my ukulele progress

Adding the modes of the Melodic Minor has been insanely productive. And I cannot explain it.

There is only one note difference between the Melodic and Harmonic Minor, but I think it has had an impact.

Here's my best explanation: I'm a visual player. I see in my mind's eye the shape and I then group together phrases based on the pattern of the shape. And now that I am playing new shapes with basically the same notes, I am seeing different relationships.

I was focusing on the A Lydian Dominant/C# Aiolian b5 and stretching up to the B Phrygian Dominant/D# Super Lokrian bb7

Hilarious thread going on about used/new ukes. A subtext is not losing money. I find it really weird. I have probably lost thousands of dollars because I buy and then give instruments away. I don't regret it. Some people will have wasted tens of thousands of dollars on a lifetime of cable bills or cell phones bills. I don't have that overhead and expense. I do spend my money on other things. To be honest I consider it kind of crass to ask other people to underwrite my serendipitous wanderings through life by buying my used instruments at a price that will remunerate me. In fact I think it rather base to actually have to think about it.

But I don't want to bust anyone's chops if they try to change this hobby into a paying enterprise.

I was kind of feeling blue today because it is springtime in the desert and it is the worst time of the year. It is rather steamy in the house, but you cannot open the window because springtime means competing air masses--i.e. wind. Dust is blowing everywhere. You have to stay bottled up 'til the heat vanquishes the cold, and the winds are abolished.

To add to this, I just dry cleaned and put away my waist coats. It is too hot for them and I was thinking that I may never again wear my burgundy waist coat. There's the looming nuclear war in Ukraine, there's covid, and there's just normal mortality....with all those eventualities it is possible that I'll never wear my burgundy waist coat again.

That sounds like the making of the most gentrified blues imaginable: the burgundy blues.

Maybe that general lugubrious vibe worked itself into my playing...but I didn't notice it.

I was trying to spend some time in areas of the fret board of which I am very unfamiliar. I focused on the shape of the C# Aiolian b5 and the D# Super Lokrian.

At this point, I don't have anything cogent to say. I am still exploring these two shapes. I will say for transitions I will get to the end of the D# Super Lokrian/G Lydian #5 which is a G and then just slip up to the A in the E Aiolian #6#7. And from that A, I can arpeggiate to the D# at the 8th fret and begin afresh.

As for chords, I am seeing some possibilities for augmented, major, and m7 chords using the scales. I have been watching some players and they do what I'm trying to do: fingerpick but for a beat, hit a chord

I felt like indulging in comfort, so I hung around the E on the 9th fret and played familiar things. Here are the scales

1. E Aiolian #6#7/A Lydian dominant
2. Dominant shape of E minor pentatonic
3. B Phrygian Dominant
4. E Hungarian Minor in two octaves
5. divebombing from the high frets with tritones or dim7 arpeggios

I hear that there are fires where you are. Are they close? I hope not — take care.

Thanks for the kind thoughts. From what I hear the devastation is down south in Ruidoso which is a shame because it is an idyllic resort--for those who have the money. We aren't even affected by the smoke such as we were when the California wildfires were raging.

Well, that’s good. I’ve been up North and down South. I can’t say I cared much for the Southern route.

The south has a Wile E Coyote/Roadrunner vibe that has its appeal. It is a variety from the Rocky Mountains or the Continental Divide.

I saw a thread about wound G strings. I didn't participate because I have nothing positive to say about wound strings. Moreover, I don't understand why wound strings suck so much.

My tenor guitar has all steel strings. and whether I use DGBE or EAC#F#, I can bend the strings and they are expressive. Ukulele metal strings don't bend very well. That's why I hate them. I suppose they're okay if you're just strumming cowboy chords

I just had the guys come in and service my swamp cooler and change the pads and do all that stuff with pliers and solvents. Now I'll be more humidified. But so will my ukes. I will have to watch over them. If I'm not careful, the cases can get up to 60% which, in my opinion, is a bit too moist.

I don't have time to type because of my two jobs. But I have been mixing up melic aspects of the melodic minor, harmonic minor, and penatonic minor (with a sprinkling of the Hungarian minor) and really enjoying the music. This has been a really great time. I only wish my baritone were here to share. That will come; patience is the touchstone. It has been a boon because I have been feeling down because as I am crossing the threshold into old age, I am going through a tooth implant, a torn ligament, and 7 stitches in my head for skin cancer. It is like my warranty ran out and I'm falling apart. It sucks because I have always been healthy, so my insurance has a high deductible--since I figured I would never use it. When it is all over and done with, I probably will have spent a Moore Bettah uke on healthcare.

