats, I was always making up little songs about my cats.
00:10:37
Speaker
um you know real professional stuff but the thing is i love it and it feels great to like pretend to be a singer but the idea of getting up on stage and actually singing i think i would faint if if i actually had to do such a thing well i think we have to draw a distinction here because um what you're talking about is learning how to perform And for a lot of my students, it's not it's not about the performance. um it's they they They set these little goals and achieve them. But for them, it is the act of taking the lesson. It's the lesson itself. It's it's this doing something extra, achieving a goal and moving on. And to be very honest with you, a lot of my students, not all, but but most of my students, they'll work really hard to learn a song.
00:11:27
Speaker
And I can ask them three weeks later to play that song and they can't hardly make it. They can't hardly make it through the first part of it. um It's big because they practice it, achieve it, move on to the next song. And it's like people who put together a jigsaw puzzle and they'll spend weeks putting together jigsaw puzzle, look at it for about 10 minutes, bust it all apart, put it back in the box and and put the box in the closet. yeah And it's so it's the it's the it's the act of putting it together.
00:11:53
Speaker
it's it's It's that that they they're addicted to the process, not so much to the results. And and so they they play music not to be performers, not to impress anybody. And it took me keep in mind, i I was a long time figuring that out, but they they really, really, it's the process that they enjoy.
00:12:16
Speaker
and and and they enjoy and for And for most of them, thank God, they enjoy coming in and hanging out with me for a half an hour. and and but And a lot of times, I think that's it. I mean, particularly with the children, ah but even with the adults, they will come in and and spend time with me. But they very obviously have a practice for weeks.
00:12:38
Speaker
yeah The only practice they do is when they come in and sit in front of me and I make them play. But they but but it's the process. They enjoy that. um So I get that being a theater person that like you build this thing, you learn all your lines, you get up there, you do it. And then at the end of the performance is strike. So everybody who was involved goes in and just tears it the hell down and gets ready for the next thing. But it seems like when I talk to people ah from my theater days, we can still recite most of that stuff, you know?
00:13:15
Speaker
um but but but i guess i guess it's different with music because there's like some muscle memory involved but not i mean i don't know is that is that one of those disciplines where. There comes a point where you're just not thinking about what you're doing anymore.
00:13:32
Speaker
and it just becomes like a ah natural thing? Or is there always that sense of well like the the technical aspects? The technical aspects are are there. you you try to get to a point The more you focus on the technical aspect, the less you can focus on the artistic. So the idea is to get it good enough so that you can kind of cruise from one section to another and focus primarily on oh your expression and and your your artistry and not not worried about you know And there's always going to be a moment, you know, where there's just just some sort of a booger in there somewhere that you got to contend with. But but ah a lot of muscle memory, a lot of hours go into playing up a simple piece. And and that's the part that people don't understand. I used to joke
00:14:18
Speaker
um when I used to do weddings and people would just make unbelievable demands and it's sort of like, well, he's a classical guitarist so he can play anything at the drop of a hat. I was like, well, no. Given enough time, maybe, you know. and and but and And I used to tell people, I said, you know, The ah thing about what we do ah in this particular case is that that we practice really hard and we work really hard to make it look easy. yeah okay And yeah and it's and it's I think it's in theaters like that. I mean, you get up there and you rehearse like a maniac for weeks, putting it together. And people think that you just read the script Tuesday afternoon and was walked up, walked on stage Friday night. you know And and yeah yeah yeah obviously it doesn't work that way.
00:15:08
Speaker
Uh, and I think people understand that at an intellectual level, but deep down inside, they sort of feel it's that way anyway. Um, and, and they give too much credit to talent. Oh, I wish I was talented. I god's i wish natural talent i yeah i was naturally talented.
00:15:25
Speaker
I work my bonds off. I really do. yeah Well, that's the thing is even if you have natural talent, if you don't do anything to hone it, then I mean, i I would say honestly, I think I have a natural talent for writing. But I'm a better writer now than I was 30 years ago because I learned things and I practiced and I read and read and read.
00:15:50
Speaker
So I have to think music is similar, that even if you have some natural talent, there's always going to be a difference between people that learn and grow and develop and expose yourself to different styles. Because that's really super important. Because if you're not um like if you're just listening to what you like, there's going to be kind of a ah sameness to everything.
00:16:11
Speaker
so And then that's, I think that's even more true in music than it is in literature because I'll hear something that I've never heard before watching like, I don't know, the Eurovision song contest or something. It'd just be like, wow, that is so contrary to what we're doing here. Why didn't I know about this? Right, right. And that's the problem with, they started this, radio stations started this in the 70s. They started pigeonholing everything.
00:16:40
Speaker
I grew up with listening to radio stations and and you would have in our case we had just one local radio station local radio station and a couple that were a little farther away but they all had the same basic format which is we'll do yeah We'll do the farm report. It's like WKARP.
00:16:58
Speaker
it are not tok r wk r p and since the old tv show They would do the farm report. and then then they might you know on on On Friday nights, they might do an hour worth of pokers. And you'd get some Bing Crosby and and some big band stuff other times. and you'd get I can remember now for the kids, this is our rock and roll hour. you know and and so now and So you would get a little bit of everything and and we would get exposed as consumers to a little bit of everything. and and Then they started formatting these radio stations and it's and they got formatted down to you know like, but we only play songs with seven
Radio Formatting and Genre Protection in the 70s
00:17:41
Speaker
notes.
00:17:41
Speaker
ah Well, but I mean, they are so separated by genre. And I remember that's that starting like, you know, when I was in like junior high maybe, so I guess that would have been late seventies, early eighties, that if you wanted, you know, rap music, you would listen to WJLB. But if you wanted rock and roll, then you'd like listen to wheels or riff or whatever. and And, you know, then top 40 was like a different thing. So you knew what you were going to get when you turned on a different station.
00:18:12
Speaker
Whereas there really wasn't, and the thing is MTV could have been amazing at that, just amazing at like introducing people to music from all over the world.
00:18:24
Speaker
But they didn't. They made an American MTV and then they made separate MTV's for all the different, you know, there's, you know, Spanish and Italian and, you know, whatever, a bunch of different MTV's. But there were these opportunities to give people music from everywhere. And they all said, well, no, because we'll probably make more money if we brand it this way. And, you know, just over branding everything. The same thing happened with movies.
00:18:51
Speaker
And then it eventually changed because when there were video stores, you had to put all the movies into different categories and there was, you know, you had one category for a movie. So you had to decide whether Jaws went in horror or action. You had to decide whether Alien was a a drama or or a sci-fi or, you know, and yeah we don't have to do that now because of streaming. Because of streaming, everything is wherever you want it to be.
00:19:17
Speaker
Yeah and and we have this situation with with streaming music that people create playlists now so if you follow a particular curator ah you can find just all kinds of stuff that's going to kind of push your buttons and and and I'm sure there's somebody out there who's who's curating and putting in just everything but the kitchen sinks like you know just call it slumgullion you know it's it's you know it's like you know you poke one minute and and and tejano the next i mean uh and you know i mean i remember in high school we listened the music that we listened to on the radio that was
00:19:55
Speaker
popular back then. I mean, yes, that we had the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and all that kind of stuff. But there was a lot of other stuff. We had ah ah a song that was very popular called Dominique. And and it was sung... The French song? But it was it was French nuns that sang it. And they had a huge one with it. Another one called Sukiyaki.
00:20:14
Speaker
ah was I don't know who came up with that name because I'm sure this wasn't the original name. But the singer was Japanese and he sung it in Japanese. And and it was one of these, you know you know, kind of Japanese version of a country song, you know, she done left me and and and that kind of thing. But it was all sung in Japanese and it was a huge hit. Nobody knew what the heck he was saying, but they liked the way he said it.
00:20:40
Speaker
and And so, you know, and if you take a look at a lot of the music, with him like Tom Jones or Ray Charles were singing during the 60s, they were dipping their toe into the country music big time, even the Beatles sang a buck going song. You know, so I mean, people were going across genres because they what they cared about was whether or not it was a good song. They didn't care about anything else. it was Is this a good song?
00:21:05
Speaker
Today, it's, you know, is it a good rap song? Is it a good country song? Is it a good whatever song? And well, do you feel like people are more protective of genre than they used to be? Because I know that now when artists cross over particularly black artists yeah crossover country, they get pushback on it. Yeah. and And I don't get it because first of all, cowboys, we're we're not white. Like, I don't know who these people are that think that white guys are out, is a you know, his historic thing. But it's.
00:21:40
Speaker
i yeah i don't I don't get it either, but i mean there it is. um My protective probably, but but I think part of it is that to take I used to listen to music because I love music.
00:21:55
Speaker
and and and it was just ah And there were certain songs I liked and certain songs I didn't like. And I feel the same way about classical music today. Classical is not the only thing I listen to, but i it it takes up ah a large percentage of my my listening. and and But, you know, classical music goes back like 500 years, and and there's a lot of that stuff that I wouldn't give you a nickel for a basket full of it.
00:22:17
Speaker
uh and so i so am i protective of the genre i don't know maybe a little bit i i do like the older stuff more than i mean but there's new stuff being written every day that's classical um so the question is you do i like it well you know it depends on the song i go right i that's the way i was raised you know play the song for me i'll let you know if i like it or not um and and uh and people talk about all this music by this composer that composer it's like yeah Let's not get into that. I mean, I'm a big Beatles fans, but, you know, I go back to some of the older, album well, all our albums are older, but go back to one of the albums and listen, re-listen. And there are songs on there that I just can't wait till they're over, till I can get to the good one. I mean, yeah.
00:22:59
Speaker
yeah Well, you know, i I think that when I watched the Twilight Zone, because Twilight Zone is remembered for being one of the greatest shows in the history of television, and it is for about half the episodes, and and the other half are like, come on, Rod, get on with it. Well, and yeah. And so I think people will mistakenly wrap their self-identity into the the crap that the, and we'll stay with country music for a moment,
00:23:30
Speaker
you know, there there is this, this, you know, I wear a plaid and I, you know, and like I like to go hunting. So therefore, I'm, I'm a country music fan, you know, and it's like, really?
