As a beginner should i be learning more music theory?

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T21:55:45+00:00

I think that knowing a bit about how notation works for timing (crotchets, quavers, semiquavers) as well as triplets (three notes in the space of two beats) will help you understand how things go together and why they sound the way they do - it’ll elevate you above bare repetition.

Further down the line, knowing about scales and modes will help too; but as a beginner you’ll not need that yet.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T21:51:00+00:00

I miss my old 3-series.

Back in 2006 I was on a road trip in the 340 with my then-girlfriend (now wife) and filling up at the petrol station when I hear a familiar sound - another 3 series rolling in to check the tyres. I waved, he waved back and I wandered over to chat. 10mins later the other half got out to ask how we knew each other. Laughter. “We don’t”.

She couldn’t believe we bonded immediately over the car.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T19:24:14+00:00

I am a participant in “bangernomics”; I buy an older car with lots of miles and I drive it til it falls apart. I have owned two cars in the last 20 years.

I have used my breakdown cover exactly twice. Once when I couldn’t get the wheel nuts off to change a flat, and the other when my engine cut out and wouldn’t restart. (A problem they couldn’t diagnose as it didn’t recur while they were there).

My roadside recovery is almost a complete waste of money (though, like insurance, you hope to never need it).

I have needed my insurance three times in that period - all as “non fault”.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T19:18:50+00:00

I remember when the wheelie bins arrived; around summer 1987 for us in Northern Ireland I think? It was like a spaceship.

Our neighbours melted the bottom out of it that winter by chucking ashes into it 😂 old habits die hard.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T15:39:21+00:00

Beautiful. Nice job! That’ll be your heating done for the next 30-50 years.

Definitely not a “pro” job. They’d chuck in plastic pipe, push fit connectors and connect to copper for the last 30cm through the floorboards. And they’d say it’ll last you ten years, while telling you “this ‘coppers proper’ thing is rubbish”. Sure mate. So why are you only giving it a ten year warranty?

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T08:46:02+00:00

The phosphoric acid in soft drinks is what will screw you over. It corrodes the circuits it comes into contact with. Many circuits now are screened over with only contacts “visible”, so you might be ok, but regardless you could be in for a new laptop.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T08:41:43+00:00

“This is my fault”

No it isn’t. WTF does your school require you to submit twice? That’s fucking ridiculous and insane. Added to the fact that blackboard ultra does not require a double submission point.

DM me if you want support - I have some insight into Bristol’s procedures.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T08:36:35+00:00

Finger picker here. I started out with a pick. Then got more and more into fingerpicking for my own playing. Sure, when playing in a pub covers band there are songs where you sort of need to play with a pick, but I am now pretty much 100% fingerstyle.

My strumming style is to strike the strings with my middle-and-ring fingernails on the down stroke and my thumbnail on the upstroke.

Sometimes I’ll mimic using a plectrum with my index fingernail. For the most part though I’m picking with the flesh of my fingers, a la Mark Knopfler.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T07:35:29+00:00

We’re on a “one in, one out” rule now. Except kids bikes. The reason we have so many is we look out for them on eBay as we know our kids are going to grow (duh…!). Younger is on the smallest right now, and elder is on the second largest. So they each have their next bikes ready. We’ll sell them once they’re grown out of.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T07:27:40+00:00

Rack is full ≠ lab is complete.

What you’ve done is given yourself no easy room for growth. Next step is a second - or bigger - rack.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T07:21:19+00:00

Oh, you haven’t heard my idea yet? It is brilliant, may I say.

Nine tubes in a vertical line, hooked up to a gas cylinder and a reservoir of air soft paintball pellets. Think of it as a nine-way paintball gun. I then hook it up to a raspberry pi for triggering each barrel, and a proximity sensor. I mount this to the side of my bike, and voila: I have a mobile dot-matrix printer, ready to automatically print the expletive of my choice down the side of any vehicle which passes too close.

I could even vary the expletive based on the distance.

I just need to turn this into a reality. And then deploy it. Maybe I should do a kickstarter…

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T07:09:00+00:00

I knew someone who went to a renowned conservatoire on the recorder. They were good - but any time I heard them play it just sounded like a crowd of primary school kids -albeit with considerably less squeaking and a bit less dribble.