I had a relatively awesome time. The weather is perfect: too hot in the daytime and the nighttime only needing a denim jacket. I re-stocked a lot of essentials with my shopping. Stuff like salsa verde. Since I made some mustard, I bought a few sausages and a few corn tortillas. After all, I had the condiment, so I had to get the food. I really need some ghee, but my Arabic market is uptown and I wasn't planning on making that trip until my tailor has re-lined my favorite sportscoat. This way I can kill two birds with one stone. Maybe I am unobservant, but I didn't realize how expensive gasoline has become. That's because I don't usually look at prices. Every 2 or 3 weeks, I put $20 in my jeep. For me $20 is $20 regardless of how much the fuel is per gallon.

One of my 3 classes that I'm teaching is done, so I had some free time. For some reason my wife was interested in me, so since I have a captive and receptive audience, I explained and illustrated to her the advantage of scale shapes. I showed her how with one shape you could play in E or in Ab.

A little theory goes a long way. Speaking of theory, I was amused about the brouhaha about critical race theory in the news. When I was in school we just called it theory. It is funny because you don't learn "theory" 'til college. Until then you learn about Betsy Ross, apple pie, and that kind of stuff. And even in college I focused very little on race because I always thought money was more of an influencer than race. My studies were more of a Marxist, follow-the-money type of analysis. And I didn't turn out too bad. Why is there all this fuss about protecting 7 year old children from a curriculum they won't encounter for another 15 years?

I don't and I don't pretend to...except my studies in theory bid me to follow the money and see who profits by all this.

Anyway, I have been improv-ing with melodic minor shapes and exploring the sounds.

I was thinking of the ukulele and how it is a very mercurial mistress but accommodating. It allows many people with many tacks to enjoy it. To wit, you can be really anal retentive about your strings and your tone woods and whatever minutiae you care about. And the ukulele lets you fuss over it. Or you can just play and the ukulele is no less enjoyable. The ukulele absorbs whatever baggage you bring to the relationship and moves forward.

I was reading a posting from someone struggling with not looking at the fretting hand. I say Why? There's only one reason not to look at the fretboard and that's if you need your eyes for something else. E.g., if you are reading music or if you're performing and need to make a connection with the audience by looking at them, then looking at the fret board is not practical. Breaking laws is inadvisable but bending rules often is necessary

ripock said:

I was reading a posting from someone struggling with not looking at the fretting hand. I say Why? There's only one reason not to look at the fretboard and that's if you need your eyes for something else. E.g., if you are reading music or if you're performing and need to make a connection with the audience by looking at them, then looking at the fret board is not practical. Breaking laws is inadvisable but bending rules often is necessary

Click to expand...

I may be the one you are posting about, and I agree with with your post. I’ve been battling Classical Guitar lately, so I‘m watching
many CG artists, and I notice that many (including Segovia) have their eyes glued to their fretting hand.

I’ve pretty much stopped checking my left hand, but I’m really wondering why. I seem to play better when I do it.

When I've seen footage of guys like Segovia or Julian Bream, they don't have sheet music in front of them. They've already memorized it. So they can focus on the left hand and make sure they nail everything. I am sure they don't need to look, but after all a person has to look at something. I suppose training yourself to not look is a good thing because it prepares you for all contingencies. If you are singing or reading, you can do it while playing. And if you are not doing those activities, then you can whatever you wish with your face and eyes. I think my only gripe is doing it merely because the technique police are forcing you to.

Yeah, I couldn’t agree more.

I just picked out some chords to support my melodic minor foray. I didn't give it a moment's thought. I just grabbed chords from the mode shape. If you look at the layout of the shape you're in, certain chord patterns (straight barre, triangles, partial augmented) pop out. And since the notes are diatonic, the chords must be, right? I'm not even figuring out what I'm playing. I figure the chords and the picking use the same notes so it must sound good regardless of what name the chord merits.

I did see one funny thing. I watched a brief youtube video of someone demonstrating a strum. The comments below the video were asking for the strum pattern. Didn't they just watch and listen to the video? Just do what you just witnessed.

