The Weekend Where Everything Happened

My weekend was long and full of adventure:

• I reduced my medication and was full of energy again starting Saturday.
• I met Ian, Sherlin, and the kids for lunch and playing.  The younger kids still make sure that I take turns flipping them around and fulfill my duties as the Fun Uncle.
• We went to a barbecue hosted by Jimmy, the guy who plays lead guitar in our not-a-band.
• We had a jam session in front of everyone (the only people who were really invested were the ones we brought).  We were missing our drummer, Joe, and his absence was really felt, but it still felt so good to play with a group again.  And I don't know if the others could tell, but my lessons are really paying off.
• I got home late because I stopped for groceries on the way home and my neighbor asked for some help moving a dresser into his upstairs apartment.  After the dresser was in its new home, he offered me money as reward, but I refused (as I did to his offer of beer); I did, however, accept a box of high-quality chicken breast -- the man works as a delivery man for a meat company and was allowed to use some product for his own purposes, so he used one box to pay me. I may have to help him again.
• I attended a Linger Longer after church on Sunday and stayed the whole time and talked and met new people -- it's amazing what happens when you're not depressed and have energy to do something about it.
• I cleaned up my dining room that had been messy for months due to my depression.
• I baked a loaf of whole wheat fig bread, a strawberry cake, and a double batch of cream cheese cookies.  I took them with me for my visit with my good friends the Simciks.  It was so good seeing them again.  In fact, when I got there, my arms full of goodies, I went right in their open door so I could put the food down before turning to see Mark and suddenly I was giddy with excitement.  Based on how he and Lori reacted, they were too.  It was just like seeing family that you haven't seen in a while.  It was so wonderful talking with them and sharing a meal (the loaf of bread was intended for Samuel, my old roommate, which they promised to pass on).  When it came time for them to leave for a dinner engagement, Lori started debating if they should flake out to stay and continue visiting, but I made their decision easy for them by making my way to the door.  Hugs were exchanged and we agreed that we needed to meet again sooner and not go so long between visits.
• On my way home, I stopped by a clothing store to return some pants that I decided did not fit as well as I had thought in the store.  When I was parking, I noticed a set of missionary Elders walking around.  I made sure to say hi them and ask how they were doing.  I told them what ward I attend and they named some of the Elders serving there, though I had trouble confirming all of them (we have four companionship in my ward).  It was about 5:30, so I asked them if they had a dinner appointment that evening.  They admitted that they did not, so I told them to wait while I handled the return and then I'd take them to dinner.  I had them pick the restaurant because I didn't know the area very well (I knew the store I had gone to and not much else), so we went to a Chinese buffet.  We talked about where they're from and what they're plans are for careers and education, but they mostly asked about me.  After they were sufficiently fed (I had a few pieces of sushi, but I was mostly full from my visit with the Simciks), I paid the bill and I drove the Elders back to their car in the parking lot where I had seen them earlier.  As they got out of the car, they asked for my name because they want to talk me up to the Elders in my ward when they see them at the next Zone meeting.
• I came home and made banana bread to take to work tomorrow.

Like I said, my weekend was busy.  Busy, but great.

A Little Rock and Roll Music

Friday night after work, I went to Ian's place for another jam sesh.  The first time was a lot of fun, but this second time was even better.  I'd been practicing and had improved enough that Ian said that the change in my skill level was noticeable.  There were even a couple of times that I got to start what we played: one time I just started playing a note progression that laid the ground work for Ian and Jimmy (in addition to studying bass riffs and scales, I've also started learning about music theory, i.e., what kinds of notes sound good together) and another time I played the bass part to "Seven Nation Army" by the White Stripes.

The first thing you hear is the bass line.

In the case of the White Stripes song, I started and Joe, the drummer, came in right when he was supposed to.  I hadn't told anyone that it was going to happen, I just did it and suddenly, we were playing a song.

I even tried my hand at singing.  It's hard to play and sing at the same time, but I did my best with the old classic "Sixteen Tons."  It was more blues than rock, but I think I made it work and I even started improvising with an alternate melody at one point.