00:23:42
Speaker
just yeah But they, but they they wrap their self identity up in this music. and And they'll dress accordingly, and they'll talk accordingly, and even drink the proper beer, you know, and, um and, and I'm like,
00:23:57
Speaker
Dude, really? yeah Just listen to the music and and get on with it. you know my father My father, as I was growing up, my father was a big Lawrence Welk fan, um and Lawrence Welk show played in our house every week when it came on.
00:24:10
Speaker
and you know And a typical teenage kid, particularly in my mid-teens, and I was just like gagging. Oh, Lawrence Welk. And I still go back on it. Well, there's a bunch of old people standing around singing and then they were like bubbles everywhere for some reason. Yeah, well that was the champagne sound from Lawrence Walt. Yeah. And we could make fun of it. My dad made a comment though, and keeping in mind, my dad came up with the big bands. That was his music growing up. And Lawrence Walt was, along with Guy Lombardo, kind of like the last of the big band, the original big bands.
00:24:47
Speaker
And dad said, you know, he said, Lawrence Welk has some of the finest musicians in the world playing for him, and which is true. And he said, and he said that he has his signature champagne sound. But he said he can imitate every other band that ever was. He can do a Dorsey song, he can do an Ellington song, he can go right down the line, and that band is good enough to cut it all the way across. And so the idea that that band could, you know, and then of course Myron Florin and they bring out the accordion and do a couple of pokers and things like that, but
00:25:24
Speaker
it The idea that that band had that kind of diversity made an impression on me. I thought, yeah, that's pretty cool. you know It's not necessarily what I want to do, but it gave me a new respect for the fact that this is what they wanted. And I realized that there were people like my father who recognized that skill.
00:25:42
Speaker
um and and uh and we're able to say yeah you know this this lawrence well you know stuff now i go back and watch some of the old episodes now bits and pieces of them on youtube and i'm still like gagging but so i mean i draw a line between or and there's to me in my mind there's a difference between liking it and respecting it i can respect it but i don't like it very much oh sure sure I mean, that's kind of my take on country music in general, but that's certainly, country is not the only genre that becomes, especially for teenagers, like a source of identity. I mean, hip hop is like that, emo music is like that, grunge was was definitely like that for a while.
00:26:24
Speaker
um but yeah yeah definitely and i mean on the one hand if it's helping you figure out what you like and it makes you feel happy like especially again as a as a teenager go for it kid get into that music make it part of your life let it be your philosophy if that's what speaks to you But, you know, but also branch out. Don't don't close yourself off to other things just because you're into this one thing and you really like it. um It's interesting because when you talk about people that can play like any genre, the first person that comes to my mind is is Weird Al Yankovic and his band, you know, John from Rita Schwartz and all those guys.
00:27:08
Speaker
um And it's funny because comedy is one of those genres of anything, not just music, where people think of it as being simple and less technically proficient. And I mean, I don't know if you've ever heard the song Hardware Store by Weird Al. That is not an easy song to sing at all. No, I haven't. But the songs that I have heard him do. I mean, he's a very talented guy, and he's got a very, very funny sense of humor.
00:27:37
Speaker
That can be a wicked explanation. But there was there was a guy in the late 60s and early 70s named Jim Stafford. and And he was an amazing guitar player. He played a nylon string guitar, but he played and sang. But he was also just the funniest guy. And and i would I would, every once in a while, go back and watch his his clips again.
00:28:05
Speaker
and they they He did he did ah kind of a take on a cowboy kind of song, ah kind of taken off on Marty Robbins or something like that about it.
00:28:17
Speaker
bought a girl who was out seeking for revenge and and and in the Old West, and her name was Kyle Pattie. And of course, that's the play on the the concept of Kyle Pattie. He did another one called Wildwood Weed.
00:28:39
Speaker
And it was kind of set to wildwood flower, but but it was kind of a talking blues kind of thing. And he sang and spoke, but it was talk about, you know, the revenue was coming because I heard he was growing some some funny stuff and maybe bootlegging and all that kind of stuff. And so finally they couldn't they couldn't find anything. and And he said, and the tagline of course was, you know,
00:29:08
Speaker
you know I said goodbye to him and they said goodbye to me as I was sitting on that bale of wild woodweed. and so And so he the stuff was timely. you know You kind of have to put yourself in that frame of mind. But it was very funny. But he was also an amazing guitar player. He did some stuff that was just scary good on the guitar. Jim Stafford, if you ever get a chance to check him out, just take a minute. But that was back in the days also. and that people went on stage with the idea that they were going to entertain.
00:29:42
Speaker
but you know and And entertainment was the goal in and of itself. And and so you see that you don't always see that now. I see artists, too many, not all, but too many artists who walk up on stage. um And it's sort of like, I got a hit song, so you need to worship me. Yeah, yeah, definitely. And it's all genres. I don't care who it is.
00:30:07
Speaker
uh pop writing was like that one so you you just can't point to any particular style but uh but but yeah Cough, Kid Rock, cough.
00:30:20
Speaker
um
00:30:23
Speaker
Well, I think rapid particular, I know you just said you can't point to one particular style, but I think that some genres are more prone to grandiosity as performance. you know And and i find that with I find it more with men than with women, but even that's not necessarily true. because you know Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, I mean, these these chicks we have an attitude. So yeah, so you go back to those days and it was more about what can I what can i do for you? how can i How can I make you laugh or how can I make you cry? you know How can I move you?
00:31:02
Speaker
and and and and hence And it was it was more of along those lines. I think I've i've noticed one of my one of my secret little things that I do when nobody's watching is I like to watch reaction videos on yeah people going back to the 50s and the 60s and the 70s, watching the videos ah from these old TV shows and such, are these people playing? And the first thing, there're they're stunned that these people can sing that well without autotune.
00:31:37
Speaker
They're absolutely, I mean, they're in total amazement. But also, just the the i mean the number of people that I've seen getting excited about somebody like Frank Sinatra and that whole and a whole rap act, everything about that. Because i there's there's this one couple that I watch, and and he's You know, and he was watching the Rat Pack and he's, you know, did a video. I forget what it was. and Maybe it was Dean Martin, you know, doing Everybody Loves Somebody or something, you know, and, uh, or, or Frank Sinatra and one of his, but he said, um, he said, he said, uh, if I could sing like that, I'd wear a tuxedo too.
00:32:19
Speaker
And his wife's his wife says, if you could sing like that, I'd make you wear a tuxedo every day. Right? you know but we got you know And this is this is on my generation. We got away from looking nice and started looking like crap on stage. We thought it was OK.
00:32:35
Speaker
and And we never kind of never really got back to looking nice again. you know not we got We got back to to costumes, but not necessarily dressing up. I mean, I look at- To being sharp. Yeah. Yeah. there's There's a difference between, I mean, I take a look at somebody. du ah Call out Taylor Swift for example, but she's not the only Lizzo you mentioned her names the same idea what they wear on stage is certainly not I mean there's there's such a thing as stage clothing and I get that but what they're wearing is just not even close to street where it looks more like a bathing suit and Right, right. You wouldn't go out and and and I understand it. I mean, I from a technical standpoint with all that they're doing on stage and the running around and all that kind of stuff in the size of these stages that they have to cover. I totally get that. You take a look at a smaller stage and sort of like Frank Sinatra. He wasn't covering, you know,
00:33:24
Speaker
40 yards of plywood. i mean yeah and and And so i he he didn't have to run you know like, I mean, look at Mick Jagger today compared to you know look at Frank Sinatra. And and yeah so he just didn't have that much acreage you know to to to deal with. so So that part I get, but nevertheless, you kind of miss those days. Sinatra just used to refer to himself as a saloon singer.
00:33:53
Speaker
and And he was right. I thought he was just being modest at the time and and and maybe a little silly, but I look back on it now. go no he He really was a saloon singer. This is a guy that could sit down, and Tony Bennett's the same way, sit down with the piano player and and and sing to a room of 150 people you know who were who were having drinks and and and do very well. He just was lucky enough to be able to take that to a concert stage, but that's really all he was doing.
00:34:20
Speaker
and but they really focused on entertainment and there was a certain style and people, you know, it's not style anymore. It's costuming, which is a different thing entirely. It's interesting because I keep thinking, you know, who would really, really agree with you about all this is Seth MacFarlane. Yeah, I think. And I don't know if you know. Yeah, I know exactly who he is. Yeah, you're right. Because he is really kind of a slave to that generation.
00:34:49
Speaker
he yeah He loves like show tunes and like that kind of performance because he did that one episode where Brian and ah Frank Sinatra Jr. opened a club and they they just go sing there. I don't know. Have have you heard his album? No, I knew he made it, but I haven't.
00:35:07
Speaker
It is marvelous. I just, I love it so much. And it it's such a great example of what you're talking about. Just about someone modern bringing that style of music to contemporary ah people. And especially when you get like, kiss because of the show, you know like Family Guy in particular, people get exposed to that kind of music. So you have teenagers like wanting to sing barbershop all of a sudden because they saw it on Family Guy.
00:35:37
Speaker
And that is just delightful. I love that so much.
Music as a Personal Space for Grief
00:35:41
Speaker
Right. Well, music plays such an important part in our lives. And and you find that thing and like you to your point, learning about this stuff. You know, there's music out there that you've never heard of. And and if you had heard of it, you probably turned your nose up because it was unfamiliar.
00:36:00
Speaker
ah on my podcast, i I interviewed a guy named Shahan Arzruni. I have a hard time with that. He's Armenian. and And he just released a CD of all, it's called Buy Women and it's all Armenian female composers.
00:36:21
Speaker
uh for written for solo piano and and it sounds very esoteric and it sounds like when you hear the title it sounds like it'd be pretty exotic it really isn't it's absolutely gorgeous very mainstream kinds of things and and uh and he plays it with such sensitivity it's beautiful he's a wonderful guy he's he's about my generation and he's been around a long time um and uh um but but We get it in our mind that this this it's Armenian women. God, how good can it be or how weird is this going to be or something like that? And right it turns out to be not. It's really good and not weird. It's just very, very, very nice music. It's instrumental music, which most people aren't used to listening to, but but it's it's really nice. So we get caught up in these genres and we get our identity hung up in there.
