The Vent and Rant Thread - Page 1571

HomeInMyShoes · 02-10-2014, 09:32 AM

^If you want to learn to play like someone else...take lessons. Is a credo I stand by. My guitar prowess is legendar...ily bad. I'd like to be able to transpose what I am playing on the piano into other keys easily, but I never learned that part either. Sigh. My mom says I'm gifted on piano, I think she's a mother.

kindlekitten · 02-10-2014, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

O.K... I don't usually rant, but I'm getting tired of my guitar teacher!
He's a nice guy, and knows his instrument, but he's not teaching me what I want to learn! I've been playing for 55 years. I know my instrument too. There are certain things in music that I'm lacking, such as the entire foundation (no biggie...

) and that's why I signed up for lessons with this guy. But instead of scales and theory, he's giving me some slide stuff such as "Sutter's Mill," which is fun, and I'm happy to learn a new song, but today when I suggested that we at least continue with slide work in a different key and combine it with chords, he wanted to switch to 'tapping' and 'harmonics.' Again, fun to play, but fairly useless to a folk musician. I'm not pleased that he's avoiding the music theory that I wanted, but the least he could do would be continue with a concept, building upon the previous week's practice, and he's not even doing that! I have one more lesson to go in the block of lessons I've paid for, but then it will be time to fine a new teacher. If only I'd taken 'real' lessons when I was a kid, I wouldn't be going through all this now!

Stitchawl

is it possibly because his own skills in those areas are equally lacking?

Stitchawl · 02-10-2014, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

^If you want to learn to play like someone else...take lessons.

I bypassed the basics when I started out. I never got the foundation in music theory or fretboard theory, and this is limiting me now in where I want to go. I can 'hear' what works, but I want to 'know' what works before I hear it. I want better command of the entire fretboard, not just the first five frets. I want to be able to figure out a jazz chord in the lydian mode without having to hear the notes played.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

is it possibly because his own skills in those areas are equally lacking?

No... he's got those skills. I hear him use the words when he's describing something else to me. He'll say something like 'you need to use a Bm7b5 there because bla bla bla bla bla... rather than a B7b9 because bla bla bla... At first I thought it was a language problem; his limited English and my limited Thai. But today I sat there with a bottleneck on my finger and said, "I enjoyed learning 'Sutter's Mill' last week. It opened some new doors for me so I'd like to continue with 'slide plus chords' today" and he replied 'there are a lot of good songs that we can do that with, but let's work on tapping and harmonics." I think it's more about what he feels like teaching at the time, which I can understand, but it's not what I want a teacher for. I've given up on his teaching me the basics. That ain't gonna happen. But at least he could build the next lesson based on the previous one. We worked with a slide last week in a simple form. How about this week we take slide to the next level? By the way, this is slide guitar played in standard tuning rather than in the easier Open Tunings that slide most often uses for Delta Blues. That stuff is simple...

Stitchawl

HomeInMyShoes · 02-10-2014, 11:36 AM

He needs to teach you what you want to learn. Time to move on as you said.

bjones6416 · 02-10-2014, 06:14 PM

We have a "possibly catastrophic" ice storm forecast for Wednesday, and we should "be prepared for widespread power outages." Great.

red_phoenix · 02-10-2014, 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjones6416

We have a "possibly catastrophic" ice storm forecast for Wednesday, and we should "be prepared for widespread power outages." Great.

Good luck and stay safe Betty.

poohbear_nc · 02-10-2014, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjones6416

We have a "possibly catastrophic" ice storm forecast for Wednesday, and we should "be prepared for widespread power outages." Great.

Methinks now your 'government' officials are over-reacting to make up for their botched handling of your last ice storm. Stay safe! We're getting snow/sleet/freezing rain on Wednesday too!

