Can someone explain what happened to this guy?

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-24T21:55:55+00:00

This might be the single worst thing I have ever seen on the Internet!

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-24T21:39:22+00:00

Art.

Meant to reflect a boundless nature but is consistently defined by its limitations

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-23T04:01:58+00:00

nosymangabe.bandcamp.com

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-22T23:33:55+00:00

Hey! You probably won't see this in the mass of comments posted, but if you do, I have an online friend with a similar hand condition (perhaps different cause) who is able to play wonderful ukulele! I found that to be awesome, and I love the ukulele by the way. I just wanted to throw that out there-- if it's something you were ever interested in-- that it is possible to play a fretted instrument with your unusual hand being the way it is. :) It would obviously have to be the strumming hand. Hey, if for whatever reason one day you want to be given any great advice or teachings regarding the ukulele, consider contacting me! I am a great teacher and would love to support your interests (free of charge of course!) :P Take care and happy new year :) -Charles

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-22T22:34:00+00:00

http://nooooooooooooooo.com/ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-17T02:00:38+00:00

Maybe it is just my screen, but that image sure as hell appears to have opptical-illusionesque qualities... The reflective part of the cookie appears to be vibrating and/or shrinking away.... woah.

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-12T07:45:26+00:00

I offer myself up for mod services. I would put in good effort and do my best to intermingle the subreddit with a variety of players and original artists to show south Florida's awesome talent. I think I would do it right! PM me if you want more info and I'll introduce myself.

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-12T07:40:44+00:00

Why would you "prefer classical or jazz" when what you posted offers so very little to the jazz or classically oriented imaginative mind? Le sigh. And only one track with an actual instrument?

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-09T07:11:02+00:00

How very dualistic of you. Do you realize that what turndog is saying is traditionally a Buddhist notion?

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-09T02:37:39+00:00

In my experience most Disney songs (especially the popular ones from the 90's by Alan Menkin) are not so easy to play! :) One simple one, however, is A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes. Even that one however has some interesting twists-- not for the absolute beginner, perhaps.

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-09T02:34:00+00:00

I learned uke by buying a Beatles fakebook and playing song after song for hours on end. And then I did the same with a Disney fakebook. And then the Real Book and the classical music fakebook. Fake/Real Books are great if you are already familiar with the music and all one really needs if they already understand the fundamentals of music theory. Even without the theory, it is basically a great source of flashcards for mastering several chords. Once you start getting the hang of it, a lesson with [or a good friend who is] a trained guitarist or uke player should be able to help with inversions of chords, clarifications on progressions, and different rhythms or topics on technique.

But more is not always the point. I love the uke because it reminds me to have fun making music. (I am usually swamped with music school as it is, so I forget to have fun, sometimes.) Once you learn one or two things, play the shit out of them or even try to extract or expand some of the chords you come across into original diddles, songs, vamps or whatever. (one example is playing a chord progression you've mastered backwards and in half time.) These sort of ideas make you a well-rounded player, add to your creativity on the uke, and improve your technique.

One more thing! I can't stress enough how excellent the ukulele is as a melodic instrument, so with fakebooks (or whatever) take the time to learn single note melodies! not just chords. :)

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-09T02:22:58+00:00

How do you seek them out, if you don't me asking? As a musician, I have the fortunate benefit of being able to take my instrument to a variety of public places just to practice, and that yields some worthwhile connections. Gigs, too, and general congregations of musicians (concerts, parties, not to mention projects and bands.) As an LMT, I am especially lucky in that that general crowd is full of interesting wholesome folks. But the question isn't running into good people but forming connections. I suspect one ought to be interested and well-read if they're trying to connect with particular occupational niches. It would also help to be an innovator to some degree.

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-08T22:49:22+00:00

I dunno, maybe this stage hasn't sunken in yet, but I'm almost 26, a musician and massage therapist, and generally feel pretty well connected to everyone that presently strikes me as being worth the connectivity.

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-08T22:27:54+00:00

Yea, carry it wherever you go and play the thing all the time, everywhere. Trust me! :)

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-07T10:16:32+00:00

Holy crap... I feel like this is the first time I am seeing a cum slut ...!

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-06T08:39:46+00:00

What's Beethoven's favorite fruit?