00:37:16
Speaker
And then we're afraid, it's like a little kid who's afraid to try a different flavor of ice cream because they might not like it. you know yeah yeah It's like, geez. Well, which we're kind of living in a world where the word foreign has a sort of negative connotation, regardless of of the context. Well, it always has, but yeah.
00:37:36
Speaker
yeah like go gosh has it Yeah, I was a little kid in the 50s and foreign was was was that was that was a trigger word right there I was like, oh, that's foreign. yeah Oh, yeah. Yeah, you there were certain Yes and no, I mean in the 60s foreign meant uh England and and the British invasion and everybody wanted to go to Carnaby Street and get dressed and you know on or Saville Row or something like that so foreign meant that uh foreign in Italy meant you know good food and great fashion and and amazing art um French you know it you know
00:38:13
Speaker
Eiffel Tower and and Great Wine. and i mean so so four minute four head that There was that part of it, but the rest of it, you know it like you know I don't know how to explain it. it's It didn't have, yeah depending on where the foreign was, you know but post-war years and all that kind of stuff, there was some aspects of aspects of it. and and Racism certainly was was ah part of that. Anybody who acted a little different wasn't just
00:38:47
Speaker
being black, for example, in the case of racism, but it was the culture and and and white people didn't get it. And so therefore it must be bad or it must be weird. That's my favorite word, weird. That's- Well, that word is having a resurgence right now, isn't it? My goodness. If that was sarcasm on my part, I don't care for the word. all the Although in this particular this particular context, it's kind of fun. but but yeah But no, but so anything that was that was unfamiliar,
00:39:18
Speaker
was weird and anything that was weird was not good and and so it it took a while. I mean people didn't mind you know Italian food you know because everybody had spaghetti and pizza and they figured that's pretty they figured Well, you know, I'm thinking of one of my favorite non-horror movies, It's a Wonderful Life. And there is a point where Mr. Potter is talking about the poor people that buy homes in Bailey Park, and he refers to them as
00:39:49
Speaker
a bunch of garlic eaters and he says it with such loathing in his voice and that's so funny to me because obviously today we're like what kind of a soul it's ass doesn't like garlic how does that even happen what are you a vampire um yeah yeah it's it's so so so things certainly have changed but but there you know there was yeah there was that that stuff is out there all the time So I don't want to listen to that music because it's weird. I don't want to eat that food because it's weird. I mean, I might, you know, I might like French wine, but God, snails? Are you kidding me? Well, and that's why like the arts, you know, creatives in general have like
00:40:31
Speaker
a responsibility slash opportunity to bring all of that like to the people. you know um because every time like i mean We were just saying about Seth MacFarlane, there'll be a song on the show and then suddenly, even though the song is 30 years old, everybody wants to hear it. like Why is everyone suddenly listening to Surfin' Bird again? Oh, because it was on the show. it so like ter you know Same with Disney and that's why Disney I think more than most companies has a responsibility to get their shit right when they do historical movies or or shows. you know So people don't think that Pocahontas grew up and fell in love with John Smith because what the fuck? But I don't want to get too off track because I could rant about Disney all day long.
00:41:21
Speaker
um i'm I'm curious to know, we've talked a lot about music and and how um it it helps people. What about grief,
00:41:32
Speaker
i mean like like grief for example? I know you've had some or some experience with that. um and and I assume that the music helps you through that. i mean what What do you want to say about that? um Yeah, it's it's it's an interesting question.
00:41:48
Speaker
um i've i've We've all had hard times. A movie that I just rewatched for about the umpteenth time recently was Guardians of the Galaxy. ah And Rocket yells at the other guy and he says, oh, boo-hoo, we've all had somebody die.
00:42:07
Speaker
Oh my god, did you see the one with Rocket's backstory? Holy crap. That's the saddest thing I've ever seen in a Marvel movie. So anyway, anyway, having so having said that, the point is well taken, though, that we've we've all had things that we've had to deal with yours are probably different from mine, but they they affect us, you know, in a negative way, nevertheless. So for me, the for me, and I can't speak for anybody else, I can tell you how music has gotten me through it and what it is that that that when my when my son, actually stepson, passed away 12 years ago. um And and and i got i there was a double hit. The first hit was him passing. I was the only father he knew from the time he was three years old. And we were close. We used to do stuff together, and um particularly when he was a teenager.
00:43:00
Speaker
And and so so we were pretty close. So when he died, it it and I was there when he died. And and so to to see his dead lifeless form laying on the floor was was an absolutely horrific sight.
00:43:18
Speaker
um and and But then the then the the the other whammy was when when people would say, well, he was just your stepson, right?
00:43:30
Speaker
Oh God, what the hell? yeah and you know and That's gross, man. I'm not a terribly violent person, but I was warping to the idea.
00:43:41
Speaker
and Yeah, that's unconstitutional. I can't imagine. The moral vacancy. so i mean So having to deal with that. So the music for me and music is and like every teenager i had my I had my issues. I don't think there's a teenager. and i And I thought I was the only one. I thought all the other kids were cooler than me. And we all go through that yeah all go through that. For me, the music, what it did for me was it gave me When I said a moment ago, some of my students, it's they hide from the world. It's their their buffer. For me, it gave me permission to grieve. It gave me permission to feel sad. It gave me a place to go where I could play sad songs, whether I was performing and playing on the guitar or singing them, or if I was just listening to them. It gave me a place that I could go.
00:44:35
Speaker
and and and it was okay to be sad it was okay to grieve it was okay to be angry all of these things and i didn't have anybody next to me going get over it or there there it'll be okay or i know how you must feel no you don't you know let's go suck an egg and leave me alone just and and it gave me that place that i could go by myself. I mean, there's times when you want to be with other people and during during these times. There's times when you need the the warmth and the compassion and empathy from other people. But there are times when you just need to be alone um and have a good cry or to be angry or you know combinations of that.
00:45:19
Speaker
And it would just to feel your things. And this gave me the permission to do that. It wasn't just a place to do it. It was a place where with music, I could do it with encouragement. You know, I can remember having a girl break up with me that I was really.
00:45:35
Speaker
Fonda when I was in high school as as we all are right and and and she just dumped me without any warning No, just well see you later pal. I'm done. You know ah and yeah, okay So my heart was broken. Everybody's had their heart broke at one time and my heart was broken and driving home.
00:45:53
Speaker
You know, and feeling crappy, and I turned the radio on, and there was a song came on. It was some sad song. And it was, you know, and it was just one of those, oh, woe is me songs. And I went, oh, yeah. And I turned it right up, you know. yeah yeah and and And it gave me an opportunity to think my way through it. It gave me an opportunity. And it also reminded me.
00:46:12
Speaker
that that it didn't just happen to me, that people go through this all the time. yeah as my My son passing is is a tragic thing and I wouldn't wish it on anybody, but there are others who share that story. um ah And some of the details may be different, but they share that story that they've had a child pass.
00:46:31
Speaker
and and so uh and i know that and so i can i have this permission if you will to to grieve and to get over it and do all that kind of stuff ah when when we have happy music you know you're playing happy dance music at a wedding or you know whatever and you're up there just making a fool of yourself and doing that that music sort of gives you the permission to do that yes so music speaks to that in that way and for a teenager uh well pre-teen and going into college, those years are so formative and those years so much happens to you in from the age of 12 until the age of 21. You go through so much. ah you You learn so much more about life and you youve moved most people have moved out of their family home by that point and are living on their own or living with roommates or whatever.
00:47:24
Speaker
Mom isn't cooking for him anymore, that kind of thing. And so all of the things that you go through, and this this music is in the background. It's it's ah it's it's as a part of your life. Remember it oh yeah in an interview somebody asked me once many, many years ago, this is one of those gotcha questions. They they were trying to you know call me out or something. They said, well, in your opinion, what's the best music that's ever, you know what's the best kind of music ever kind of thing? you and And they're just waiting for me to step in it so they can bury me. And I said, oh, that's simple. I said, that's the music you went to high school on. The music will never be any better than that. right Because every generation will go, oh, god, they just don't write music like that anymore. And some of us are going, thank you. But it's it's just just a matter of taste. But that music is what was there when you had your first kiss.
00:48:22
Speaker
That music was there when the first time you got stoned or drunk. ah The music was there the first you know the music went was there when you first started finding out about sex and discovered that yeah you did have a sexual preference. That music was there when you found started to decide maybe what you wanted to be when you grew up. All these songs were in the background.
00:48:43
Speaker
and and And you sang along with them, you listened to them, and they were all a part of your life. So today, a lot of that music is not so much the way you and I consume music. A lot of that music is through video games. Oh, yeah, that's true. I mean, a lot of it, a lot of it. I interviewed recently a guy who, that's what he does. He writes music for video games. Nice. yeah so i mean that's and And I've had students that, and you can actually buy classical guitar arrangements of some of these video songs.
00:49:12
Speaker
They're out there. I've had students learn these things. Wow. you know so that's that's ah That's an area that people don't realize that that that people are consuming music by way up i thought you know by way of, well you know we think of film scores, but but by way of video games too. that's a bad yeah Well, because they're they're scored just like movies now. I mean, so much money goes into the production of those. It's a huge thing. It's a big thing. so so Music is a part of our lives at all levels.
00:49:43
Speaker
it's It's ceremonial. We get married to music. We get buried to music. yeah at And and and it's yeah we worship with music. you know it's It's very much a part of our lives. We we but party to music. it's We work with music. it's It helps us relax. it's It does any number of things that's a part of our lives.
00:50:07
Speaker
and And that's one of the things I try to explain to my students is don't just listen to one kind of music because you don't just have that one kind of life.
Music's Role in Mood and Productivity
00:50:15
Speaker
Your day is busy. you know There's times when you need to relax. There are times when you want to party. and I wouldn't want to listen to some rowdy rock and roll or rowdy country music when I'm trying to go to bed at night.
00:50:26
Speaker
But at the same time, you know, um the the quiet box stuff is not something I necessarily want to listen to at 11 o'clock in the morning. um You know, it's it's a different part of the day and I've got, I have different things that I want, different ah things I'm trying to accomplish you're trying to do or trying to unwind, you know, things like that.
