----- BASIC INFORMATION -----
I'm seeking people to practice music with on a regular basis.
At the current time, my personal car is out of commission -
so, to travel, I'd be borrowing a vehicle for the journey.
Which means, I'd need to be able to schedule sessions ahead
of time, and also be able to rely on the session actually
happening. I'm willing to travel as far as 50 (+/-) miles per
week (local for me?), or 100 (+/-) miles once per month
(Rhinelander?), for the sake of attending at least one
regularly scheduled practice session of at least 2 hours
duration. I'd be willing to devote the necessary time for
extra sessions each week, if I didn't need to drive
to reach them, or the total mileage count remained
under (or very near) the approximated 50 miles per week limit.
My only requirement regarding age, is that anyone
participating in the practice sessions must be over 21. If
participants bring others with them who are under 21 (as
spectators), such others must have the express consent of
their legal guardians to be in attendance.
I don't have any requirements at all, regarding which
instruments should be played by practice partners. My focus
is on the music, and how the instruments are applied. I'm
equally comfortable using acoustic and electric instruments.
I don't have any requirements at all, regarding base level
of experience acceptable in practice partners. What I do
require of any musicians present, is that they be willing to
learn and willing to attempt new things. If a novice seeks
to participate, that's okay - as long as the novice is
willing to be in the novice's place and learn from more
experienced musicians. (If seeking regular attendance, that
novice must PRACTICE what I tell them, between
sessions!!!) If someone more experienced and/or skilled than
me seeks attendance, then I will adopt the stance of the
student - and, attempt to do what they tell me to practice.
The best of all worlds, of course, would be finding someone
who's near my skill level, so we can work on developing
together.
I'm seeking practice partners who are willing to do both
"cover" songs and originals. By this, I mean that
I seek people who are willing to practice set pieces
published by others, and also willing to attempt the
creation of original works.
It would be nice to find a practice partner willing to attempt recordings
of the music we do, once we've worked out set pieces of fair quality. I've
done some of this on my own in the past, but the computer I'd been working with
crashed - a blown motherboard, that I haven't yet been able to replace.
I'd like to be able to share the music we make with the rest of the
world. I have a cousin who might be talked into using his recording equipment
for this; a guy with a real zen for the mixer board. I don't consider the willingness
to record a requirement - I just think it would be nice.
It would also be nice to find a practice partner willing to
perform music in public settings. I've practiced in public
parks, on public beaches; even in shopping malls (w/
permission, of course!). I've attended "Open
Stage" and "Karaoke" events, and enjoyed
performing at such immensely. I've spent many hours
performing songs w/ guitar & voice, for handicapped
people. It would be nice to find someone willing to do
"benefit" work for places such as local hospitals
and/or nursing homes. I don't consider the willingness to
perform in public a requirement re. potential practice
partners - but, it's more useful and beneficial than the
alternative.
I don't have any requirement at all, regarding gender of potential practice partners.
However, I refuse to associate with people who have gender-based psychiatric illnesses,
such as homosexuals or feminists. (So, people having those types of disfunctions
are unacceptable.)
I draw a distinction between "jam sessions" and "practice sessions". Jam
sessions are basically having a party, having some fun doing music. In such sessions, having a
beer or three isn't really out of line. Practice sessions, however, are different. Practice
sessions are disciplined efforts to improve musicianship and repertoire. As such, I'm strictly
against the use of any type of recreational drug before or during practice, performance,
&/or recording sessions. I consider such avoidance of intoxicants connected with serious
music to be an inflexible rule. If I discover that a practice partner has violated that rule,
that will be the end of my involvement with that person. I expect people to approach
the practice of music with a clear mind and untampered-with reflexes. You can expect such, from me.
Having said all that, I should still add here that I'd be glad to find someone for jam sessions;
at least it would be something,...
The music I compose is of mixed-genre, drawing from a wide
variety of musical styles. Basically, whatever is right for
the given piece, that's what I attempt to do. The net result
is that more often than not my finalized compositions end up
falling into the "Smooth Jazz" category (more or
less).
The cover songs I practice are also from a wide variety of
genres, although in the past year I've been leaning toward
learning Country and Folk songs. There are still a great
many Rock, R&B, Blues, etc. songs I practice - so, if
we hook up, don't be surprised when I pull one out of the
bag. I don't know any Smooth Jazz cover songs; I just enjoy
listening to them - and more often than not end up being
forced to conclude that what I've created can only be
properly categorized if considered as being in that genre.
In general, the following statements may be considered to be
true regarding my personal daily practice sessions:
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The minimum I practice each day, is an hour in the
morning; usually, on my Fender JP-90 electric bass
guitar (amplified into headphones, in the dark).
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On the average, I practice music two or three hours per day. This ends up being distributed
at whim between bongos, viola, bass guitar, electric guitars, and acoustic guitars; whatever
seems to me to be the most beneficial thing to practice, at the moment.
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The usual maximum I practice on a given day, ends up
being about five or six hours - whatever ends up being
my current physical limit of endurance.
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----- WHAT I PLAY -----
Here's a list of some of the equipment I currently have on
hand for the sake of practicing &/or recording music
with:
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Miscellaneous acoustic and electric guitars (including a
Bass guitar),
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(I consider myself fairly competent, with these,
for the sake of playing rhythm guitar & simple
Bass lines.)
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Bongos, and a tunable tambourine,
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(I'm fairly good with bongos, but just barely acceptable with tambourine.)
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A viola
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(I need a lot of practice, on that.)
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Practice amps, microphones, & mic stands w/ boom
arms,
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(I'm fairly competent, with these.)
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My voice,
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(I consider myself to be a fairly good singer.)
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----- EXTRA INFORMATION -----
I tried advertising in the local paper, around the start of
September, 2004. Here's the content of the ad I placed:
WANTED: Reliable musicians near LOL - Rock, Folk, Blues,
Country - for regular unpaid practice sessions. Re. me:
49yo singer / guitar player / composer / songwriter.
Does both covers & originals. Approx. 29 yrs.
experience.
Leave mssg. at
[phone number went here].
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NOTE: I spent approx. $7.50, to have that ad run in the
local paper. It's been over a full month now since it was
published - and, I haven't received even one response
inquiry. This being the case, I don't plan on running a
second ad. But - I'm still searching for a practice partner
or three. (I'll just attempt different methods, in the
future,...)
I've begun tacking up small ads onto the available bulletin
boards, in local stores, whenever I find one available.
(Have you found this, through one of those? If so, then
please let me know it was a useful effort!) So, far, I've
only done two of those,... but, then again, I'm only doing
it as I find one at hand. I intend to create a larger ad for
this purpose, that will be more elegant & attractive
than the hand-scrawled ones I've done so far. When its
created, I'll probably post a copy of it here at the website
for easily printing out a hardcopy of my ad.
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