Of shampoo and a bass groove (because there must be bass...)
At certain times in my life I have been fascinated with the mundane. When I first went to Greece two months before I turned 22, I was most interested in toilets and plumbing. My friend Joe who'd gone to Germany the Christmas season previous to that teased me greatly because I wasn't sharing the lofty things such as discussion of monuments and the like. He, on the other hand, was going on and on about German cathedrals. No doubt I've mentioned this story at other times, but it's written here again as a prelude to another bit of mundane fascination. Shampoo.
On Thursday I'd stopped at the local Wal-Mart to pick up some doughnuts (because we'd been discussing beignets at work) and shampoo. I've noticed with shampoo that while some of it works and even works well, it usually loses its effectiveness after a while. I'd been using some daily clarifying shampoo (probably Suave brand, though that's not important), but as typical it wasn't working as well any more. Maybe my hair had become resistant, or perhaps it was because of the change of season being summer now. Our bodies definitely act differently in the various seasons, even if we don't mention that.
I stood in the shampoo aisle with the different brands, and I was amazed if not a little overwhelmed with the choices available. Let's see... there is shampoo for curls, straight hair, long hair, wavy hair, hair with split ends, hair that needs moisture, artificially colored hair, brunette hair, red hair, blonde hair... have I forgotten anything? Oh, yes. How about this.
What about the shampoo that will actually get my hair clean?!
I don't want it to roll over and do tricks. I just want it clean. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so. Companies that make hair care products seem to perceive clean hair as somehow not as important as curly or shark fin shaped (read the label on one of the Aussie-brand shampoos... I can't remember which) or any of the other varieties of choice. I guess clean hair is so passe.
By the way, I eventually went for the shampoo made for long hair. It's the nearest thing that I could find that fit, but I'm still looking for the that elusive clean.
And now for the bass groove. This week I've been working more on playing things by ear and predicting chord movement. I was being rather depressed with the results. It's like my ear was broken Wednesday night. Thursday, I had the shampoo adventure, and then there was Friday.
Friday morning I reached for my fretless Spector for a few minutes before work, not more than 15. I needed to play, and it's such the better instrument that the more I play my Ibanez the more I want to run back to the Spector. I found by accident a harmonic above the 9th "fret" of the G string, and it rang out so loudly and clearly. It was a happy making thing.
Then that night, I was playing in church. (We are having a revival, so my playing commitment is likewise increased with more services.) I'd been aurally frustrated most of the week, and my step-dad, who is a shy and modest (redundant?) singer, gets up to do a special song that we'd not previously rehearsed. Right away I locked into the song and started driving it. I don't mean rushing, either, but really finding the sweet spot and going for it. I was doing a simple 8th note groove that moved around a bit but kept on pumping. Like a lot of "great bass" it wasn't necessarily difficult, but it was the right part for the song at the time.
Suddenly, the demeanor of the congregation (or audience, if you like) changed. There were hands clapping, maracas shaking, tambourines being rattled. It was then that I realized the truth of what bass players have been saying-that they being the link between all the different parts of the ensemble are actually the most powerful members of the ensemble. It's quiet power, but power nonetheless. Oh, I've had moments of great music before, but it was then that I knew that all the music being made so well was in my hands as far as the direction of it all. I had the percussion going in the people; the keyboard player was having a good time on top of my harmonic and rhythmic foundation; and we all made the singer sound good.
So yeah. Now I finally know. "So that's what they mean..."
On Thursday I'd stopped at the local Wal-Mart to pick up some doughnuts (because we'd been discussing beignets at work) and shampoo. I've noticed with shampoo that while some of it works and even works well, it usually loses its effectiveness after a while. I'd been using some daily clarifying shampoo (probably Suave brand, though that's not important), but as typical it wasn't working as well any more. Maybe my hair had become resistant, or perhaps it was because of the change of season being summer now. Our bodies definitely act differently in the various seasons, even if we don't mention that.
I stood in the shampoo aisle with the different brands, and I was amazed if not a little overwhelmed with the choices available. Let's see... there is shampoo for curls, straight hair, long hair, wavy hair, hair with split ends, hair that needs moisture, artificially colored hair, brunette hair, red hair, blonde hair... have I forgotten anything? Oh, yes. How about this.
What about the shampoo that will actually get my hair clean?!
I don't want it to roll over and do tricks. I just want it clean. Is that too much to ask? Apparently so. Companies that make hair care products seem to perceive clean hair as somehow not as important as curly or shark fin shaped (read the label on one of the Aussie-brand shampoos... I can't remember which) or any of the other varieties of choice. I guess clean hair is so passe.
By the way, I eventually went for the shampoo made for long hair. It's the nearest thing that I could find that fit, but I'm still looking for the that elusive clean.
And now for the bass groove. This week I've been working more on playing things by ear and predicting chord movement. I was being rather depressed with the results. It's like my ear was broken Wednesday night. Thursday, I had the shampoo adventure, and then there was Friday.
Friday morning I reached for my fretless Spector for a few minutes before work, not more than 15. I needed to play, and it's such the better instrument that the more I play my Ibanez the more I want to run back to the Spector. I found by accident a harmonic above the 9th "fret" of the G string, and it rang out so loudly and clearly. It was a happy making thing.
Then that night, I was playing in church. (We are having a revival, so my playing commitment is likewise increased with more services.) I'd been aurally frustrated most of the week, and my step-dad, who is a shy and modest (redundant?) singer, gets up to do a special song that we'd not previously rehearsed. Right away I locked into the song and started driving it. I don't mean rushing, either, but really finding the sweet spot and going for it. I was doing a simple 8th note groove that moved around a bit but kept on pumping. Like a lot of "great bass" it wasn't necessarily difficult, but it was the right part for the song at the time.
Suddenly, the demeanor of the congregation (or audience, if you like) changed. There were hands clapping, maracas shaking, tambourines being rattled. It was then that I realized the truth of what bass players have been saying-that they being the link between all the different parts of the ensemble are actually the most powerful members of the ensemble. It's quiet power, but power nonetheless. Oh, I've had moments of great music before, but it was then that I knew that all the music being made so well was in my hands as far as the direction of it all. I had the percussion going in the people; the keyboard player was having a good time on top of my harmonic and rhythmic foundation; and we all made the singer sound good.
So yeah. Now I finally know. "So that's what they mean..."