00:50:46
Speaker
That's so funny that you say that because I um but you know i use Apple stuff. I set my alarm to to play a song when I wake up in the morning. and When I first started doing it, I was setting it to play songs that I like. and I realized really quickly, no, I don't want to hear that song first thing in the morning and have that be the thing that's in my head while I'm like brushing my teeth and whatnot. like No, I need to pick a different song for that.
00:51:16
Speaker
And just the fact that like we need to be kind of cognizant of what we're listening to and when in the same way that we want to be careful about things like hydration because it impacts our mood and we might not even realize or like you know aromatherapy those little things that kind of go into the background like my husband is super into movie scores he listens to them a lot and i do too like now but when we met i didn't really listen to movie scores as much because the scores job isn't to get my attention it's to carry me through the action and help me experience the film better
00:51:59
Speaker
So I don't i think like paying attention to it is kind of defeating the purpose of it. But that's the thing. When you're a creative type, you consume art in such a way that you're also thinking about what the artist might have been thinking. Do you do you find that with music? Yes. yes i actually Years ago, I was actually writing, I was scoring documentaries. and and Oh, wow. That's going back a long way.
00:52:27
Speaker
and how The short story is that I went to college, went back to community college to start learning filmmaking so that I could understand better how I could serve that community because they didn't have any kind of a school for scoring film at that time in the area. U of M had one guy who was teaching some of it. And I had already scored a few films and a couple of them popped up.
00:52:59
Speaker
A couple of them won awards at different film festivals and things like that. Mostly it was hard to get any any work at all because the filmmakers never had any money for for music. they So they would have, there's there's a phrase in the in the business that's called a needle drop.
00:53:16
Speaker
and and it it's it's no longer physically applicable but they still have the the phrase of what it is is they would buy these albums and and with those you had the rights to any of the music you used to use any of the music on there and and what they would do is and there's just a zillion different little songs on there um little bits and pieces a little this little of that drama music something like that and it's all very generic And what they would do is they would drop the needle on the record and it and then they would record that music and place it into the film. You know, and so that was called needle drop and they still do it today. It's all, you know, you buy a package of music and it's all very generic.
00:53:57
Speaker
But every once in a while- Isn't that what Night of the Living Dead is? I'm i'm sure that that's- It could be. I know I've heard stories that they like went to the library and and got albums from there. and then yeah Yeah. Because it's the same. It's in like a lot of movies from that era when you watch like late 60s horror movies. It's the same music. They didn't have any money. you know these these yeah know The studios certainly weren't going to give them money for something like that. so So it it was hard for me to get gigs because these guys, they'd spend all their money on film and processing and right we had any money left over in the budget for music other than once in a while. So, but when I went to school, actually the business changed and and and I won't go into the detail, but it kind of left me standing by the roadside. And so so i I kind of, I had to shift gears, but but um I watched PBS had a thing one night
00:54:53
Speaker
Kind of filling some time in and it was a guy from University of Michigan doing a film writing or a score film score composing thing for like a half an hour. How and he taught it so he was doing this demonstration.
00:55:11
Speaker
And I thought, okay, I've done a few of these things so let me see what this guy's got to offer because I'm always up for learning something. and And he went up there and he had synthesizers. And this is the early day of synthesizers. We're going back to late 70s. And he was doing it with synthesizers and he had an old ah silent movie that he was who's going to score because it was in public domain at that point and he didn't have to worry about copyrights.
00:55:36
Speaker
And so he played that, it was a show in the film and then he then he would write this music and he was doing it. And he would explain, okay, I did this here because of this and I did this here because of that and I'm listening to this and I'm going, it sounds like crap. And he was just doing like a little well three or four minute segment of it, that's all he was doing.
00:55:55
Speaker
So then when he got it all done, he put it all together and played it back so you could hear the whole thing and watch the film while it went on. And I thought, this is a guy who's never had to make a profit.
00:56:08
Speaker
Because it was the worst conglomeration. It was the same thing. it's like If people are listening to the music, you're you're not doing your job. I mean, it's just that simple. I remember ah picking up a couple of my students wanted to learn some of the Star Wars music many years ago. And so I bought a book.
00:56:29
Speaker
and I was kind of going through it and I looked and I said, what's this song and what's this song? And I went, oh yeah. it took I had to kind of go back and research it and I'd hear it and I'd go, oh yeah, now I remember. Because it was, you remember the scene in the movie, but the the music, now without that music, the scene is terrible. And Steven Spielberg talks about, you know, when when John Williams, he hired John Williams to write the score for Jaws.
00:56:57
Speaker
Oh yeah, he didn't like it. He thought it was too simple. Yeah, it's how it's terrible until he saw the music or heard the music and saw the film at this, put together at the same time, that little opening sequence. And he went, holy crap. Right. Right. It's it's one of those things where, you know,
00:57:15
Speaker
They went for, while every once in a while, they'll go Hollywood will go through a phase where they try to get you know at least one or two pop songs out of the out of the so out of the movie so that they can help recover their losses. But yeah, it's typically, it's uh music that you've uh you you don't really recall it's the the trick is to write it in such a way that it builds the film up and it enhances the film without getting in the way yes yeah and there are some people that do that just so well i mean bear mccrary is like that uh ramen jwadi uh who did uh game of thrones and house of the dragon like they're just i mean
00:58:01
Speaker
it's it It's interesting because people that you wouldn't think could do it turn out to be able to do it. like I think of Trent Reznor as very much a front man, but when he did the the soundtrack to that social network movie, I was shocked. I didn't realize until the end, I was like, wait, I thought Trent Reznor was doing music for this. I didn't hear anything Reznor-y in this movie, but yeah, turns out like most musicians, he's a lot of different things.
00:58:27
Speaker
Well, yeah, I mean, yeah. ah to I mean, Hans Zimmer, you know, he played. Yeah, totally, totally. So, yeah, it's that's that that kind of thing. And John Williams, John Williams was is was was a session pianist. and And he he was on the he played the piano on the original recording, the Pink Panther for Henry Mancini. No way. I did not know that. Yeah.
00:58:55
Speaker
Well, you know, you mentioned your podcast and we're and i I definitely wanted to give you time to talk about that a little bit. You talked to creatives as well. um Well, the podcast, I laugh about it, but it wasn't so funny a year and a half ago. um my My podcast started out with the idea that I've been hanging out with creative people since I was in my early teens, 14, 15 years old, my friends.
00:59:22
Speaker
I had guitars and we were playing Peter Paul and Mary stuff and trying to write our own songs badly and all that kind of stuff. And and and so I've always thought that the conversations that we had were always interesting.
00:59:34
Speaker
that that they seemed to be inquisitive, talked about different things. The first time I heard honestly heard about the injustices done to Native Americans was through friends of mine who were creative people. i you know My idea of was was John Wayne, Cowboys and Indians and that kind of thing. I honestly didn't know.
00:59:55
Speaker
And so my our conversations I always thought were informative and inquisitive and funny at times and and and outrageous at other times. And so I thought, well, I'll have a podcast and i'll I'll invite my friends on and we'll talk about stuff in general, wherever the conversation goes. And and I'm sure people will enjoy listening in. And I couldn't have been more wrong.
01:00:19
Speaker
ah Nobody. I mean, even my family's going, no, we've heard you talk, we know.
01:00:26
Speaker
Well, but the the landscape for podcasts, there's so many people podcasting now that it seems like you need to be very, very specific in order to get people's attention. And and so what happened was I was asking people to be on the podcast, and it's gotten to a point where I couldn't even get people to come on. I was getting ghosted. Yeah, come on. Well, let's schedule it. Well, okay, yeah. Now I'm busy next Wednesday, but you know it's just ... So a year ago February or March thereabouts. I was so tired I thought you know I've got like three scrap subscribers, and I think I'm related to two of that Why am I even by and I was and I would I would you know do like you know We do 90 to 120 minute interviews, and then I would spend the next three days Editing the thing to get it down to some sort of manageable episode I'm not Joe Rogan nobody's gonna listen to me for three hours and and so any No one should listen to Joe Rogan for three hours. So anyway, um but but I was thinking, why am I putting in all of this time and effort? and And I'm worried about meeting these deadlines that I've set for myself. And i this is just baloney.
01:01:40
Speaker
yeah know
01:01:43
Speaker
My subscribers, all three of my subscribers will never miss it. I'm not going to worry about it. And so I just stopped producing. I just, I just walked away from it. I told my wife and I, no announcement, no, nothing. I just said, that's it. I'm done. And that summer, early summer, I got a, uh, uh, email from a friend of mine who was a singer songwriter said, did you still want me to be on your podcast?
01:02:07
Speaker
Well, I didn't want to say no, because that sounds rude. like Right. yeah so Yeah, sure. Why not? So I figured I'd do another one, to throw another episode out there, and my three subscribers will be surprised. and so Anyway, um so I went ahead and recorded it. We did it and I recorded it, but I decided I wasn't going to put it out until September. I thought, just take the summer off and wait until September and I'll put it out then. Yeah, I think. Wasn't I on around that time?
01:02:36
Speaker
Yeah, you because I think it was a while so in between like when we recorded and when it went up right it was And so I'd have to look it up to find out for sure. But yeah so anyway That's kind of what I did and in the meantime I started thinking about it thought you know, I think I want to resurrect this thing but what I want to do Preferably is I want to focus on people in fine arts mostly you know, singer songwriter once in a while, maybe, but mostly I want to people involved in fine arts, not necessarily all creatives. There are people behind the scenes that that I think deserve a nod also.
01:03:20
Speaker
and and And so somehow, I think that's about the time I approached you. I'm not sure, it was that last, that was like a year ago, September or something like that? Or last September, about a year ago anyway. And so anyway, and then I got ahold of a couple of other people and those people turned me into some other people. And now it's not 100% fine arts, but it's mostly fine arts. But I i interviewed a guy named,
01:03:52
Speaker
Nicholas Galousis, who heads up the the guitar program, created the guitar program for Eastman School in Rochester, the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. And he's also the co-chairman of the strings department. And Nick's about my age, maybe a little younger, and he's been around a minute or two.
