I’ve woken up to the news that one of my all-time heroes passed away. I’m terribly saddened. BB King was one of the most amazing musicians that ever lived. I was very forunate to have watched one of his concerts a few years ago – he even gave me a guitar pick in the middle of his set!!
The world will miss you, BB, but your music lives on! Say hello to Jimi and Stevie Ray for us!
Read the full news story HERE
The Beatles’ songs should be left untouched and unchanged. I don’t want any of them remastered because nobody can make any of their songs better. To me, their that good. their music was ahead of their time in a way that only few can emulate. In the words of the Beatles themselves, LET IT BE!!
In response to today’s Daily Prompt: Let it be
John Lennon’s Music Room – The Beatles Story Museum, Liverpool
In response to this week’s photo challenge: Minimalist
Today’s Daily Prompt: A misused word, a misremembered song lyric, a cream pie that just happened to be there: tell us about a time you (or someone else) said or did something unintentionally funny.
When lyrics are misheard:
You pray so hard
But only for your enemies to die
You smile at her
Only to stab her and lie
You get married
Then cheat every weekend
Help others
Only for the fame
Why expect kindness
From people you step on?
Why ask for forgiveness
If you can’t do it yourself?
Isn’t it ironic?
Don’t you think?
In response to today’s Daily Prompt: 10,000 spoons
Pictured above is my very own Ibanez JEM 777dy, which is 25 years old. It has been said that the great Steve VAi used to own (or still owns) a few of these guitars, and this (and other JEMs) have been the model from which he modelled his own line of signature guitars (I could be wrong, of course). Nevertheless, it is a fantastic guitar which I plan to keep forever.
Even though I have only had it for five years, I can tell you that it has stood the test of time. All of the hardwares, wires, pick-ups and paint are all original. I have gigged it many, many times in bars and outdoors, and it still sounds amazing. It stays in tune better than most of my guitars.
(In response to the Weekly Photo Challenge: Relic by The Daily Post)
Today’s Daily Prompt: Do you play an instrument? Is there a musical instrument whose sound you find particularly pleasing? Tell us a story about your experience or relationship with an instrument of your choice.
Aside from my family, friends and students, the only things that I love in this world are my guitars. I love the way each of them sounds and the way I respond to their own distinct qualities. When I plug one in and hit my first note or chord I could transport to any place in the world. They could also change or match my mood. I play my Telecaster when I’m excited or giddy. I play my Stratocaster or my Les Paul when I feel aggresive, angry or anxious. My AS75 (not on the picture) is for days when I’m sad or want to calm down. My RG and JS (again not on the picture) are for when I want to be transported into space. Time flies when I play my guitars.
PINGS:
Today’s Daily Prompt asked: You can choose any person from history to teach you any topic you want. Who’s your teacher and what do they teach you?
Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins, Alain de Botton, Michel Foucault and Urie Bronfenbrenner taught me how to think
Adolf Hitler taught me what NOT to do
My family taught me how to survive and how to function in society
My beloved other-half taught me how to love…
But I really wish Jimi Hendrix could teach me how to play the guitar. I have been playing guitar for over a decade now and I have been influenced by guitarists who were influenced by Hendrix (who isn’t, right?). I would really love to pick his brains on how he managed to come up with timeless classics such as Little Wing:
And Purple Haze
‘Scuse me, while I Kiss the Sky!
Pingbacks:
The friendly, English-speaking extraterrestrial you run into outside your house is asking you to recommend the one book, movie or song that explains what human beings are all about. What do you pick?
This:
Oh, everyone believes
In how they think it ought to be
Oh, everyone believes
And they’re not going easily
Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword
Like punching under water
You never can hit who you’re trying for
Some need the exhibition
And some have to know they tried
It’s the chemical weapon
For the war that’s raging on inside
Oh, everyone believes
From emptiness to everything
Oh, everyone believes
And no one’s going quietly
We’re never gonna win the world
We’re never gonna stop the war
We’re never gonna beat this if belief is what we’re fighting for
(Is there anyone who you can remember
Who ever surrendered
With their life on the line?)
We’re never gonna win the world
We’re never gonna stop the war
We’re never gonna beat this if belief is what we’re fighting for
What puts a hundred thousand children in the sand?
Belief can
Belief can
What puts the folded flag inside his mother’s hand?
Belief can
Belief can
Whether it’s Carly Rae Jespen’s Call Me Maybe, Nickelback’s How You Remind Me, or Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger, we all had a song or two that has been stuck in our heads for a while and we don’t quite know why. Such an experience is called ‘Earworm’, a term which is a direct translation of the German word ‘Ohrwurm’.It has been found that around 90% of the population have had such an experience at least once a week. Earworms have been found to last between a few minutes to a couple of hours (Beaman & Williams, 2010). Although it is a common experience, around 15% of people claimed that Earworms are ‘disturbing’ and ‘unpleasant’ (Liikkanen, 2008).
WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?
Although there isn’t a definitive theory which can explain why how songs get stuck in our heads, there have been a few suggestions:
HOW CAN I STOP IT?
Now that we know the possible reasons why an Earworm manifests, we must know of any strategies of stopping it. In a research conducted by Hyman et al. (2012), participants were asked to listen to a variety of songs, from those of the Beatles to current ones like Lady Gaga’s. They then completed a number of different puzzles, with varying difficulties. After these, they were asked to report whether there are any songs that are playing on their heads (and did so again after 24 hours). They found that puzzles which are too easy and too difficult induced the most number of Earworms. The researchers suggested that:
HERE ARE SOME EARWORM-INDUCING SONGS FOR YOU:
REFERENCES:
Beaman CP, & Williams TI (2010). Earworms (‘stuck song syndrome’): Towards a natural history of intrusive thoughts.British Journal of Psychology, 101(4), 637-653.
Hyman, I., Burland, N., Duskin, H., Cook, M., Roy, C., McGrath, J., and Roundhill, R. (2012). Going Gaga: Investigating, Creating, and Manipulating the Song Stuck in My Head. Applied Cognitive Psychology DOI:10.1002/acp.2897
Liikkanen L.A. (2008) Music in everymind: Commonality of involuntary musical imagery. Proceedings of the 10th International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition. Sapporo, Japan.
Williamson, V., Jilka, S., Fry, J., Finkel, S., Mullensiefen, D., and Stewart, L. (2011). How do “earworms” start? Classifying the everyday circumstances of Involuntary Musical ImageryPsychology of Music DOI: 10.1177/0305735611418553
Understanding and Embracing Diversity 