ALEX ARUJ

Open Mic - Neck of the Woods

3/22/2017

 
Walk into any Open Mic, and a rush of emotions and lackluster memories of songs and covers past try to reveal themselves from the darker neural pathways of the brain.

I suppressed all that.and went to the bar with purpose,for a fernet and coke. Some sort of nostalgia and intolerance for an entire beer after dinner. so I knew better.

I left on a high note, no pun, with a hearty American feeling rendition of Norwegian Wood, from a Philadelphian man. He dug into some deeppower chords and twanged it up, and I had never heard any cover as ballsy for that tune.

It was perhaps the most uneventful open mic I had ever seen, so much so the wrestling on tv outperformed most, but that is ok. It's for the performer, and a little bit for the crowd. One ad came on the screen - compreairdragon.com [buy air dragon.com]. I'll never come closer to buying such a thing
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Patterns for Harmonizing the Scale

3/18/2017

 
'Harmonizing the scale

Practice writing out a "setup"..
Start by memorizing the steps between notes of a major scale (1-7)
w w half w w w half

List the chord types in Major scale Ionian
Major minor minor major major minor minor
Whether a triad is major or minor all depends on the third note of the triad

What are the triads? major triad, minor triad, dim triad etc.?
What are the chords that make up the scale. For the major Ionian mode, C major scale

Harmonize the major scale by building a minor scale from the 6th scale degree, so take A for example. Build the harmonized minor scale from the A.

Am ...
For harmonized minor scales the steps go in this order (1-7)
w h w w w h w w
A BC D EF G A

Going further the chords that work in the harmonized A minor scale are, in order 1-7
m dim aug m m M M
Am Bdim C Dm Em F G
Notice the I chord in the harmonic minor scale is minor.

Remembering the modes:

'I don't particularly like modes any longer.'
Ionian Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydian Aeolian Locrian
​
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Flamenco Vocabulary

3/18/2017

 
Seven or more years into the flamenco game, I am beginning to solidify my vocabulary by memorization. Going beyond just vocabulary, I am studying to know how to form my own sentences, to be able to say more than what has been said.

The challenge now is to understand music in terms of the Phrygian mode, its major, minor, augmented and diminished triads. seventh chords, relative major and minor modes -- how those play together to form the harmonic basis for Flamenco.
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Agathos and Achievement

3/1/2017

 
If we are to compare ancient Greek bravery, agathos to the form we appreciate and is accepted as social currency today - only a twisted comparison can be drawn. Bravery would be earned outright through war and submission of another.. The competitive aspect of Greek life as a means of personal improvement and achievement has held in some way today across many societies. Bravery itself is hardly measurable, it's subjective, and perhaps it is this such feature that allows this value to persist as a measure of manhood, as it can be shaped across a man's life. Men can be brave as housedads, as cybersecurity experts. These constructs have killed only assumptions of manhood, and that is brave by today's standards, this is what passes as revolutionary!

Even enemies can hold some muted, reptilian form of respect for each other.. Look at the press, in awe at figures they hated yeserday who today claim they misjudged. This is not bravery on the part of politicians, but survival-- not progress, but manipulation, sold to the people, consumed by the gullible ones every day, as proof of a strength in their character the public had not noticed during the grueling campaign "season". The only fights we are fighting are those of popularity. The stoic militar-istocrats can hardly find a seat at the political table today. The public wants blood, for a public figure to play all parts before his tragedy unfolds is the character arc so to speak that gathers people to vote for them. Forget governance.
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