01:04:11
Speaker
And he's extreme he's he's a big fish in a small pond. He's a very, very, very famous guy within the the small world of classical guitar, classical music. Tours all over the world. And so he he he he agreed to be on it. And that gave me some some street cred, so to speak. And I was able to get a couple of other people, classical guitars, who were also composers on. And that, they in turn, got me hooked up with some other people. and and couple of painters and a couple of uh... uh... couple of authors and it's just kind of been snowballing and i interviewed uh... it'll uh... the interview will be out uh... probably towards the end of september i'm not sure uh... but uh... a woman composer her name is dilleram side of manova she's from uzbeka stan and she's very very successful in europe ah and here too to some extent they did a uh...
01:05:07
Speaker
They honored her a few months ago at Carnegie Hall. So I mean, you know, she's that good. Wow. And I thanked her profusely when we finished the interview for taking the time to be on it. And she in turn thanked me because she said there are no podcasts out there for artists.
01:05:25
Speaker
you you You might find a piano podcast, or you might find an art podcast. But in terms of just general fine arts, you know kind of the Ed Sullivan of the fine arts business, um there's nobody out there doing it. And so the idea that she could come on and express herself, and and we could talk about that kind of stuff meant a lot to her. so it's and And I'm up to about six subscribers now.
01:05:53
Speaker
so
01:05:56
Speaker
Well, but I mean, if, if you, your work, like i I go through this a lot because again, I'm a writer, but I'm not extremely widely read and the, my books in particular are not as as widely read. I think my sex articles are much more widely read, but, but that's the thing is that even if you're only helping a small number of people or validating a small number of people.
01:06:21
Speaker
That's, I mean, that's a good use of your time. you know its I don't think you would ever say like, well, I've only made a profound difference in X amount of number of people's lives. I wish it was more than that but because making a profound difference in someone's life or validating someone who really needs and deserves that, even if it's one person, I mean, you're married, you know what a how much of a difference impacting one person makes. Absolutely. you know so
Reviving a Podcast and Educating on the Stock Market
01:06:48
Speaker
Yeah. Well, in this particular case,
01:06:50
Speaker
um
01:06:53
Speaker
For me, it's I decided and that summer, some a year ago, that that if this thing was going to die, it was going to die in my terms. And that instead of just in interviewing anybody that would say yes, I was going to absolutely focus more on the other. And if it didn't work, then it didn't work.
01:07:13
Speaker
But these are the people that I enjoy talking to the most. I really, really, really enjoy speaking with with people in the fine arts.
01:07:24
Speaker
hit not to Not to denigrate anybody else in any of the other artistic endeavors that are going on. you know i I appreciate the effort and the talent that it takes to do other other artistic things, whether it's playing a bar band or whatever. but but ah and i And I will not say a disparaging word about any of that. but But the idea of walking out in the middle of a bare stage as a classical guitarist and playing to 150 or 200 people,
01:07:54
Speaker
is a different thing than playing a brown eyed girl to a room full of drugs. It's just a different critter. yeah and But also talking to authors. i mean Authors don't get that many opportunities to do podcasts, I don't think.
01:08:12
Speaker
and so when they come on that's it gives them an opportunity to talk about their work and and the way they do things and i just i find it interesting i you know every author is different every musician is different composers are different and i just you know i just feel like i'm a hog rolling in it you know i'm and i'm a tall clover here you know it's so for me it's fun and and um so it's it's less about now it's less about making a difference it's less about building up following. So my god, there are 14-year-old girls. I'll start a podcast today, and we'll have
01:08:45
Speaker
15 million viewers by tomorrow. yeah yeah but and and And you sort of have to understand that when you get into it. But I joke about it a little bit because I find it humorous. But at the same time, I find it deadly serious that that I am touching on the fine arts. And there are people who are enjoying. And what's happened is that I've and i started doing videos in February. I switched from just audio format to video as well. So it's on YouTube.
01:09:15
Speaker
And that's increased my but audience quite a bit and yeah people enjoy it. But i I think the vast majority still are are listening. and And I had one person that I know professionally that that she decided she wanted to listen to it because I was interviewing somebody that she found interesting. And she listened to it and she decided she really liked it. And God, I started doing this pod. I'm going into my sixth season with this thing. And so she's got- Wow, that's crazy. So she's listening. So she's going back and she's listening to like an episode almost every night going back to old episodes.
01:09:54
Speaker
And and she let's it's that's that's her cookie at the end of the day. She sits down, and she unwinds for 30 or 40 minutes and listens to an episode. yeah I have other people that put it on when they're driving in their cars on the way to work or on the way home from work and things like that. So so that's working out and and I'm enjoying doing that. And then I i was talking to My broker and I say that like I'm a a bazillionaire I got a guy who invest two decals for me because I'm trying to make 12 cents and and and and but he's he's a friend and I've known him for several years and when I when I retired and had my 401k I Kind of had to do some park it somewhere and figure out what to do. So he's been right right there with me helping me out and
01:10:42
Speaker
and and And so we were talking and he was talking about this stock or that stock. And he mentioned a couple of things that I looked at myself. I have no idea what the hell you're talking about. but it's I just haven't got a clue what you're talking about. and And so he was explaining it to me and I said, you know what? I said, we ought to do a podcast. And he went, what? And I said, we ought to do a podcast about this kind of stuff.
01:11:08
Speaker
Well, he said, I'd have to go to my companies and make sure that I know you don't. I said, I'm not going to ask you to sell stocks. I'm not going to ask you to pitch anything. I said, no financial advice whatsoever. I said, but when you say stocks and bonds, do you realize people don't know the difference? They don't know the difference between a stock and a bond.
01:11:27
Speaker
they don't know what a mid cap is. i yeah I don't know what a mid cap is. i don't I don't get this. I don't understand how you know markets will move this way when somebody says something weird. you know It's just like, how is how is this, what's going on? And so I said, I think we ought to do a series of, you know a limited series of episodes talking about you know just understanding these terms and how the market works so that people who are curious, because most people are afraid to ask, and they don't know who to ask anyway, but they're afraid to ask. I'm gonna ask a stockbroker, because then he's gonna start selling me crap. yeah know and right And so the idea of just being able to hear and and learn, and if it's in a podcast, he'll come back and re-listen again.
01:12:12
Speaker
and And we'll do it just audio only. And so that's what we're going to do. We're we're still trying to hammer out the details. and and And I just don't want to rush into it. I want to do it right. but it's And I've gone online. There's really not much of anything. out There's a couple of things out there, but I don't particularly care for them.
01:12:31
Speaker
I think we can do a better job. And and so and and I think that we can fill a niche. I think i think there's a there's a gap there. I said something yeah definitely i said something to my granddaughter who's 24. We mentioned it ah at ah had ah had a wedding recently and and And she's, oh my God, she said, I would so listen to that. And I said, really? And she says, yeah, she says, I have a 401k. And she said, I could tell you two things about it. She says, one, I have it. And two, I can tell you how much I'm putting in my, from my check every time. But she says, that's all I know. That's all I know. I have no idea what it is.
01:13:09
Speaker
and and And so, I mean, Lester Hart, she's got one. She's saving up for retirement, but but because a lot of people don't. But I thought, you know, there are people really people oh no yeah and but there are people there are people out there who,
01:13:24
Speaker
who
01:13:27
Speaker
the stock market, the concept of the stock market scares the hell out of them. and and and and stock prices going up and down and all that kind of stuff. And- Well, it seems like one of the things that i I know about the stock market is that I would stay away from it because anytime I see it depicted, it seems like you could lose everything you have because of things that are completely outside your control.
01:13:53
Speaker
and But i'll go get again, I don't understand it. Maybe that's not true. Maybe those people made dumb choices. It's it's it's true as far as it goes. yeah You know, I mean, it's it's like describing sex as being missionary position only. Well, that can be. But it can be more. It can be something else. And so it's it's the same idea with the stock market. What you just described is absolutely true. But it's not limited to that. And you don't even have to wait in that end of the pool.
01:14:25
Speaker
you know there are other and so that's the that's the purpose of a podcast like this is let people know and then then you can make an informed decision you know then you can say no i'm staying out okay fine stay out or you might say you know what this might be worth you know looking into and so on and so forth But but the the goal of the podcast is educational, to let people know what this is about. So so that's kind of the the goal of the the the creative conversations that I do with the artists, creative conversations with Roger Humphrey.
01:14:57
Speaker
um I do that with the artists and and and creative people. And that is, in many cases, it's it's information more so than entertainment. And and and that's the way that this this other podcast, which is yet to be titled, um where that that new in it yeah that's that one, again, it's it's designed to be educational. It's informative.
01:15:21
Speaker
without trying to sell anybody anything, without trying to peddle anything. We're not even gonna sell you a t-shirt, you know. ah Well, you have a Patreon for that, right? Yes, I do. I do. um for That's for the... Not for t-shirts or anything like that, but that's... You should. You have a great logo. You should definitely sell t-shirts of it. Oh, I do. It's just not on Patreon. I've got to go back and revisit that a little bit though. But anyway, that said, um the Patreon page was created to serve
01:15:57
Speaker
um my Originally created to serve my existing students and I expanded out to the to the general public and and there are Three fundamental levels it's a subscription service for people who don't know um And there are there are three basic levels to it. The first is I put out two two original um arrangements of songs almost every week. I started this, yeah it'll be two years in October and I was looking at stuff today and I think I have put up 144 different arrangements in the last two years that are that are all unique to Patreon. they won't You won't find them anywhere else.
01:16:49
Speaker
um and and And half of those are for ukulele and the other half are for guitar. and And some, you strum and sing, a lot of lot of that on ukulele. So I strum and sing, and a lot of that is, a lot of the guitar stuff is just solo guitar, not all of them, but most of it's just solo guitar.
01:17:11
Speaker
And and that the the to choice of music is all over the map. The two songs... Yes, it's so eclectic. Oh, it is. I i put up two so two new songs today. One was an old hymn that I did as a solo for the ukulele.
