Trip Hop - Tom Style!

One of the best aspects of my lessons with Tom is they could go anywhere, you can plan, you can have a specific direction you need to go in, he can have lesson plans but the second we start all that goes to pot and we're just rolling with whatever comes out of my mouth.

I should learn to shut up because what tends to come out of my mouth is an idea or something I "eventually" want to do or something I've recently started but needs a lot more practice before I can move on it but when I do I'd like to go ... here.  Then Tom goes right then let's go there now!  

Que terrified expression from me but he doesn't take no for an answer and he's even learnt to deal with my subconscious redirecting!!!  But it's as great as it is hard because I'm being pushed... pushed technically, pushed emotionally and pushed way outside my comfort zone and the more he does it the more I ebb closer to the direction we want to go.  I'll be honest it's so uncomfortable but he is doing good by me.

What happened this week and what's it got to do with Trip Hop?!  I think we covered a few bases including planning out structurally where I am and what I need to do in terms of songwriting and that helped tonnes - and I mean tonnes.  I think we're well on the way to solving that mammoth problem once and for all - finally.  Then we turned to what I want to do, I may doubt myself completely but that doesn't mean I don't dream!  And for me it's all about the ideas.  Ideas for songs, ideas for how to push an existing song, ideas about reinvention, ideas about applying techniques to change things up, ideas about blending, ideas about mixing genres, ideas about simplifying or complicating things, ideas about reworking the same thing and then ideas about what to do with each of those.  Experimentation, creativity, playfulness, experience, tradition, history & logic all have a place for me in music.  I have a style now, I probably always will but what you're hearing now isn't anywhere close to how I will be playing or who I will be, I know that because I know the styles I like, I know my influences and I'm simply not able to tap into them yet.  Not - Even - Close!  My "style" is what I can do not what I will do...!

So he ran with it - "fine show me what you want to do and let's do it" (I'm paraphrasing!).  So I show him an example of what I'm talking about.  Paul Wellers - Wild Wood, a lovely laid back song with cool rhythmic strummed guitar (a song I really want to learn btw!) and then take the Portishead remix which puts a trip-hop element over the top, simple and yet completely changes the dynamics of the song - it's very very cool, go check it out. :)

Then we're in trouble because we are NOW putting down a song, pick a piano riff I like, a bass riff I like, drums is trip hop because trip hop (old school anyway that modern stuff is naff) is all about the drums and then we have the rhythmic guitar.  Why do you like this or that - blimey errrrr!  That man!!!!  I do have reasons but I can't dig them out of my head on the spot haha!!

Anyway I could go through all the details but we veered left of centre again because my head goes that way when I think on a tangent (which happens a lot) and in the end he put together a two bar construct that is the basis for me doing several for our boot camp lesson next week.  Once he'd explained it I understood and I hope I can get my head around it because I think this is another big step if I can.  It's a two parter, the first is to get my head around song structure once and for all - the second is to take my current song ideas, the way I build them and pull out the melodies, the structures and the ideas.  To learn how to recognise the songs from my ideas, then how to build them - then we can start to worry about how to polish them up.

I want to get to a place where every week there are several songs we can push on. BTW Tom's trip-hop song was very funny, it wasn't trip hop but that's because he's new to the genre but it did make it's point and that's what's important.    ............  but it was funny!!

And for your entertainment today he's me drumming to AD/DC Back In Black!  Timing's improving lots but technique leaves a lot to be desired but we'll get there.