It will be a top priority. The FBI and the Attorney General will be to be too busy to protect us from terrorists and other criminals.

What does this have to do with music?

is "The Entertainer."

He has only been playing for 18 months, he would play songs by ear on the piano when he heard them and now he is learning to read music.

He is a member of an Odyssey of the Mind team which competes state wide, nation wide, and world wide. 2 Years ago his team made it to worlds. He has written a song for this year's team.

The syncopation tripped me up before I got it down.

Last edited Wed Jan 15, 2025, 06:53 PM - Edit history (1)

...a slightly jazzed up version of I Saw The Light. The song as written, is loaded with 7ths already, so a whole lot of enrichment isn't needed. I haven't quite decided on what I want to do on the half-verse "solo" but the changes and LH/RH interplay is consistent.
Other than that I'm just jamming a minor blues & a II/V/I but in a different key everyday.
On guitar, I'm working on a solo acoustic bosa nova version of the old standard "Am I Blue" with 27 distinct chords.
I've also got 3 solo acoustic tunes I've written myself that I'm sharpening to record them

You'll probably hear all the 7ths in the original version.
I don't know what key this is in. I start on a Dm7.

No, I can't tell what chord is what. I'm not that talented.

I just find a song I like. Check if there's sheet music. Start playing it.

...where I do the complete opposite.
I play no songs. I just sit down and start playing ideas to see what happens.
I'm in hybrid mode right now on both instruments. Part improvisation, part songs.

...a lot of Todd & Utopia.
Probably a dozen tunes over the years.

For 20 years, we were known for covering reasonably well-known songs, in our style, that most of the audience didn't expect hear hear from a club act. Aside, of course, from our followers. (Maybe a couple hundred spread over our area of operation.)
To give you a flavor, the Todd/Utopia stuff included, Caravan, Zen Machine, Princess Of The Universe, Crybaby, Jealousy, One World, Hello It's Me, Bang On The Drum, I Saw The Light...
Those just popped into my head. Could be more.
Other bands we covered most didn't were Talking Heads, The Fixx, INXS, Steely Dan, and others.
Even our originals weren't what most would expect.
We had a great run together. 1,600 gigs, 8 TV appearances, and enough money that I got a piano. 14 guitars, a bass, a mandolin, three amps, a practice PA, and full multi-keyboard rig & a 16 track recording system. With money I made playing music, part-time. No complaints!

Speaking of min and maj 7 chords and Todd, check this out:

https://whattheworldneedsnow.net/?fbclid=IwY2xjawH2eZ5leHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHYivbISTiyc68SxMSTaZPbH30Yqp2KlVwv9OTFkreupCQ1LC6jtwVIPpjg_aem_a7gtQgG-LeWZ9gFtmTaCMA


And dig this you woman who has only really blown up on TikTok and IG in the last 7-8 months who is on the tour as well…..

The arrangement is a bit treacly for my taste, but the performance is good and there are some cool piano chords in there.
I'm a big diatonic guy, so I'm pretty tuned into Maj7, 9th, & half-diminished chords.
Our version of Hello It's Me had me playing every chord in the song as 5 tone versions. Some 6 tone!
Pretty sure people coming to hear a rock band weren't expecting that!

Last edited Thu Jan 16, 2025, 08:04 PM - Edit history (1)

above to the Bacharach tribute tour that you might have missed due to my ineptitude at crafting posts. Rundgren and this woman look to be the primary vocalists. I’m really wishing it came closer to me as I am a Todd, Bacharach and Carpenters fan even though I’ve pleyed lots of rock and, now, jam band material.

Sorry about any confusion…..

He was in nirvana when the band bought into doing so many Todd or Utopia tunes.