01:17:28
Speaker
and the other as was a solo, but it's ah it's a classical piece that I did an arrangement of. um and so But I've done, gosh, I've done piano old folk songs, I've done classical stuff, I've done country music, I've done Beatles, i've um it's just all over the damn map. um And I did it in part because my students,
01:17:53
Speaker
I had students um from day one, I'm teaching little kids and I'm teaching them, uh, basic folk songs coming around the mountain and things like that. And they've never, ever heard these songs ever. Wow. Because that's not, cause you know why kids, people don't watch Bugs Bunny anymore. That's part of it. But also in school, when they have music in school a lot of times, or when they do music on TV for the children's programs now, they'll, they'll take those melodies, but they'll put different words to them.
01:18:21
Speaker
Oh. and And so the kids may know may know the melody, but they don't know those words. They don't know those songs. and and But but the kids you know so i thought these kids have to learn this music. This is a part of our American heritage. I don't want to get too high on the soapbox here, but I'll step up a little bit. and And it is a part of our heritage. It's a part of of of who we are as a people.
01:18:43
Speaker
and and so and these And these are nice songs and these are great songs for the kids to learn on. So I'm doing that and then I thought, you know, the the kids started asking me if I would do arrangements of different songs that they liked. And it got to a point where I was doing a lot of arrangements for free. for And I'm thinking, you know, I'm spending a lot of time for free. yeah And so I thought, you know, if I do the Patreon page, they can subscribe and what they give for three bucks a month. I mean, you can't get a cup of coffee for three bucks hardly anymore. For three bucks a month, they can listen to to the songs that I put out. and
01:19:21
Speaker
and and you know and and i think I don't know if they're downloadable, if they can certainly listen to them. And you can go back to as many of these songs as you want to listen to. and know So you don't have to just, you're not just stuck with what I put out today. You can go back to what I put out last month or last year even.
01:19:41
Speaker
um and And so for three bucks a month, you can just sit and listen. So you don't have to be a player of any kind, just listen to the music. And these are all home recordings. I'm not going in, you know, decent equipment and I'm okay. But I, i you know, anyway, for for five bucks a month, if you're a player, you can you can download the sheet music to those pieces.
01:20:04
Speaker
And so I create the sheet music and it's done in standard notes and what they call tablatures as well for people who are guitarists, they'll understand. um And so you can listen to it and download it as well. So you can have it and you can have a physical copy of it, you can print it off. For eight bucks a month, you get all of that plus,
01:20:25
Speaker
plus um I do a video tutorial. for each one of those. Oh, wow. So that you can go in and say, oh, Roger says, what if i put my if I do this fingering this way, I can do it this way. I can strum this way. you know And I mean, for the for the the the the classical piece, mary widow walts mary Mary widow's waltz that I i did today.
01:20:48
Speaker
um The song lasts, I think, ah about a minute and a half, maybe, if it's that one. The video tutorial is is four minutes and change.
01:21:00
Speaker
yeah i sorry it's okay it can get It can get
Subscription Tiers and Tablature Music
01:21:03
Speaker
into detail. So anyway, I know that's a lot of money. And then there's a free tier, because I'm trying to hook people. I'm not gonna lie.
01:21:11
Speaker
ah But there is a free tier, and what that is, you you do have to subscribe, but it's a free subscription. And every, about every month-ish, I will put up a song in its entirety for everybody to listen to. And it's just me playing, it's usually a classical piece, but it doesn't have to be, it's not restricted to that.
01:21:33
Speaker
can't download it. there's no you know but You can just kick back and listen to it and enjoy it. so so it's it's and it's it's It's on the free tier, but anybody any any of the other subscribers can can listen to it also. and so That keeps me busy along with the podcast. Sure. I actually love that you put the music out in tabulator because When I was making the rounds trying to try a bunch of different instruments and see which ones I might be good at, one of them was a lap dulcimer. A lot of people play that and they use tablature music for that rather than like reading music. I can read music because I played flute in junior high, but again, I i don't have a talent for it, so it doesn't it doesn't like stay with you forever. but I love your Patreon. I subscribe to it. I appreciate it. I love getting those little emails and like, ooh, new songs. Yay. And thank you. I appreciate that. And and and the comments were always nice. Anytime you put those up, it's very encouraging to know that there's somebody out there actually listening. and but
Staying Active with Music at 76
01:22:42
Speaker
Totally. ah But yeah, that's that's between that and and the podcast and the new podcast. And then I have a handful of students yet, but not many. i mean i
01:22:53
Speaker
I hate the phrase, but I'm in the twilight of life. But one one has to one has to recognize reality. you know I'm 76 years old. and and And it makes me feel good that I'm still doing this stuff. And there people half my age go, wow, how do you do that? yeah It's like, I ain't telling. I'm not going to teach you how to read cursive either. Right?
01:23:22
Speaker
yeah Here's the clock. Guess what time it says. so Old age has its benefits, so not many, but a few. well See, that's the thing. like I went all the way through undergrad without the internet, which, I mean, that's that's a life skill right there. like I'm not saying everyone should have to know the Dewey decimal system or use a card catalog, but I'm glad I can yeah because if I'm in some Burgess Meredith end of the world situation, I will want to be able to find my way around the library, that's for sure. um yeah so Let me ask you this.
Beginner's Guide to Ukulele
01:23:59
Speaker
um For someone who is completely non-musical, who wants to learn an instrument, what would you say are the easiest, simplest instruments to get a basic understanding of for someone who you really doesn't know anything about music? Okay, it's that's that's a good question. what What I would suggest is, and this is gonna surprise you, I would suggest a ukulele. and and and And the reason I suggest it is this. Number one, with a ukulele, you can, a ukulele, to begin with, a you like a ukulele, let me say that again in English, a ukulele um is a legitimate instrument.
01:24:41
Speaker
ah It really is. ah and And it's one of the things with the Patreon page that I'm trying to put across is that the the these these arrangements like the the hymn today, there's no singing involved. This is this is the um ah the melody along with harmony notes. So it's yeah it's it's legit. But mostly what you want to do is you most people just want to play um and and sing songs.
01:25:09
Speaker
and And you can get started. I mean, honest to Pete, with a ukulele, you can start with one finger on one string, um on the bottom string, actually, on one fret. And just strum the strum the strings and sing row, row, row your bow. And you can go all the way through. And there's a couple of others.
01:25:28
Speaker
um that you that you can do as well. um So Frere Jacques, you know it's another one, it's a one chord song. So you can start off with one finger on one string pushing down and strumming it any old way you want to and sing in any key that you want to as long, you know, I mean you can do whatever you want and you can get started.
01:25:49
Speaker
and and and And then you just build on that from there. And ukulele is a pretty nice little instrument. Now, if you decide later on, now keep in mind, you can get a playable ukulele, playable ukulele, that doesn't sound too bad and it would do you fine for less than 100 bucks.
01:26:10
Speaker
And so you can get it, and and that's new. You can probably get used ones for half of that. so So you can get into one, they're not a lot of money, they can they can be a lot of money, just like anything else. sure But you can get into, and and i and I emphasize the word playable, you know. You can get the toys for like $20 or something like that, and they're painted pink. But but if you step if you step up a little bit, if you step up a little bit and go a couple, but and a lot of those are almost impossible to tune and things like that. but Well, yeah, at shower, actually, we had ah an expression where they would refer to a violin shaped object as opposed to an instrument that you would play. Yeah. Yeah. And and so but but I would say because it it it doesn't take.
01:26:56
Speaker
a great deal of talent. Now, I have a friend of mine that used to say that the guitar was the easiest instrument in the world to learn how to play badly, and one of the most difficult to learn how to play well. But I think with the ukulele, you know, they're they're inexpensive. ah They don't take up much space. um ah God, I hate to, I hate to shill, and I beg your pardon for this, but on my website, rogerhumphrey.com,
01:27:23
Speaker
there ah I actually have a beginning ukulele course for adults who are too busy and too on talent to learn how to play. um and And it is ah ah downloadable sheet music and video lessons that you can watch and re-watch. And and you and it'll it'll it's almost three months worth of lessons and it's like 30 bucks.
01:27:51
Speaker
Oh wow, so i mean that's super portable. It's very inexpensive. and and And I've had adults download it. It hasn't necessarily been a big seller, but I have had downloaded, ah excuse me, adults who have downloaded it. And they they write me back and go, my God, this is fun. I'm having a lot of fun doing this.
01:28:07
Speaker
um And and yeah they're successful. So so that's you know something to consider. So that's the other thing with adults learning an instrument like this is A, the expense. you know do i want to Do I have the time to to go to a class and shell out?
01:28:25
Speaker
60 or 80 bucks or 100 bucks to do an eight-week or 12-week class. Do I have do i have a time on my schedule and can I make it every week? you know And adults get busy, adult-ish, and doing adult things. you know yeah and And so this is an opportunity. you know for i specific I actually wrote this for a friend of mine who lives in northern Michigan, I don't see, and she wanted to learn how to play.
01:28:53
Speaker
And so I had been kicking the idea around. So I spent a few months and I produced it, you know, and did the videos here in my office. And I created all the music and laid it all out, did the whole thing.
01:29:07
Speaker
And then i I hired somebody to help me put it in the proper format so it could be downloaded. But but and that was like her first first thing that she said to me. She said, my god, she says, this is fun. I'm having a ball. i Literally, she bought she bought it. And three days later, i'm I'm hearing back from her. She's already playing songs. And she says, I just didn't think I'd be able to do this. So it's yeah, it it it that would be my my first My first suggestion would be something like that. big you know the the The tricky part is tuning it, but it's not, there there are tricks and I address that in the in the method. But but yeah, you know you can do that. And that'll give you a good foundation, a good ah a good working knowledge of the instrument. And then it's just learning more stuff. And a lot of that you can do on your own. You don't need,
01:30:00
Speaker
I mean, sometimes we need the week by week lessons just because we need somebody to talk to and let us know we're doing okay. But but aside from that, from a technical standpoint, yeah there's a ton of stuff that you could do. The Patreon page, $5 a month, which is cheaper than a lesson, $5 a month and you're going to have you know the songs, eight bucks a month for the for the whole package.