I have been slacking off and playing what's easy. It is time to see what I can do with something that isn't comfortable. The D# Super Lokrian (linear)/G Lydian #5 (re-entrant) is very awkward. It is the E string that throws a monkey wrench into it all. The G, C, and A strings has the lower end of its shape on or around the 7th fret. But the E string with the sharp 6 starts on the 9th fret. It doesn't sound like much but it is jarring on the fingers. Usually you move from string to string but still begin with the index finger. In this case you either have to shift two frets to use the index finger or use the ring and pinky in order to keep the hand in the same position (which it needs to be in to hit the E on the 7th fret on the A string). Once again, it is a very small issue and one that I suppose people have been facing for generations, but it is kind of a big deal when you have to it at first.

I was working on the G Lydian #5 and its awkward E string. One solution...well solution isn't the right word because there wasn't a problem. One avenue I took was to pivot on the C# which is making everything so awkward. When I get to that C# I can just transform it into a C# minor pentatonic which by its other name is the E major pentatonic. So I'm still in my key.

One thing I noticed: I still don't much like Lydian modes. that G-A-B just sounds so dowdy and banal. In contrast the E Aiolian #6#7 can achieve some really spicy licks with its first 5 intervals. As I have mentioned before these modes contain the same exact notes, albeit in a different order. The only difference is how they are physically arranged on the strings. That arrangement evokes certain responses in a visual player like me. However if someone was much more cerebral I suppose it wouldn't matter because that person would pluck the desired intervals regardless of the lay of the shape.

Lastly I messed around with m9 chords and maybe I will fold both these into each other. I did find out one thing. There is no way in hell that I am going to be able to fret a m9 rooted on the C string.

It is kind of funny, but there is a whimsical thread about dream vacations and which ukulele factories to visit. I didn't want to rain on anyone's parade, but my response is "What kind of friggin' vacation is that?"

It just seems like the least fun vacation that I can think of.

However my mindset is on different planes right now. Now I am confronting a different issue: my hypertenstion numbers are up. So my thoughts are more about abstaining and getting centered.

My food has always been on point. I am going to make a batch of beans in the pressure cooker. But I am also going to make an assay into the world of eggplants. As anyone reading this diary can see, I am very plant-based. But for whatever reason I have never indulged in eggplants. I guess I could say that eggplant is a nightshade and I avoid the semi-toxic elements of that category of vegetables. However I cannot make that excuse; it has just been a blind spot in my diet.

Many people fry their eggplant, but that seems like it would take an eternity. I am going to bread the slices and bake them on a jelly roll pan--all at one time. We'll see if the results are as satisfactory as frying.

So my diet is as great as always, but I have to work the other variables. First of all, alcohol. With covid and working at home, I have been drinking whisky ad libitum. Alcohol raises numbers. So I made a commitment to drink only one jigger-full of whisky per day. Of course, i grabbed a bottle of Cairdeas, which is Laphroaig that has aged in port casks. It is very wonderful and very expensive (costs 1/50th the price of my baritone). But if I stick to my regiment, it should last two weeks.

And I have to get back into my training. I used to be an avid trainer but I became complacent. So I am going to start training again on a daily basis. Training--both aerobic and resistance--has a positive impact on hypertension as does weight loss, so I feel I should see some better numbers.

As for music, the main subject of the blog, I have a few things to report.

I have been trying to find an arpeggio for the melodic minor. I found one but it isn't as nice as the harmonic minor. The harmonic minor had a dim7 arpeggio. Its elements were C, A, D#, F#, so that you could take any of those notes and then build the shape around it because the dim7 arpeggio is very symmetrical. Such is not the case with the melodic minor. I googled and received the 3/7 arpeggio. It is the b3, 5, b7, 9 of the key. It is nice, of course, but a chameleon. It changes shape depending on which note you begin with and where that initial note is on the fret board.

I have still been focusing on the E Aiolian #6#7 on the 9th fret and slowly moving up and down the neck--connecting the modes as I go.

I have three go-to meals for aubergines:
- parmegiana melanzana
- a lentil moussaka
- Chinese steamed aubergines with garlic, sesame oil, spring onions, and (but these both have quite a bit of salt in them, so you might want to try something else) chiu chilli oil and soy sauce.

The steamed aubergines are very light. In your pressure cooker they shouldn't take long at all.

Plain old oats are yummy and they help lower cholesterol and blood pressure. You may not like them as much as I do, though.

Since I'm commenting on your eggplan(t)s, I'll just let you know that I think it's awesome that you make your own mustard. I do make my own mayo from time to time, but I just buy Dijon musterd at the supermarket.