...and I danced to it.
Ever have one of those days, you know, where you think you were on the right track, then you find another track you're just as good at running, and then you find validation -- but not necessarily through yourself -- that you may actually be on the right track?
It happened to me today. I think it was Thursday when I researched some online music marketing company details (CD Baby... +Matt Gibson, you might want to check them out) due to a few solid reasons.
Well, there's the thing that even though I've been practicing off and on since the start of August on my own, with some occasional advice from my mentor Steve Bradbery (who is a sax pro and also a fierce piano man worthy of Billy Joel's noting), I've come to figure out a lot of things I simply didn't have enough lesson time with my teacher Martie to cover. (Usually by the time I warmed up and got somewhere near going over something, it was time to wrap up and go home.)
Things like my embouchure (my mouth formation on the mouthpiece) and how it affects my tonal qualities. I've come to understand just how much the way I press or release on the reed changes how notes sound, the depth of my note capacity, and even how Lucy either stays on-tune or "hits puberty" and squeaks, or how Lucy can drop an octave without a problem.
Things like my chromatic scales and how far I can go up and down, plus the #'s and b's.
Things like playing different keys and intervals.
Things like how to determine if a song's notes are vocals or instrumental (yes, there actually IS a difference, but technically you could play the same song either way, depending on if it HAD vocals, by changing the key).
And most importantly... things like listening to a song on the radio, a CD, or even in my head (even one I came up with), and being able to turn around and play it from my head with a little practice. Case in point: I can play "My Heart Will Go On" and "When The Saints Go Marching In" from memory, but I learned by sheet music; "America The Beautiful" I pretty much figured out on my own after the first 4 measures; "Ants Go Marching" and now Linkin Park's "Burn It To The Ground" are completely my own figuring out from memory of hearing them.
On top of all that, I do have one or two songs in my head of my own design, just need to sit down and hammer them out. And now that I have the confidence of knowing I can pretty much take a song in my head (or memory) and play it, I know I can do this. So I've got an account on CD Baby, and planning to get some tunes out in the next couple weeks. Granted, they'll be singles, and granted, they'll be sax solos, but hey, who knows? Plus the vendor list for CD Baby is like a mile long, so I know I will have a good chance of succeeding.
As for the validation that I am on the right track, my stepmom Marylin's Etsy shop got its first sale today. She's not that techie like I am, so I help her figure out the websites. At any rate, Marylin's thrilled and I think she's got a good future ahead of her on that... especially since she's been on there for about 2 months and I've been there since July without a sale. But that's fine, because sometimes the best surprises are, in fact, surprises.
So don't think you know what you're gonna do. Because you're just gonna get nudged. And if I can help my stepmom walk through a door I showed her and land on her feet running, well, my stepmom's encouraging me to walk through the music door and I have a feeling I will land on my feet running too.
Hope your weekend is safe. Hey, Eastern Seaboard, please be careful btw. That storm is bad juju. Take it from a guy who went through Andrew and Wilma.
Fox
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