The Value of Tablature and Enjoying Learning
01:30:20
Speaker
And you've got so new songs to work on all the time. Now, flat out, you're not gonna like every song that's on the Patreon page. Nobody does, nobody does but me.
01:30:30
Speaker
yeah But you know, you're not, the idea that you've got a lot to choose from, yeah and and you and if you don't wanna just play melodies, and you then you can play, you know, you can strum and sing. If you don't wanna sing, you can just play the melodies.
01:30:45
Speaker
There's nothing wrong with that. There's nobody says you have to strum and sing. You can just play the melodies. And that's all. And that's done in tablature as well. As a matter of fact, that entire method is all tablature. There's no note reading in that at all. Oh, wow. Cool. Yeah. Yeah.
01:30:58
Speaker
and and but i um've i've I've talked with other people, tablature used to be kind of a dirty word ah with with a lot of guitar players. Well, that's the thing is that some people say that, oh, it's lazy and you didn't you know it's it's like a gatekeeping thing. But ah someone like me looks at that and says, look, do you want to people to be exposed to music or not? Do you want to give people this these opportunities or not?
01:31:25
Speaker
Because learning how to read music and understanding like all the notes and all the symbolism, that's not necessarily an afternoon's work. like There's a lot that goes into you being able to know it in a functional way. You're talking about conveying information, and that's just two different vehicles.
01:31:42
Speaker
um really and and By the way, tablature, particularly on guitars and and and ukuleles, tablature predates standard notation.
01:31:55
Speaker
ah Guitar music yeah guitar music was was published, well the earliest publications I'm aware of is in 1536, and that was specifically Renaissance guitar, which was a four-string instrument, um and tuned not unlike a ukulele.
01:32:17
Speaker
um and and and that was all done in tablature. They didn't start and they had a boatload of music that was published ah through the Renaissance and through the Baroque era and they didn't start actually doing notation and and and bringing the guitar into the mainstream until you know the late 1700s during the time of Mozart. So so the idea that the tablature is somehow cheating, it's not. And therere honestly, there are times that the tablature does a better job of conveying the information than standard notation does.
01:32:56
Speaker
And other times, the standard notation does a better job. And it depends on what you want as a player. A tablature doesn't do a particularly good job of conveying rhythms. But for most people who are playing,
01:33:12
Speaker
You already know what the song sounds like anyway, so who cares? right right yeah know it's so it's it's It's really not it's not a big issue. i yeah i used to be I used to be a snob and and I changed my mind and everything that I put out now.
01:33:29
Speaker
with very few exceptions, everything that I put out ah for solo instruments, whether advanced whether it's advanced stuff or or or not, if it's student stuff, it comes in both forms. you To be honest with you, ah on the computer, with the computer program that I use, it's three clicks. And I'm not kidding, it is it is simply three clicks to to create the tabs from the standard notation.
01:33:59
Speaker
Wow, that's that for the whole song. That's amazing. Yeah, I mean literally all I have to do is click the beginning, click the ending, hit copy. Click click the beginning where I wanted to to go in the in in the in the tab staff and and and hit hit. Paste well, it's done. I have to. I do have to go back and tweak it every once in a while. There's a little bit they asked me tweak, but not very much. I see.
01:34:29
Speaker
Well, cool. So it sounds like anyone, like literally anyone could learn how to play an instrument if they applied themselves. There's really no one that is not suited to it. Right. and i will And I will go back to what we talked about a while ago. And that is learn to embrace the the process. don't don't Don't practice so that you can perform or don't practice so that you can impress.
01:34:58
Speaker
Practice because the practicing itself is is is the end. That's not the means to the end. That's the end. it's Learn to embrace the practice. Learn to embrace the learning.
01:35:09
Speaker
and And it's like, again, like I say said, about the jigsaw puzzles, people put those things together. Don't do it so they can look at a pretty picture. It's the process that they enjoy. Right, right. Because the picture's already on the box. So you can you can play as badly as as you want. And instead of holding yourself up to somebody else's standard, you know whether it's legit or otherwise. you can you can The only standard is, you know did I have fun today? you know Did I learn something today? Am I a little bit better today than I was yesterday?
01:35:46
Speaker
and And if I don't practice it for a week or two, how much did I forget and how quickly will it come back? Because you will forget. I mean, it's I do. if If I don't practice for a couple of days, I can tell immediately. if if i I will occasionally take the weekend off and not practice at all on Saturday and Sunday. And I can feel it in my hands on Monday morning, absolutely flat out. And even though I don't perform anymore, I still practice every day. and and Because I think I'm getting better.
01:36:15
Speaker
but
01:36:18
Speaker
but But it's just something I build into it. I don't get disappointed because I don't sound as good on Monday as I did on Friday. It's just part of the process. I understand that. It's going to be that way. and But I also know from experience that it comes back quite quickly. I have students who have who studied music played marching band when they were in high school and 25 years later they decided they want to play guitar and I'm going to teach them how to read notes saying oh my god I did once but I've totally forgotten everything I have to totally relearn it no you don't you'll be surprised how much of that you retain I start showing so I remember that well I remember that oh yeah that's I remember what that did oh yeah well doesn't that mean you know and it just all this stuff just bubbles to the surface so once you get used to that and and that that concept of it doing that
01:37:07
Speaker
Then.
01:37:11
Speaker
then then the process is easier because your expectations are are are are adjusted to reality. And so that's, ah to me, that's the important part is just having realistic expectations. and you And if you don't know what they are, then you won't know when when you have them. I mean, it takes sometimes, just take somebody to hold your hands and go, this is what to expect. And then you go, oh, okay. That's a little easier at that point.
01:37:36
Speaker
and know Okay, cool. That
Adult Learning in Music
01:37:39
Speaker
makes sense. So so yeah everybody everybody can learn. and And you learn at your own speed. you learn And that's the other thing. ah They say children learn quicker or better or something than adults do. And I'm here to call BS on that. um Children learn differently. and And children are used to failure.
01:38:05
Speaker
Yeah, they try it. And they're going to be less inhibited. Exactly. Because they're' they don't, they just try it. If it doesn't come out, they try it again. If you show them something, then they try it again. Oh, not quite like that. Let's do it this way. If I do that with an adult, they're devastated. Oh my God, I'm stupid. I'm terrible. I'm dumb. I'm too on talented. Well, yeah, we've taught to be embarrassed at not getting things right. That's the first try and that's just, well, and not only that, but ah creatives in general, we compare ourselves to other people, people we admire. As you know, I went to college with a fantastic writer whose career
01:38:41
Speaker
if if you're playing the better game, the better or worse game, you know he he's doing better career-wise than I am and his work is so fucking good. so Yeah, and the same and the same guy that you're talking about was in my guitar class and now i' mean I'm looking at what he he does with his podcast and I feel like a total idiot. I want to take lessons from him.
01:39:03
Speaker
yeah yeah But that's the thing when you can comparing yourself to other people is a recipe for unhappiness and probably failure because you're going to feel like a failure because you're not somebody else. When you were never supposed to be, you were always supposed to be yourself. As we take a look at this, if you want it particularly as an adult, if you want to define successfully learning an instrument, focus on the word learning.
01:39:30
Speaker
and it's and And the learning is an ongoing process that never ends. Hell, I'm still learning. i've been doing i' been I started taking lessons when I was 10. And like I said before, I'm 76. So that means I've been whacking away at this thing for 66 years. and and And I still feel like an idiot. i just you know There are days I just feel like I should just set the thing on fire and walk away.
01:39:56
Speaker
um but ah so when When you're learning at home, don't say, oh, well, you know, I only know one song or I only know three chords or I i could play three chords, but only one of them. Well, you know, things like that. It's it's easy. It is the easiest thing in the world to do is to beat yourself up. And and it's what you have to do is step back and say, OK,
01:40:24
Speaker
You know, I've done this with my students all the time. We're in book four, and I'll say, let's go back and play something in book one. And I'll pull something. And I'll go, well, that's pretty easy. I say, yeah, you remember when you first learned it? You thought it was the hardest thing in the world, and you were too stupid to ever learn how to play this instrument. And they get all red in the face. Yeah, I remember. Because we're always living on the edge. You know, we're always learning the new thing.
01:40:47
Speaker
and and but But just take the time when you're learning it to go, okay, you know I'm um um on song number three and I could only play song number one two weeks ago or something. you know So I guess I'm making some progress. And then it's that's encouraging to know that you're making progress. But you know is is this stuff that you want to play in a concert? no Probably not. But is it fun? Yeah, kind of.
01:41:10
Speaker
um kind So so at at that point, who gives a flying thing? Right, right.
Focus on Writing and Online Teaching
01:41:20
Speaker
um So we're actually nearing the end of our time and I want to make sure and ask if there's anything that you wanted to talk about that I did not ask about.
01:41:30
Speaker
ah not really I think we we got off deeper into guitar education and music education than I thought that we would but no i don't I don't know that there was anything specific that I wanted to get into. I've been teaching for a lot of years and I enjoy it and I don't perform anymore.
01:41:50
Speaker
uh and and the reason for that is that i have developed some tremors in my hands nothing serious uh and and it's not parkinson's i've checked um it is it's actually um a reaction to some heart medications that i'm on so i don't play as I don't practice as hard as I used to. I practice every day. I try to play at least one piece by Bach every day because I'm absolutely in love with this guy's music. A quick side story there. they asked that When they they put Voyager 1 into space and they put that gold record in there to kind of give people an indication of what the sounds of Earth would be like. So if it was ever intercepted by some aliens,
01:42:37
Speaker
And one of the things they put on there was music by Chuck Berry. And on all like and so I thought it was pretty cool. But they did not put any music on there by J.S. Bach. And they were asked, the the guy who helped put that program together was asked, why didn't quite didn't you put any music by J.S. Bach on there? And he said, well that would just be bragging.
01:42:58
Speaker
ah and That's true. and that is so i So I play a little something by Bach every day. I listen to some more by Bach every day. But I don't play as well today as I used to because I don't practice as much. It's you know it's it's it's ah it's it's an easy equation.
01:43:16
Speaker
but But I still play every day and I enjoy it. But it gives me, by not practicing as much, it gives me time to do some of the other things that I've never been able to do. I was never able to do a lot of the lot of the things that i've done I've been doing the last couple of years because I just didn't have the time and the day.
