The minor seventh flatted fifth

Aymiee commented about the Bm7-5 chord:

"Unfortunately, I got to Bm7-5 …and my jaw dropped. How do you pronounce it?? How do you play it??"

Here's my attempt to respond based on my limited understanding of music theory:

First some basic chord symbols:

# Represents a sharp or one half step up
b Represents a flat or one half step down
+ Means an augmented note (sharp) and if by itself often means +5.
- Means a dimished note (flat)
5 Refers to a chord with just the root and the fifth (C5 is C and G)

So to pick apart the Bm7-5 you would start with the chord:

B minor chord (Bm): B - D - F#

Then add the "dominant 7th" which is the flatted seventh:

B minor seventh chord (Bm7): B - D - F# - A

Then replace the fifth (F#) with the "flatted fifth" (F):

B minor seventh flatted fifth chord (Bm7-5): B - D - F - A

The chord has a very dissonant sound. Check out Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight". I believe it's built with "m7-5" chords

The First Gig

Last night I played my first gig...I hope to tell it with a little bit of humor =)

My cousin calls me up saying, "Hey! Mike's playing with his uncle at Lacies every friday. Let's check it out and see if you can sit in!". I'm asking myself if I'm even ready: "Sure!! Let's go for it...I'll take the new bass" Laughing at myself because I've only had it for ...ummmm... 5 days.

I picked up my cousin Daniel and headed down to the place...which happens to be a little hole in the wall bar. As we walk inside I notice the musk of an old 70's club with orange upholstery to match.

It must have been senior citizens night with only 2 guys in the whole place. On stage is Mike and his uncle playing Jonny Cash. Mostly 3 chord stuff...should be able to hang.

After an hour or 2 they take a break and call me up with the amp and bass. I plug in and wait for the first song. It was some country song that I never heard of but was able to quickly pick up the changes. Mostly played 5th's with little walking bass lines in between the changes.

I made mistakes here and there but the crowd of 2 was still digging it. Honky tonk guitar with a little bass behind it sounds alright according to them =)

We played some country, some Creedence, some Garth Brooks, the AC/DC song "Hells Bells", the song "My Girl", and a few others. Heck by the time we stopped playing there was only 1 guy left. hehehhehe

All in all it was a fun jam session with a stage underneath us =)

Blues4a

I was tinkering with a bass track with rhytmn guitar and a little lead. Here's the result:

"blues for a"

Tyler gave me some pointers on what I need to do about the clipping. If you listen closely you can hear it break off on some of the peaks.

The secret of the bass guitar

I'm reading a book right now on bass guitar and one quote stood out:

"Think of the simplest thing you can play, and then play half of that."

There's something too cool about that. It's almost a zen like thing...remove everything that's not needed and you end up with the essence.

New Books from Borders

I purchased "Blink" and "Tuesday's with Mourey" at Borders today. I read Malcolm's last book "Tipping Point" a while back and really enjoyed how he covered the subject. Mitch Albom's "The 5 People you meet in heaven" was also a good read. I loved how it all came together at the end.

Having just finished "Digital Fortress" I also have "The DaVinci Code" in the queue. I read the first chapter and was already hooked. It's seems like it's on par with the pace in Digital Fortress.

Trying to learn bass guitar

I've been tinkering with the new bass guitar. It's a totally different animal than the guitar. Needless to say, I have much greater appreciation for the pros =)

I've been working on the song "White Discussion" from Live. It's one of the songs Ben, Tyler, and I picked out to learn as a group.

Here's my newbie attempt: bassfun.mp3

I'm finding that it's really easy to get sloppy on the bass. Seems like the goal is to play clean and tight.

Meet "Roxanne" the new bass!

Meet my new bass guitar "Roxanne"...named after the first song I learned on it =)

This weekend I was down in Hollywood and stopped by the GuitarCenter. I fiddled with a few basses (already having in mind that some day I will buy one). I came accross the Ibanez GSR200 and liked it. The price was just right too, as in two hundred bucks.

I also enjoyed purusing the vintage guitars section. Tyler would be interested to know that I counted 9 Mosrite guitars

Comfortably Numb

Just got back from the jam session at Ben's. Tyler was there and we worked on some tunes...which included Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb. We were able to get it sounding pretty good. Ben was on drums, Tyler on lead guitar, and I was on bass. We tinkered with a few others and called it a night. Now we just need to find a singer. For anyone who's interested:

Comfortably Numb -- Pink Floyd
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bm A
Hello (hello-hello) Is there anybody in there?
G G/F# Em
Just nod if you can hear me
Bm
Is there anyone home
A
Come on (come on come on) I hear you're feeling down
G G/F# Em
I can ease your pain
Bm
And get you on your feet again
A
Relax (relax relax) I need some information first
G G/F# Em
Just the basic facts
Bm
Can you show me where it hurts

Chorus:


D A
There is no pain. You are receding (?)
D A
A distant ship. Smoke on the horizon.
C G
You are only coming through in waves
C G
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying.
D A
When I was a child, I had a fever
D A
My hands felt just like two balloons
C G
Now I've got that feeling once again
C
I cannot put my finger on it now
G
The child is grown. The dream is gone.
A B-note not chord C

I -- Have become comfortably numb.