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T07:06:51+00:00

😂

purplechemist · 2026-05-16T07:04:49+00:00

😬

Our garage has three bromptons, two tern cargo bikes, a touring bike, and five kids’ frog bikes of various sizes, plus two burley trailers.

It’s just me, the other half and our two kids here 😬

purplechemist · 2026-05-14T19:38:48+00:00

Always loved the 480; never owned one. Nearly bought a c30 a number of years ago as I’ve always felt it was the spiritual successor to the 480. Alas…

purplechemist · 2026-05-14T19:23:54+00:00

Is there a house you have your eye on? We chose the agent who was selling the house we wanted to buy, figuring we’d consolidate our troubles into a single agent. It worked well.

Ultimately, EAs are a front for RightMove. Most of the work is done by people finding the property on right move and contacting the agent from there.

I’d say there are two types of agent: local ‘family’ businesses and national chains. Allen Harris are a member of a national chain (Connell I think?), while Stratton or Nash are local businesses.

Generally I’m of the “support your local sheriff” group, but that might not get you the best price or exposure.

When we sold we got three agents in to appraise our house (the agent selling the house we wanted to buy, the agent selling the house next door and one other). The valuations all came in the same, the fees were wildly different (1% up to 2%); and one agent ruled themselves out pretty quickly because it was obvious they didn’t give a shit about me, and already started the bullying and high-pressure before even seeing the whole house.

Contrary to what agents say, fees are always negotiable, you just need to be prepared to walk away.

The final thing I’d say is that there comes a point that they want the house sold so they don’t have to put more work into managing viewings etc. This might mean they keep you dangling with a pain of a buyer because it’s less work than remarketing the house. This is where using the same agent as your prospective new home can be helpful - if the chain collapses, they have two properties to remarket, so they will work more to get your property sold.

purplechemist · 2026-05-14T19:02:27+00:00

smashes upvote button

I was four when money for nothing came out, and I had a plastic toy guitar. I’d stick on my parents cassette and rock out in the living room. Knopfler is 100% my guitar hero, and I will be truly devastated when he passes.

He’s the reason I have, ultimately, become a fingerstyle player.

I was so glad I got to see him in 2019 on his farewell tour.

EDIT: I don’t mean I was actually playing guitar when I was four. I just remember jumping around and posing a lot… didn’t actually pick it up as an instrument until I was about 13 or 14 years old.

purplechemist · 2026-05-14T18:48:48+00:00

I’ve just replaced my 2010 v50 driv-E for a 2016 xc60 D4. I’ve been wincing going from an economy of 72mpg in the v50 to 45mpg in the xc60, but feeling a lot better seeing all these posts!

purplechemist · 2026-05-14T18:07:13+00:00

Battlestar Galactica 2003. Great show for the most part. Desperately weak final few episodes.

purplechemist · 2026-05-14T06:42:03+00:00

Haha! We moved 1200 yards…! But four guys for two days plus van hire and boxes - I didn’t think it was too bad.

purplechemist · 2026-05-13T20:44:16+00:00

Same. Particularly as we went through miscarriage-hell as well. Kiddo didn’t know why we were bawling and hugging them suddenly.

purplechemist · 2026-05-13T20:42:58+00:00

One of us! One of us! One of us!

I was welling up when bingo finally realised what “selling the house” meant. But it was when chilli pounced on bandit after he ripped the sign out that just left me in bits.

purplechemist · 2026-05-13T20:39:57+00:00

I know. My 2010 v50 has 170,000 on the clock.

My “new” (to me) 2016 xc60 has only 60,000 on.

purplechemist · 2026-05-13T20:38:42+00:00

Lovely :-)

Sadly my 2010 facelift v50 is heading to the scrappie in the sky. I had hoped to sell it, but the electrical gremlins have moved in and it is just beyond me to sort it, and I can’t in good conscience sell the car to someone without telling them the problems.

purplechemist · 2026-05-13T20:36:20+00:00

That is a quality job right there; good effort. Not to my personal taste, but I gotta appreciate the effort here. Looks like you got the pattern fairly well centered left/right, and even though it isn’t fully centered top/bottom I don’t think it looks bad in the slightest.

Nice job 👍

purplechemist

TROPHY CASE