01:43:32
Speaker
There was a time when you knew me, ah I was teaching a pretty healthy load at Olivette College. I was also teaching at Elma College. I was also teaching at my home and I was teaching at a music store in Lansing. And a combination of all of that, I was teaching, well, I maxed it out. At one point I was teaching 93 private students every week In addition to that, I was teaching five different classes and I was conducting two different performing ensembles, one children and one adult guitar ensemble and arranging music for those. And I was driving almost 700 miles a week to do all of that.
01:44:20
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. Yeah. I have a friend of mine who said that he says, when I told him I was only teaching like four days a week, he said, God, dude, he says, you invented the 27 hour workday. He said, he said, what are you going to do? But yeah, I like to stay busy, but that was insane. But But ah at at one point, and you have to understand as a classical guitarist and somebody particularly who also specialized in teaching young children, and I did, I've i've written methods on how to, you know, teaching young children. um And I was the only guy in mid-Michigan doing that.
01:45:03
Speaker
you You had, oh wow yeah I was it. I had at one point students from as far away as as Houghton Lake and as far south as Jackson. That's like a 200 mile spread there. ah or and And people coming to me in various locations. Plus, you know, at at Olivette College, Olivette College is 80 miles from where I live, 82 miles from my driveway to that parking lot. And See, man, that's not even burning the candle at both ends, man. That's just chucking the candle in the fire. that's and Yeah, you know. and And I turned down other positions. I mean, I had people at other colleges calling me up and asking me if I'd come to start a program there. No. no um I don't want to. But they were calling me because there was nobody else.
01:45:51
Speaker
There was no one else. Now, a few years into the program, particularly at Olivette, because I created the majors program there. And a few and few years into that, we had a couple we had a couple of people graduating that I could have i could have referred, you had the request continued to come. But but um yeah, i was i would so um now I'm down to about a dozen students. Everybody's online. I don't leave this house unless I absolutely have to anymore.
01:46:17
Speaker
And, and I don't, get and I don't get, but I do, I am able to record, uh, because, uh, if, if I screw it up, I can do another take, um, which, you know, when you're performing, you can't, you're just kind of there. You know, so, yeah so if the, and if the hands are real and the the shakiness of the hands doesn't last, it's usually temporary. It might last for 20 minutes. It might last for an hour. So if it's, if it's a rough morning, I'll tackle it in the afternoon or something.
01:46:46
Speaker
And so i can I can still work in that regard. I can still play and I can still do things like that, but I just can't go out and and do, you know, anywhere from one to four hours. My hands just won't do it anymore.
Advanced Guitar Studies and Support Options
01:46:59
Speaker
But but ta but but ah that's freeing me up to to write these methods and... Oh, God, I gotta tell you.
01:47:09
Speaker
i A few years ago, I wrote a series of six advanced studies for for the left hand for the guitar. and and this is These are for advanced players, college level and up.
01:47:28
Speaker
and I'd forgotten about them and I came across them in some other papers. Some papers that had gotten moved and I thought, oh, I should probably take these and just kind of refinger them and and and kind of retype set them because they they look kind of sloppy and all that kind of stuff. and But I was missing one page from from the fourth one.
01:47:49
Speaker
so So yesterday, I went scrounging around and thought, well, I wonder if I've got that you know somewhere in the computer. So I went looking through my computer files and I found all six of them there. Oh, wow, how about that? They're all there, they're all complete, everything. So i I brought it up the page and it was completely retyped set and in tablature as well. And everything about it had been refingered and I had done all six of them already.
01:48:17
Speaker
Wow. And so then, i felt well, at the very least, what I should do, I have a ah tab on my website. rogerhomefree.com that but it's called resources and it's all free stuff you can just go in there and download stuff there's also another tab in there it's just video tips on a variety of different things but the resources page is a little bit of everything just it's just scattered it's blank manuscript it's chord charts it's different uh waste a method book on how to read music and so on and so forth uh so anyway i thought well maybe i ought to put it on that so i went in there to open the resources page up and hell it's already there hey wednesday getting old sucks
01:49:07
Speaker
ah no i have Well, I told you, i'm I'm almost the same age as old people and it freaks me out. I'll tell you what, you know when you got make you have a note on the wall that says, did you put on your pants?
01:49:22
Speaker
Dude, dude, I have soap in there, man. so it's it's It's just old. you know yeah I watched a comedian on TV the other night and he was talking about being old. these and and he he He said, I asked Siri about what my life expectancy was and she changed the subject.
01:49:42
Speaker
so
01:49:46
Speaker
There you go. so yeah Oh my goodness. That's hilarious. but but tough yeah you know It is what it is. so anyway That, if anybody's interested, is on that resources tab on my page. and Well, we'll have a link to your website in the episode description. Thank you. description also Also on the website is a link to the Patreon page and a link to the to to my podcast, Creative Conversations. Okay, so so one stop shopping. Yeah, one stop shopping. You go on in there and and and a variety of other things. like um You don't have to
01:50:21
Speaker
um Subscribe to anything that's on there on that You know as you can you can go you can go and download all of that free stuff and I'll never know you were there It would be nice if you did subscribe if they don't have to It's they but I invite people just go in there and like Trump around see what you find You know, it's it's and I hope you like it. So right on Well, before we get to the Mad Lib, is there anything you want to ask me? Because I do give guests a chance to ask me a question if they want to. I think the only question I would ask you is, is what new projects are you working on right now?
01:50:56
Speaker
Oh, oh gosh. What a great question. I'm finishing up book three in the the savior trilogy, which is my ill conceived book series about Don Jr. Oh, I mean, about a prominent son of a prominent political figure who is emphatically not anyone you've ever heard of. um So I'm working on that and that's going to finish up the trilogy.
01:51:19
Speaker
Oh, that's cool. And I'm also getting another short collection together. And, you know, H and I together are writing a ah ah he's actually mapped it out. But it's like a choose your own adventure style story that we actually called um the series is going to be called You Brought This On Yourself. And it's a bunch of that that style of story where you're you're choosing. And it's it's an interesting challenge for me as a writer, because The perspective on those books is second person perspective, which is not a way that I am accustomed to writing. I always write in first person. Well, I shouldn't say always, but predominantly, I write in first person. So I do sometimes write in third person when the story calls for it. But but second person, like writing toward you, like the the you in parentheses, is is pretty challenging. So that's that's pretty much what I'm working on now.
01:52:15
Speaker
It sounds like fun. It sounds like you're stretching a little bit. so when well that's me when When you start releasing that stuff, I want you to come back on my podcast. and and we Oh, right on. well you know We do have the magazine, um sometimes hilarious horror, and I'm always writing new shorts for that. We're quarterly, so we release four times a year.
01:52:36
Speaker
And we're on coffee, actually. So that's KO-FI slash sometimes hilarious horror. So if you want to support us, like, you know, with money or whatever, that's a good place to do that. um And also just to, you know, subscribe and see stories. I put up my stories for free. We have contributors. I don't give away their stories for free.
01:52:56
Speaker
but they are in the magazine. And then I put up shorts. I actually finished one recently for the last issue. The thing is every time a fat woman is a writer, eventually she will write a piece called Fat Bitch, regardless of genre. like Eventually it will happen. and And it took me a while, but I finally ah did did mine and it was in our last issue. So that was pretty fun. I'm glad you got it out of your system. Right? Right?
01:53:26
Speaker
um So hey, so it's time for the Mad Lib. Are you ready for this? All right, first up looks like I need one, two, three, four, five singular nouns. Five singular nouns. Okay, ah clock.
01:53:49
Speaker
ah Television. Automobile.
01:53:56
Speaker
microphone because i'm looking at it and picture frame all right hang on writing writing writing sure absolutely i need okay one plural noun one plural noun toys okay adjectives i need one two three four five adjectives
01:54:29
Speaker
um k Okay, chubby, um green,
01:54:42
Speaker
wavy, long, and transparent. Okay, I need a part of the body plural. Oh, ears.
01:54:58
Speaker
And two verbs. Two verbs. Nope, three. Three verbs. Make up your mind. I know, right? I'm such a liar. Why do I lie? Three verbs.
01:55:09
Speaker
um
01:55:12
Speaker
Quickly. Oh, that's an adverb, which is fine because we do need an adverb. OK, sorry about that. So a verb. It's an action word. Right. Action word. Let's see. Run. Uh-huh.
01:55:27
Speaker
blank Oh, and slobber. And I need one more verb that ends in I-N-G. Verb that ends in I-N-G. Sing. Or singing. All right. Singing, whichever works best for your story. Got it. And a celebrity. A celebrity. Oh. So it's just somebody famous, a celebrity? Yep. Anybody famous. Anybody famous. Okay.
01:55:58
Speaker
ah Let me think on that for a moment.
01:56:03
Speaker
Let me see. Paul McCartney. All right, sweet. So this story is called Let's Get Packing. If you are going to a sleepover at a friend's clock, here is a chubby list of things to put in your overnight television.
01:56:24
Speaker
green pajamas and a change of toys for the next day. A tooth automobile for brushing your ears. Some CDs so you and your friends can run to your favorite wavy tunes. Magazines with someone like Paul McCartney on the cover. Yeah, I think you're gonna have to eBay that. um And articles on how to blink quickly. Wow.
01:56:49
Speaker
Um, a long microphone light will help you to slobber in the dark while you stay up singing into the wee hours of the picture frame. If you follow this checklist, you should have a really transparent sleepover.
01:57:07
Speaker
I still don't know if I'm legally allowed to do Mad Libs on my show, but come at me, Mattel. Is it Mattel now? I don't even know if it still is. Raj, I'm so glad you could be here. I had such a fun time talking to you. Me too. That was a good time. Right? Thank you so much. I was afraid that we wouldn't have anything to talk about. Silly me. Oh, come on. Right? That that is silly you. We didn't even get to half the questions on the list, for heaven's sake. um So hey, to our listeners, I just want to say thanks to everybody. We just told you how to support us over to the coffee. So, you know, help yourself to that. And we'll see everybody next week.