Against the flow

One aspect of 2005 that I'm really proud of is the fact that I've watched less than a few hours of TV, for the whole year. From time to time I would catch a few minutes here and there by chance in the homes of others.

It's amazing how much not having TV changed me. I missed out on a lot of conversations (oh well) but more importantly I feel like I've been more of an independent thinker. Without outside references like commercials and pop shows I have wondered and pondered how my life works for me, not how to fit in with some product or some picture.

I have also read more books in 2005 than any other year in my life. That makes me happy.

Live Music

I've been talking with Tyler about putting a group together. I'd love to get some material down, perhaps covers at first. In NYC I saw a group play at a pub. They covered U2, Pink Floyd, Police and a few others along those lines. That would be my target. The hard part seems to be finding a singer!

Scott's Gibson L1

Meet Scott and his guitar. Scott is the leader of our monthly jam sessions at Divine Appointment Guitars in Paso Robles. He's pretty cool and very talented.

That's a rare guitar he's holding. It's a Gibson L1 and was built in the 1920's. Here's a brief intro from Fretdancer:

"Gibson’s earliest catalogued flat top fixed bridge guitar, all original. Silver - silk screened logo, carved maple back and sides, spruce top, early multiple-ring soundhole rosette. Pre-truss rod model ( truss-rods first offered in 1928 ) this guitar has a superb playing action and very distinct sound. The arched back gives it it’s own built-in reverb. This model (12 frets) is often associated with Blues Legend Robert Johnson who was photographed playing one in a rare studio portrait. In the only other known photograph of Johnson, he was holding a 14 fret Gibson product, possibly a Kalamazoo."

What is this word "Arsy"?

A few years back my close friends started calling me R.P.C. as in Richard Paul Caetano. That eventually got shortened to RC. After some time I felt the initials were too "impersonal". So during one long and boring meeting at work the idea arrived: Arsy.

When I launched this blog I felt like it needed a matching title. So I bounced a few ideas off of Aym:

Arsy = Aviation, ???, software, ??? .... blank!
Arsy = A Really Stupid Yuppie .... naaa
Arsy = A Really Sexy Yuppie .... hmmmm .... naaa

And then being the wordsmith she is, she came up with:

Arsy = Arsy's Rather Simple Yatter

yat·ter

U.K. chatter continuously: to talk continuously, especially about trivial things ( informal )

I like that =)

Click, Click...

... more to come

100 Things

00 - Sometimes you can start with zero
01 - I have 1 life to enjoy
02 - I have 2 children, Evan and Avery
03 - I am one of 3 brothers
04 - I knew all 4 of my grandparents
05 - I love the flatted 5th note in blues and jazz
06 - I was married for 6 years but am single now
07 - I have owned 6 off-road motorcycles
08 - I own 8 guitars
09 - I started programming computers at age 9
0A - I spend a lot of time typing on computers
0B - I spend the other time playing my guitars
0C - I spend the remaining time reading, flying, riding my bike
0D - ...but nothing beats hanging out with my kids =)
0E - I love puzzles ...
0F - ... that's why I love programming
10 - I first kissed a girl on my 16th birthday (it was a nice gift)
11 - I hope one day to fly commercially part time
12 - I want to show people the beauty of the skies above
13 - I like to eat healthy
14 - I don't watch TV
15 - My favorite coffee drink is a cappuccino
16 - I drink my coffee black
17 - I enjoye hoppy/strong beer
18 - I live in an appartment with the #24 on it
19 - Indian Pale Ales are my favorite
1A - New York and Seattle are the 2 most favorite places I've been
1B - Hawaii was really cool too
1C - I hope to visit Brasil soon
1D - My mother was born in Portugal but was raised in Brasil
1E - My dad was born in Hanford, California
1F - I was born in Tulare, California
20 - My 8th grade class had 14 kids
21 - I knew all 5 boys and 9 girls
22 - I love the color blue
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
2A
2B
2C
2D
2E
2F
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
3A
3B
3C
3D
3E
3F
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
4A
4B
4C
4D
4E
4F
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
5A
5B
5C
5D
5E - I graduated from high school in 1994
5F
60
61
62 - I got married in 1998
63