Prelude - December 31, 2012

The goal - to chronicle the year in music - as a fan, listener, and occasional practictioner.  I'll have lots of sources to draw from: my friends and contacts at the Old Town School of Folk Music, my wife Judy and her studies on the banjo, or my own interests.  I hope to write about my experiences as a novice musician (guitarist/drummer), my thoughts, insights, and opinions, while hopefully not stepping on anyone's toes.  All this with the review of whatever new CD that jumps into my hands or that I find interesting enough to discuss or describe.

I've tried to keep music journals before but never succeeded with a long-term project.  I have told myself for a very long time that, when studying or learning music, keeping a journal is a great way to record your progress.  You can go back a few months to where you were struggling with a piece or a phrase, and tell youself "Wow, I have made progress!"  So I hope to keep a journal, but there's enough of a writer in me to write about other things as well - the CD review, opinions of a concert or song, and hopefully an amusing anecdote along the way that someone might relate to.  "The guy passed out in the corner?  Yeah, I remember something like that.  About six years ago..."  If I help stir some old memories, hopefully they're good ones, or at least something you can laugh at.

As of the end of 2012 I am trying to get my guitar skills back up to some semblence of proficiency.  In my odd way, I've memorized the chords to Roberta Flack's classic "Killing My Softly" - a song that I was never drawn to all that strongly.  But I've come to learn that whatever song is stuck in your head or draws you to practice is the song you're supposed to be practicing.  It may not matter if you even like the song.  I guess it's all part of learning to trust the process.  Finally, in "Killing Me Softly" I have a song that I've actually committed to memory, something I've never been able to do that well.  It's always a new year's resolution to learn more songs and pull them out at a moment's notice rather than being "chained to the book" - the chord or lyric sheet, without which one doesn't stand a chance.

So that's the goal - letting people into the world of a dabbler who might have something interesting to say along the way.  You're welcome to be my fellow passenger.