CRussel · 02-10-2014, 07:01 PM

Betty, et al -- there are good, reasonably priced, user-friendly, gasoline powered generators that can make all the difference in an extended power outage. They need to be kept well outside, but you can easily run long, heavy-gauge, extension cord(s) in to provide power to refrigerator and/or freezer, and to run an induction "hot" plate. As well as provide electricity to run a furnace assuming you have fuel for the furnace. We have a battery start, 3.3KVA, Yamaha that is quiet, efficient, and produces clean power that won't fry the computers. Honda also makes good ones in the same price range.

A step up from that are ones that run on propane or natural gas, but they're a good deal more expensive and are more commonly sized to run a whole house through a cross-over switch. Not feasible for those of us on a budget. Plus there's no way you'd get one in place in time to help with the current winter.

poohbear_nc · 02-10-2014, 07:38 PM

Also ... camping heaters & stoves that use small bottled propane cylinders are lifesavers .... you have to vent for fumes, but they can heat one room and heat up water or soup.

Stitchawl · 02-10-2014, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjones6416

We have a "possibly catastrophic" ice storm forecast for Wednesday, and we should "be prepared for widespread power outages." Great.

Think 'camping needs' and you can stay quite comfortable. Coleman stoves, heaters, and lanterns are cheap and easy to use, and an economical way to function unless the outage lasts for weeks on end. If the power goes out and you lose house heating, be sure to turn you faucets on to a 'slow drip' to keep the pipes from freezing. That little bit of moving water can save you a lot of money in the long run.

Stitchawl

Stitchawl · 02-10-2014, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

He needs to teach you what you want to learn. Time to move on as you said.

That's what I think too... If I were approaching a subject with which I had no familiarity, I'd go along with what ever the teacher plans for my lessons. Usually that would be a progression built from week to week on materials learned in the previous lesson. But in this case, I've asked for specific content, in fact, when one area was not being addressed I tried for a different area, but that isn't being addressed either. Nice guy, good musician, able to transfer his knowledge well, but not teaching me what I want to learn... Time to move on!

Stitchawl

dreams · 02-10-2014, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bjones6416

We have a "possibly catastrophic" ice storm forecast for Wednesday, and we should "be prepared for widespread power outages." Great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Also ... camping heaters & stoves that use small bottled propane cylinders are lifesavers .... you have to vent for fumes, but they can heat one room and heat up water or soup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Think 'camping needs' and you can stay quite comfortable. Coleman stoves, heaters, and lanterns are cheap and easy to use, and an economical way to function unless the outage lasts for weeks on end. If the power goes out and you lose house heating, be sure to turn you faucets on to a 'slow drip' to keep the pipes from freezing. That little bit of moving water can save you a lot of money in the long run.

Betty - Hopefully the officials will get it together this time and things will go a lot smoother. I totally agree with pooh and Stitchawl. The camping gear really helped us through a few outages. We never did get around to getting a generator, although each time we swore we would.

pholy · 02-11-2014, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Also ... camping heaters & stoves that use small bottled propane cylinders are lifesavers .... you have to vent for fumes, but they can heat one room and heat up water or soup.

REPEAT: You have to vent the fumes!

In our last big ice storm in Toronto, several people died due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Our Fire Chief says no open combustion for heating, ever! One was too many.

REPEAT: You have to vent the fumes!

cromag · 02-11-2014, 04:06 AM

Buy dry or canned food today, if you need any, bjones6416. Then, stay home, bundle up, and try to enjoy roughing it.

In my two extended outages, each a bit more than a week long (following the Halloween blizzard of 2011 and Sandy in 2012) I had several cheap LED flashlights. Standing them on end and shining through translucent plastic cups, I had some very effective lamps. Not good enough to read by, but they provided enough light for me to get around the room safely -- and made the house look lived-in in case anyone was checking out the neighborhood. They'd last anywhere from 24 to 96 hours -- some smaller ones that I used as marker lights on stairs, lasted even longer than that.

And the camping supply companies now make very large, very bright LED lanterns. I got one last year that takes D cells and really lights up the room.