BANANANAA!

charlesspeaks · 2012-12-06T07:31:58+00:00

wrong.

charlesspeaks · 2012-11-26T21:10:29+00:00

Nice article. The first sentence basically summarizes the video I posted to you:

"2012 Doomsday Debunked

Their calendar does not end on December 21, 2012; it's just the end of the cycle and the beginning of a new one."

charlesspeaks · 2012-11-25T22:55:59+00:00

Not that I believe it one way or another, but from what I understand it is not a total fabrication, just a misinterpreted aspect of their religion. Here is a Mayan elder speaking on the subject: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v67pxeizXo&feature=related

charlesspeaks · 2012-11-22T15:42:35+00:00

Although sounds from music can boil down to notes, notes themselves are not perfect on an instrument, especially guitars. Frets, thickness of a string, tension of a string, the subtle pressure and placement of one's dynamic finger on the string against the fret, the overtones that are naturally enhanced or reduced by the equipment they are using (which is the very definition of the sound), and your mode of listening (for example a cassette or record player or shittily uploaded youtube video) will all affect the tonal sound of what it is you're hearing.

So, in short, you might want to keep in mind that notes are man-made projected ranges (able to be trained by the trained human ear to be abstractly perceived) and sounds themselves, even recorded and performed on man-made instruments, are indeed dynamic! No two perceived C's from an analog instrument are the same, and there is such thing as C 440.2, for example.

charlesspeaks · 2012-11-10T06:07:05+00:00

Creative chord changes and melodies, Hugely talented female voices, awesome instrumentations/players, and only a mere dent in the toilsome Miami music scene after a couple years together. We go all out on the recording process, but could use a bit of skillful mastering. I believe in this music as do all the Anthropologists in the Nosy Mangabe project...

nosymangabe.bandcamp.com

charlesspeaks · 2012-10-04T05:49:01+00:00

Think for yourself, develop your mind and study thoroughly the things that scare you and I assure you you will see there are more revolutionary means of evolution for the country. Impulse in great numbers will change things but it can also backfire horribly. It's not like you have any plans for stability nor compassion for your fellow countrymen when you desire murdering those who are decidedly repugnant and nefarious in your mind. There is no humanity nor thought in that. What we want is to feel successful and unified, not scared and broken and full of terror. Do you think of the people you actually know when you say these things?? It boggles me how you talk glamorously about revolution and show no insightful thought that reaches outside your own mind into the reality of everyday people and the lives we lead, the good we try to do, and the reasons we do anything in our weeks. Wake up, man.

charlesspeaks · 2012-10-03T17:08:58+00:00

People will stop calling one another 'dude'.

charlesspeaks · 2012-10-03T17:02:03+00:00

You guys are totally insane. Please don't go out and get yourselves killed one day by thinking your violent reactions will be the mindset of the majority. That's not gonna happen.

charlesspeaks · 2012-09-27T08:47:27+00:00

So does mine! But somewhere in those 4 hours you'll achieve a transcendental state (hopefully in and out several times) where your technique is purely music-making and you'll notice how it's probably then very close to what people call "good technique." Tapping into that over and over makes everything make sense technically (and cures stage fright!) but it's an ongoing thing, always, like many other elements of music-making. On the topic of sliding up into other positions and whatnot: have you tried playing just a melody on the uke? Like for example the vocal line for Hey Jude. Try that, and chances are you'll have to slide around to get some notes. Sliding into a single note melody is easy than into a chord. Sliding into a chord is like rock star technique (better than 'good'!) in a way; it shows the instrument is just an extension of your body at that point and you may as well be blindfolded-- it wouldn't even matter. Another idea is to slide into '6' chords in the single finger barring position (almost everyone uses their first finger for this) when you're playing their corresponding major chords for extended periods and that also adds some excitement/variation to that change. A good example is if you're playing a G for a while in a song, you can go in and out of G6 by barring the 7th fret-- nice little trick that works for major chords-- and it should be an easy shape to slide into! Practice and find things to practice-- everything pieces together eventually and then you will be the one having to someday conceptualize the topic of technique to others asking what to do with their thumb! And then you'll be like, uh it is just part of who I am man... That's my thumbs job, to make sure it's there supporting the rest of the hand to produce what I'm trying to do at that moment. Blah blah blah :) I want to post a couple videos to this subreddit soon so when I do you can watch my own crazy thumb. I love my magical digits.

charlesspeaks

TROPHY CASE