Just over a week ago I wrote about Tara in a blog post. Today's post is about "Tara's Song". It didn't start out as her song, but it became hers. It would have been back in about 1996. Tara and her pal Paddy were still very young cats, about a year old. They were outdoor cats, but were always inside by midnight to spend the night indoors. One night Tara didn't come home. For a little while, we figured she was just being a typical little feline, doing things on her own schedule. We called for her, searched in the immediate area for her. No Tara. Then her absence stretched into hours, late into the night, something she had never done. Naturally, I was really worried about her. 

Around that same time, during the previous couple of weeks, I had been fiddling around with a musical idea on guitar. I had been trying to do some modal ideas (beyond Ionian or Aeolian, that is), and I was attempting to write something using the Phrygian mode. In the end, it didn't come out that way, it was just your basic minor key tune. That night, filling time playing guitar while I wondered where Tara was and worried about her, I decided to dedicate the song to her.

Someone once told me, after hearing the song, that they thought it sounded like horror movie music.  I got a kick out of that. I suspect that opinion was influenced by the dissonant intervals in the bridge part of the song. But that dissonance suggested the notion of peril, which seemed appropriate. On the night of the missing cat, I worried about any number of dangers and hazards possibly being the reason why she hadn't returned home.

The next morning...the cat came back. Just like the song says.  But cats don't tell you where they've been or why they didn't come home at the time they should have. However, our neighbour across the street a few doors down was able to tell us. He said that first thing in the morning when he opened his garage door, a little black and white streak zoomed past him. He recognized her, so was able to tell us where she had been. So she had been stuck in a neighbour's garage all night, and arrived safely home the next morning. I was extremely relieved, and very happy to see her.

In the meantime, she had gained a song. I didn't really add anything more to the song, just put the verse and bridge parts together to form a short instrumental. I recorded it on my little Tascam Porta 03 4-track recorder. Very low tech. A few guitar tracks (the melody part is double-tracked) and some programming on an old Roland rhythm machine.

After Tara passed away late last month, I decided I'd post the song as a small tribute to her. (Click on the song title to hear it.)

"Tara's Song" by Anne Drury (Written and recorded in 1996)

Tab for "Tara's Song":
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/zerofret/annesblog/annedrury-tarassong.txt
   

Do you need just a little something extra for that guitarist on your Christmas list? Here's an idea: an all-in-one peg winder/string clipper/bridge pin puller made by Planet Waves. These have been around for awhile, of course, they're not new on the market. But I love these little gizmos. I bought one earlier this year, and they are the very definition of convenient.

I ordered mine from L.A. Music in Toronto, and the ones they sell look like this:
http://www.lamusic.ca/default.asp?szNav=Product&PID=10872

But I think Planet Waves may have updated and changed the design a bit, because on most U.S. music sites they look like this:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Planet-Waves-Pro-String-WinderCutter?sku=360253

But both are called Planet Waves Pro Winder Cutter DP0002, so essentially they're the same thing.

Obviously, it's the built-in string clipper that sets this model apart. Afterall, all peg winders will wind string and have a bridge pin puller. But clipping the strings was always the inconvenient part for me. To change your strings, you need to have something around which can clip wire...and I didn't always. Sometimes I'd use scissors, which works okay on the unwound strings, but becomes more of a problem with the wound strings. Or often, after winding the string, I'd remove the excess string at the top just by bending a spot on the string back and forth until the string broke. It works, but it's a bit time consuming. To be able to just grab one tool and do the whole job with it -- wind the string, flip the winder around, clip the string -- is great.

The winder part of it has a nice snug, but not damaging, fit. The clipper makes a nice clean cut, and does it easily. I imagine the clipper probably gets a bit dull after a lot of use, but I haven't run into that problem yet. I haven't used the bridge pin puller, so I can't comment on it. (There are lots of buyer reviews of this item on the Musician's Friend page linked to above.) I know I probably sound like a commercial for Planet Waves, but I really do think these things are great...like a Swiss Army knife for changing strings!

I came across an interesting article online tonight. In the article, a writer at The Washington Post puzzles over why there has still never been any truly formidable, ground-breaking, pioneering, innovative, boundary-pushing female guitarists. Guitarists long remembered in music history for taking the instrument in a whole new direction. I'm sure I would rarely find myself in the position of being able to explain something to the mighty minds at The Washington Post, but actually this one I can explain.

The article goes on for three pages looking for reasons why women have failed to be influential on the instrument. A handful of famous female guitarists are interviewed in trying to unravel the mystery.

The full article can be found here: 
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19175-2004Aug20.html

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Here's an excerpt:

Mood:  cheeky

Faster than a speeding credit card transaction! More powerful than the New York Stock Exchange! Able to leap U.S. greenbacks in a single bound! Look! Up in the North! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's....

SUUUUUUPERLOONIE!!!

With the recent very strong showing of the Canadian dollar, there's been a lot of talk about car prices (and prices in general) and whether or not they're changing (or will change soon) to reflect the increased value of the dollar. But I say, in my most poetic manner:

"Cars, schmars
What about guitars?"

It really only occurred to me for the first time last night that other traditionally expensive big ticket items like guitars should be seeing an adjustment in price too. So I'm wondering if now is a good time to buy. Can I pick up a really nice Ovation or Takamine for mere pocket change right now because the loonie is currently so uber-mighty?  No, I didn't think so. Nice thought though, isn't it?

I've gotten a pretty good start on the first of the two tabs I mentioned a couple of days ago. I'm about halfway through. There's some good footage on YouTube to compare it to, as well, to make sure I'm placing certain parts in the right fretboard positions. The videos don't show me everything I'd like to see, but you can't have everything. The parts they do show have definitely helped.

I don't know if I'll manage to finish this one off (on paper, that is) tomorrow or not. I think a fair amount of what's left is repeating parts of what I've already tabbed, but there is one more short solo and an Outro part to work out.