Anyway, good luck. I hope the power stays on.

bjones6416 · 02-11-2014, 06:37 AM

Thanks for all the tips, everybody. Even the NWS is telling us this ice storm is likely to be of "historic proportions. " If I were a little further north, snow is expected instead, which would be so much better. Maybe the ice line will be moved during the day and put me there instead of in the ice! (We had one if these epic ice storms in 1972, but I was a high school student and not a responsible adult, lol. I didn't have to worry about storm preparations - my father did that!)

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02-10-2014, 09:32 AM	#23551
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	^If you want to learn to play like someone else...take lessons. Is a credo I stand by. My guitar prowess is legendar...ily bad. I'd like to be able to transpose what I am playing on the piano into other keys easily, but I never learned that part either. Sigh. My mom says I'm gifted on piano, I think she's a mother.

02-10-2014, 11:36 AM	#23554
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	He needs to teach you what you want to learn. Time to move on as you said.

02-10-2014, 06:14 PM	#23555
bjones6416 ↓↓ Skirt!! Earrings!! Posts: 3,394 Karma: 17432172 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Georgia, USA Device: Acer netbook, JetBook Lite, Sony PRS-300, Kindle 2, Kindle Fire	We have a "possibly catastrophic" ice storm forecast for Wednesday, and we should "be prepared for widespread power outages." Great.

02-10-2014, 07:01 PM	#23558
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,299 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	Betty, et al -- there are good, reasonably priced, user-friendly, gasoline powered generators that can make all the difference in an extended power outage. They need to be kept well outside, but you can easily run long, heavy-gauge, extension cord(s) in to provide power to refrigerator and/or freezer, and to run an induction "hot" plate. As well as provide electricity to run a furnace assuming you have fuel for the furnace. We have a battery start, 3.3KVA, Yamaha that is quiet, efficient, and produces clean power that won't fry the computers. Honda also makes good ones in the same price range. A step up from that are ones that run on propane or natural gas, but they're a good deal more expensive and are more commonly sized to run a whole house through a cross-over switch. Not feasible for those of us on a budget. Plus there's no way you'd get one in place in time to help with the current winter.

02-10-2014, 07:38 PM	#23559
poohbear_nc Bah! Humbug! Posts: 63,862 Karma: 135242149 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Durham, NC Device: Every Kindle Ever Made & To Be Made!	Also ... camping heaters & stoves that use small bottled propane cylinders are lifesavers .... you have to vent for fumes, but they can heat one room and heat up water or soup.

02-11-2014, 04:06 AM	#23564
cromag Surfin the alpha waves ~~ Posts: 26,557 Karma: 459765791 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: New Jersey Device: Jetbook Lite & Mini, Nook STR, Kobo, Hanvon N516, Kindle 2, Androids	Buy dry or canned food today, if you need any, bjones6416. Then, stay home, bundle up, and try to enjoy roughing it. In my two extended outages, each a bit more than a week long (following the Halloween blizzard of 2011 and Sandy in 2012) I had several cheap LED flashlights. Standing them on end and shining through translucent plastic cups, I had some very effective lamps. Not good enough to read by, but they provided enough light for me to get around the room safely -- and made the house look lived-in in case anyone was checking out the neighborhood. They'd last anywhere from 24 to 96 hours -- some smaller ones that I used as marker lights on stairs, lasted even longer than that. And the camping supply companies now make very large, very bright LED lanterns. I got one last year that takes D cells and really lights up the room. Anyway, good luck. I hope the power stays on.

02-11-2014, 06:37 AM	#23565
bjones6416 ↓↓ Skirt!! Earrings!! Posts: 3,394 Karma: 17432172 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Georgia, USA Device: Acer netbook, JetBook Lite, Sony PRS-300, Kindle 2, Kindle Fire	Thanks for all the tips, everybody. Even the NWS is telling us this ice storm is likely to be of "historic proportions. " If I were a little further north, snow is expected instead, which would be so much better. Maybe the ice line will be moved during the day and put me there instead of in the ice! (We had one if these epic ice storms in 1972, but I was a high school student and not a responsible adult, lol. I didn't have to worry about storm preparations - my father did that!)