I look forward to jamming with these guys in the future.  Hopefully, I'll continue to improve and be able to bring even more to the table next time.

Joe, me, and Jimmy (Ian is behind the camera).

Ensemble

On Friday night, I went to Ian's place to meet him and some of his friends to play some music.  Ian, Joe, and Jimmy had met once before, but lacked a bassist.  When I bought my instrument -- with no intent to join a band -- Ian was quick to invite me.

By Friday, I'd only been playing the bass for two weeks, so my skills were very limited.  Even so, I was able to keep the rhythm and pluck away at the root of the chords being played.  Joe, the drummer, told me that I really brought something that the group was missing.  At one point, Jimmy, the guitarist, started playing a song that I didn't know, but I was able to follow him by watching what chords he was playing.  Ian was on piano, so unless he told me ahead of time what he would be playing, I couldn't recognize just by looking.

We recorded the whole thing, but the audio is really poor quality -- not that it's static-y or anything; not everyone can be heard.  The guys said that they want to get a better sound rig so that we can record everyone properly.  Hopefully, we'll have a recording that's worth sharing next time.  That's right: we're planning on meeting again later this month.  Ideally, we'd like to meet every two weeks, but there are some conflicting work events coming up so we don't know when meet after that, but at least we have a plan in place for the near future.

I had a lot of fun.  I'm playing my instrument in the most simplistic way possible, but for now that's enough.  I'm still practicing everyday and I hope to be able to bring more to the table next time.

Tuesdays with Media: (Don't) Drop the Bass

On Friday, I bought a bass guitar.

It's a four-string Squire Telecaster bass (without a pick-guard) made by Fender, featuring both P- and J-style pickups.  What all that means is that it's a low-end bass made by a company known for the quality of their guitars and it can be used to play either rock or jazz.

I bought it to help keep me from getting depressed.  As I've stated before, coming home to an empty apartment can be difficult, so to combat those feelings of loneliness, I decided I should pick up a hobby that requires me to learn a new skill.  I figured that an instrument would be a good fit and I picked the bass because it's portable and learning to read music for it will also help me when I sing, since I usually sing bass.  Also, since I know the basics of standard guitar playing, I reasoned that most of those skills would transfer to the bass, meaning I wouldn't be starting from scratch.

I looked up bass guitars on Craigslist and this one looked like a good fit.  (One weird thing about basses is that they're available in varieties with more or fewer strings.  Four strings is the most common, followed by five strings, but they're also available with as many as nine strings, though those are pretty rare.  I wanted one with four strings because it most closely resembles the double-bass from the Big Band days).  I emailed the owner about it, but then I found a no-name brand bass on Wal-Mart's website for about half the price.  Since it would be my first bass, having a super cheap one wouldn't be too bad.  I considered emailing the guy from Craigslist to tell him I changed my mind, but I decided to pray about it.  The Spirit told me to go with the one from Craigslist.

I was surprised that the Spirit directed me to buy that one; the answer I received wasn't "keep your word," it was "you should get the one you already emailed about."  It was at that point that I realized that the idea I had to learn how to play a new instrument had not originated from me.  I do need to be more proactive about keeping myself in good spirits and learning to play bass can be one way to do that.

After meeting the seller in a mutually convenient parking lot, I inspected the instrument.  It had a few scrapes on the back of the neck -- I'm guessing it was leaned up against a table or desk and got bumped a few times -- but otherwise it was in good condition.  The man said it was his son's, but he hardly played it, so it was time for it to go.  I paid him for it and drove home, so excited I was giddy.

Remember when I said that the few skills I had on guitar would transfer to the bass?  Turns out, they don't.  The strings are much thicker and are a lot harder to hold down, you hold the neck differently in order to reach all the strings, and you pluck the strings with your first two fingers instead of picking or strumming them.  It's been tough, but I'm earning my callouses and I can already kind of play a blues scale.  I've got a long way to go, but I'm making progress.

It feels a little weird to start learning a new instrument when I'm in my thirties, but I know this is something that will help me and be fun at the same time.