Re: Singing

It’s a drop-dead gorgeous day on Olde Cape Cod today, one of the few we’ve enjoyed this summer. Low humidity and comfortable temps – my guitars are loving that and I love the way they sound when the humidity is relatively low. Saturated wood = dead sound. It’s always a temporary thing of course; I know full well that in a few short months I’ll be running the humidifier again in my studio so they don’t get dangerously dry. So it goes when you live in a place with typically hot, humid summers and cold, dry winters. I do know this: I sure do play more when my guitars sound up to their potential.
 
This is going to be one of those random blog entries but hopefully not too boring! So, a few thoughts and observations.
 
I’ve been working pretty hard on getting as much of my singing voice back to where it once was and on most days the results are gratifying. No, I will never again be able to hit those higher E’s, F’s and G’s – yes there was a time I could do that! – but most days I have a pretty solid D with the occasional E. But there are some songs that I play that will always have choke moments. I think everyone has those. It is especially maddening when I do a song where the melody ascends at the end of a phrase. However, I noticed a little something last week when we went to the local county fair to hear The Guess Who. Yup, those guys. One original member (the drummer, who KILLED IT!) but the other four have been with him for more than ten years and it was a great show.
 
The lead singer would go for a high note just a shade before it was called for and he nailed all of them, even on the great song “These Eyes,” which would be a test for anyone with its double modulation at the end of the already high chorus. It occurred to me that this might be something to try. Why? Because the “choke factor” when the singer knows a hard part is coming up might not be quite as much in play. It’s totally a head trip of course. But I tried to employ this strategy all last week during lessons when I get to the point that I record the song the student will be practicing and send it along as a sound file. Gotta toot my horn a bit here. I don’t know any other guitar teachers who do this and all my students say it is a huge help when they are attempting a new lesson, rather than just sending them off with printed music. The results were quite gratifying when I listened to the recordings afterward.
 
No, I will never be a great singer but I have to say, after pretty much neglecting it for at least a decade, or singing very softly so the student can clearly hear the guitar part, it’s actually starting to feel good to sing! I kind of wondered if that would ever happen again. Some days are better than others of course, just like with my guitar playing, but I’m encouraged.
 
Another thing I’ve been trying to do lately when I perform is never, ever go into auto-pilot mode, even on songs that I know very well and have been playing for decades. For me anyway, letting myself just groove along without paying attention is an absolute guarantee that a major flub will happen, and that shakes me up completely. I do know various tricks to cover my mistakes so I’m reasonably sure no one in the audience knows what transpired – but I do! I covered this before in this space but learning how to channel nervousness into concentration is something that is vital. Unfortunately, that only happens after you’ve choked a few times. But I can do it…..mostly!
 
I just acquired a new/used guitar, a Bourgeois OM-150. I’ve lusted after one of Dana’s superb instruments after meeting him and playing about a dozen of his instruments at the 2019 NAMM show in California. Of all the so-called “boutique” makers, Bourgeois guitars are somewhat under the radar compared to makers like Collings, Huss & Dalton, Froggy Bottom, Santa Cruz Guitar Company and others. I must say though, every one of Dana’s guitars I played at that show were wonderful and his instruments definitely have a unique, complex voice, more toward what is generally referred to as a “modern sound” rather than trying to sound like a Martin, which is something most makers try to achieve. That sound is generally thought of as having more prominent mids and high tones rather than the bass-heavy tone of some Martins.
 
I still love my two Martins though and I will always be a Martin guy, first and foremost, but Dana has entered into a business arrangement with the superb Chinese maker, Eastman Guitars for then to make a more affordable line of instruments built to his specs. There has been a lot of buzz about this on the guitar forums and I will definitely check them out when they finally become available. As I’ve said in this space before, I firmly believe Eastman is making the best guitars among the Pac Rim makers and knowing how particular Dana is about every aspect of guitar manufacturing I’m sure they will be great.
 
My Bourgeois is four years old but is absolutely perfect in every way and shows no play wear at all. Plus, it is beautiful in a wonderful under-stated way. I suspect the original owner hardly played it at all, which in some ways may be bit of a detriment. With its tight grained Italian spruce top (not “aged” as most of Dana’s guitars are) I think it has yet to totally open up; Italian/European spruce is notorious for needed some years of regular play to reach its potential. In any case, it sounds wonderful right now and I’m going to put it through its paces at my regular Daily Brew gig on Sunday. 
 
Speaking of the Daily Brew, it was an absolute joy to do a couple songs with my soon-to-be five-year-old granddaughter Clara a few weeks ago. She has joined me to sing some songs quite a few times now at the Brew and she is always a big hit with the listeners. These days she’s beyond the kid’s songs and wants to do more pop stuff (although I still refuse to play “Let It Go” from the movie Frozen, which is her absolute favorite song…..I just can’t imagine doing that with just a single acoustic guitar even though she knows every word, which is not unexpected seeing that she’s watched the movie at least 50 times according to her parents!). From the first time Clara sang with me a couple years ago at the Brew she has positively loved doing it (and the applause she gets).
 
This time we actually rehearsed her two songs, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds” that I played on ukulele, and the cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors” as done by Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick while I played guitar. For the first time we worked on microphone technique, keeping the hand-held mic close to her mouth on softer sections and farther away on louder parts. She did a great, great job and was grinning from ear to ear at the conclusion. Which is not surprising considering she said to me as were practicing: “Papa! I love the way my voice sounds through the speaker!!!” I do have to remind her to tone down the dramatic moves she wants to do when she sings, however. Maybe I’ll buy her a slip-on wireless mic so she can dance and twirl to her heart’s content while she sings  ;~)
 
So I guess I don’t need to worry about passing on my family’s long-term musical heritage!
 
Peace and good music,
Gene
 
(and GET VACCINATED if you haven’t, for the sake of all of us!)