Killing Two Birds With One Shot

I love making music. 

I love hiking.

But each of them can be a bit time-consuming.

So, being the practical person I am, I decided to kill two birds with one shot...and do them both at once.

There are plenty of great places for quick hikes in DC - "quick" as in, you can do them in a day or less. I put a guitar in my case, try to travel light, and head out the door.

Now, this works best if you're hiking alone. I've been on group hikes, which I love! That's my favorite way to hike. But I definitely don't want to take a guitar on a group hike. 

And I'm planning to buy a travel-size guitar. I play classical guitars, and a smaller one is a better idea. 

This is just one way to combine music with other things you love. What ideas do you have for that? Leave those in the comment section. I'd like to read those!

🥾🚶‍♀️

"Silly Love Songs"

Paul McCartney wrote about "silly love songs" in the 70s - long before I ever got into songwriting. But, hey, he's Paul McCartney and he can write about anything he wants.

I generally write about "everyday issues" - friendships, frustrations, life changes, the seasons changing...whatever comes to mind. 

But love songs are just not something I really do.

I have nothing against love songs. Not at all! I mean, the greatest songs ever written are about love. What would music do without love and romance?? Love is such a rich subject - the beginning of it, the end of it, the highs and lows...all that makes it a lot easier for songwriters to come up with things to write about, that's for sure!♥️

And I am a diehard romantic. I always want the supercouple on a TV show to finally get together. I'll burst out in song when Lovely Day comes on. (I do draw the line at over-the-top, very public marriage proposals, though, like on a Jumbotron at an NFL game. Who hasn't cringed at those?)

So...why hasn't Cupid aimed his arrow at me songwise? I don't know. I've only written one love song. Ever. It was...okay. 

But last Thursday, I was walking out of a Kinkos in downtown Silver Spring, MD...and a romantic lyric popped into my head. I know, that was a weird place for that to happen. My Muse is a little...strange that way. 

The sweetest melody came along for the ride. I've been working on this song for a week, and I simply can't stop singing it. I don't usually fall that much in love with my own songs. Yes, I like them. A lot. But this has been like falling in love with a guy.

And I'm wondering "Okay, what alien took up residence in my brain and hijacked my usual songwriting??" 

This whole thing has made me realize I should take every opportunity I can to "stretch myself" a bit, and not be afraid to do things I wouldn't normally do. I don't think Cupid will start shooting a ton of arrows at me regularly now. But I'm game if he does! 💘

Music Theory - Yay Or Nay?

When I had my photography business, the "great debate" among photographers was Nikon vs. Canon. Both are great, in their own ways.

But I was never really sold on Nikons. It was just wasn't there for me. It was like being told to date somebody because they checked all the boxes people are supposed to, "but...I don't know. Not feelin' it." 

Then a friend talked me into trying Canons. He said "If you buy one, you'll fall in love with it." He was right. I bought one, and I was a goner for Canon. Still am. 

Well, now that I've taken up music, there's another "great debate" to deal with: learning music theory.

I decided to study it when I took up guitar because I realized I didn't understand terms like "intervals." I thought guitar was more about learning chords, and technique. But I kept running into these pesky terms I couldn't quite get.

I bit the bullet, and dove in. I'm glad I did. It's been truly useful for me, especially in songwriting. I'm no expert, and never will be. And I don't follow it rigidly. But I needed a framework for music, and music theory gives me one. 

Having said that...I would never say "You absolutely must learn music theory." Some musicians don't need it. 

There was this British band awhile back whose members didn't know music theory, and they couldn't read music, either.

Oh, what was their name? "Come on, Fortune, think!!" 

Oh, YEAH - the Beatles! That's right!! 

I think they did okay without it. 😂

I would recommend you at least try to learn theory. Read a book on it. My beloved Dummies books have some terrific ones. 

If it works for you, great. Keep doing it. If you don't need it, don't sweat it. 

You're in good company with the lads from Liverpool. 🎵🎶🎼🎸

"The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald"

I was deeply saddened to hear of the death of legendary singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot yesterday. The man who wrote timeless classics like Sundown, Carefree Highway, If You Could Read My Mind, and countless others holds a special place in my heart. 

Bob Dylan said Gordon Lightfoot was his favorite songwriter. Whoa.

But The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald is Lightfoot's masterpiece to me.

The song, about the violent end of the ship in a November storm, haunts me with its vivid details of the sinking, and the majestic melody. 

It came out in 1976, when I was in high school. I always thought it was about a shipwreck in the late 19th century. It has that feel to it.

So imagine my shock when I discovered the Fitzgerald sank in November 1975!

I never heard about it - anywhere: the national news, magazines, you name it. This was pre-Internet, of course. Today it would be all over the news within minutes. But I still didn't hear about it even after the song came out. Don't ask me. I'm as flummoxed as you probably are.

My shock was even more profound when a friend dropped a big bomb on me about the song: he has a "family connection" to it.

My friend is from Wisconsin. His grandfather had a friend who was supposed to be the cook on what became the ship's final voyage. The friend got sick suddenly, and couldn't go. So a replacement went instead. He went down with the ship. 

I get chills now hearing the lyric where the cook is saying goodbye to the crew. That could have been my friend's grandfather's friend. 

Gordon Lightfoot's skilled songwriting makes the song sound like it’s about something that happened in a completely different time...when in fact, the wreck happened less than a year before the song came out. 

If you've never heard this masterpiece, listen closely. If you know the song, maybe my friend's story will add to the poignance of it. 

https://youtu.be/9vST6hVRj2A

Thank you, Gordon.